The History of Salsa!

Salsa is a term used to refer to both Hispanic musical rhythm(specifically from Central American and the Caribbean) as well as a social dance(as opposed to a stage/performance dance non-related to specific cultural purposes.) It is performed, in most cases, by two partners of the opposite sex. All Latin Dances share this dance format and a characteristic cadence. Nevertheless, there are many different Latin rhythms, each with its own musical beat and rhythm, including Domenican merengue and bachata, Jamaican reggae, Brazilian samba, Colombian cumbia, Cuban son, conga, mambo, rumba, cha-cha-cha, danzon, etc. All these music forms are the result of the mixture of European and African rhythms. Some, such as Puerto Rican bomba and plena are distinctively African-rooted percussive styles; while others, such as Argentinean tango, are hardly distinguishable as dance forms with African origins, and lean more towards the European dance forms, such as a waltz. Each and every one of this dance forms come from popular music bred by the working class.

In the late 1960's in New York, Hispanic musicians began reinterpreting and fusing several of these rhythms with jazz elements into what we now call Salsa. There are many and diverse theories of how Salsa emerged, but it is widely accepted that it is rooted in "son", a rhythm originated in the 1800's in the mountains of the Cuban province of Oriente. Son, in turn, originated from the "changui", a Central-West African music form brought to Cuba by the slaves, mixed with Spanish guitar styles. In the early 1900's Son had become a sort of national creole music that appealed to Cubans of both Spanish and African origins. In the 1920's, Havan's touristic nightlife featured a "water-down" version called "son conjunto" which included, besides the maracas, bongos, claves, and "tres" (the folkloric Cuban 6 or 9 string guitar), a string bass, three voices, and trumpets. During the 1930's there was a return to the African roots of son with innovations that formed what is now called "son montuno", which in turn formed the basis of the 1940's Mambo craze.

At this point, the son and mambo had also spread to Puerto Rico where musician incorporated it to styles of their own, such as bomba and plena. As Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians immigrated to the US, especially New York, they took those styles with them, forming Cuban/Puerto Rican rhythms. African-American big-band jazz stimulated the formation of Latin orchestras in the late 40's,with violins and timbales. Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and African-Americans joined to play a style which integrated the compositional concepts of the big-band horn sections with the Afro-Cuban rhythm sections, eventually evolving into the New York Latin sound, mostly played by Puerto Ricans. Big band leaders, such as Puerto Rico's Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez and Cuba's Machito, expanded the mambo section of the son, creating its own style and form, the first major "cross-over" from Afro-Carribbean music. The cha-cha-cha and the mambo, both internationally popular, were also incorporated into this style, forming the foundation for "salsa." Until the US severed diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1962, the New York and Cuban musicians continually interacted, forming parallel Latin music styles. After 1962, New York-based music began incorporating the inspiration of the world around them, including the Colombian cumbia and the Domenican merengue, as well as the rhytms of other Latin-American peoples living in New York. Thus a distinctively New York style of Salsa was born.

The popular usage of the word "salsa" for danceable Latin music began in 1933 when Cuban song composer Ignacio Piñerio wrote the song Échale Salsita. It is said, that the idea came to him after tasting food which lacked the Cuban spices. It was a protest against tasteless food. The term "Salsa" remained dormant until 1962 when Secco Records released Joe Cuba's Stepping Out LP. In Jimmy Sabater's tune Salsa y Bembé, vocalist Cheo Feliciano asks a girl to add salsa to the bembé (dance) when she dances. The lyrics suggest that there is a request for the dancer to liven up or spice up her performance. "The term ``salsa'' began to circulate in the late 1960s as a cover term describing a range of popular Latin musical styles in New York City. In 1963, Alegre Records released Charlie Palmieri's charanga LP Salsa Na Ma. In the Henry Alvarez tune Salsa Na Ma, the chorus of Victor Velasquez and Willie Torres suggest that when they dance with their partners it is "Salsa na ma...Que cosa rica (a joy)." On November 20, 1964, the Cal Tjader quintet Plus 5 finished recording an album named Soul Sauce (Salsa del Alma), to express music which was fiery, exciting like a well seasoned sauce. Four years later, Carlos Santana's Oye Como Va attracted youths of all ethnic backgrounds to his music, and conga drums were sold like never before across the United States. In 1968, Johny Pacheco brought together all the foremost artists of Fania Records, the leading salsa recording label of the time. The legendary Fania All Stars was formed. Through the year it would sell countless records, and present numerous artists of the caliber of Ray Barretto, Celia Cruz, Rubén Blades, Willie Colón, Cheo Feliciano, Larry Harlow, Hector Lavoe, Eddie Palmieri, and Tito Puente. On August 26, 1971, the Fania artists congregated at El Cheetah nightclub in midtown Manhattan for a concert and dance which resulted in the movie "Our Latin Thing." Thus, the worldwide Salsa craze started.

Ultimately, "Salsa" is primarily a commercial tag for contemporary Latin popular music with Caribbean origins, but clearly formed in New York through the interaction of musicians from many Latin American countries, and the integration of their rhythms. Salsa connotes a specific dance form; a musical rhythm; and general festive feeling; as well as a variety of flavorful, hip-shaking traditions.

Sources
Austerlitz, Paul, Merengue: Dominican Musica and Dominican Identit, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1997.
Pacini-Hernandez, Deborah, Bachata: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1995.
Daniel, Yvonne, Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contermporary, Indiana University Press: Bloomington, Indiana, 1995.
Aparicio, Frances, Listening to Salsa: Gender, Latin Popular Music, and Puerto Rican Cultures, Wesleyan University Press, Hanover, 1998.
Muñoz, José Esteban and Fraser Delgado, Celeste, Everynight life: Culture and Dance in Latin/o America, Duke University Press: Durham, NC, 1997.
Galan, Natalio, Cuba_y_Sus_Sones: Pre-textos/Musica, Valencia, Spain, 1983.
Leon, Argeliers, Del_Canto_y_el_Tiempo, Editorial Letras Cubanas, Havana, 1984.
Rodriquez, Olavo Alen, Generos de la Musica Cubana: Primera Parte, Ministry of Education, Havana, 1977.
Morales, Ed, The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music from Bossa Nova to Salsa and beyond, Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Press, 2003. 2003.
PBS Special "Roots of Rhythm", starring Harry Bellafonte and Desi Arnaz, directed by Gene Rosow and Howard Dratch.
www.salsaroots.com
www.salsaweb.com
www.mambo.com