In this chapter students will learn about:
• Afro-Cuban roots of Latin music
• Spanish-Cuban roots of Latin music
• Instruments of Latin music
• Major genres of Latin American music
• Major practitioners of Latin music
• The musicultural history of the iconic composition “Oye Como Va”
Overview
The path to contemporary Latino/American music winds from Africana and European roots through Cuba and Puerto Rico to New York’s Latin neighborhoods and ballrooms and beyond. Influences include genres such as rumba, danzón, danzón-mambo, cha cha chá, mambo, jazz, rock, and contemporary dance club styles. The life and work of Tito Puente and comparisons of three influential recorded versions of his famous song “Oye Como Va” (by Tito Puente, Santana, and Tito Puente Jr., respectively) reveal key processes of musical and musicultural tradition and transformation. Also examined are selected musical traditions of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, Andean Bolivia and Peru, Mexico, and Trinidad.
The Chapter 11 Music Journal
Part 1: Information
1. Define the following terms:
Key Terms Definitions, Explanations, or Comments
Salsa
Timbales
Latin jazz
Rhythm section (piano, bass, percussion)
Riffs
Horn section (saxophones, trombones, trumpets)
Cha cha chá
Latino/American
Samba
Bossa nova
Tropicália
Steel band
Tango
Mariachi
Latin dance music (1. generic; 2. as Cuban-derived tradition)
Rumba
Danzón
Son
Danzón-mambo
Mambo
Latin rock
Newyorican
Conga drums (congas)
Bandoneón
Ayllu
Julajula
Adean folkloric music
Santería
Batá
Clave (rhythm)
Claves (instrument)
Charanga
Bongó (bongo drums)
Mambo kings (Machito, Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez)
Latin Dance (as contemporary dance-music genre)
Instruments Used in Latin Musics
2. As you read through the chapter, list instruments used in Latin musical traditions in the table below to create a reference chart for use when listening to CD examples corresponding to the text and other relevant music selections. Briefly describe the instrument, how it is played, and which style or styles of music it is used in.
Instrument Description Used in:
Conga
Claves
Güiro
Maracas
Timbales
Bongó drums
Horn section (trumpet, trombone, sax)
Vibraphone
Flute
Violin
Guitar
Samba percussion instruments (various)
Berimbau
Pan (steel drum)
Bandoneón
Kena
Julajula
Vihuela
Guitarrón
Other instruments (add)
Latin Music Traditions and Transformations in South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean
Brazil: Samba, Bossa Nova, and Tropicália
With the arguable exception of Cuba, Brazil has exerted a greater influence on the global landscape of the contemporary musical world than any other country in Latin America. From the spectacular samba parades of Carnaval (Carnival) in Rio de Janeiro to the deeply African-rooted ritual musics of Bahia in the northeast and the modern, cosmopolitan sounds of MPB ( música popular brasileira ), Brazil, the largest country in South America, is and has long been a global juggernaut of musical richness and innovation.
Samba – Samba is the best-known Brazilian music internationally, having become almost synonymous with Brazil’s musical culture in much of the world’s eyes. Samba is actually an umbrella term for a number of distinct musical genres identified with different Brazilian regions, ethnic groups, and performance events. Read pages 228-229 and briefly respond to the following:
3. What are the distinguishing features of samba?
4. Describe the connections of samba performance with Carnaval.
Bossa Nova – The elegant and intimate strains of Brazilian bossa nova would appear to represent the antithesis of the boisterous exuberance of Rio carnival-style samba, yet the two are related. Read pages 229-231 and briefly respond to the following:
5. Who were the pioneering and influential composers/musicians of bossa nova? What were their respective contributions?
6. What elements from samba were adapted into bossa nova?
7. Describe João Gilberto’s technique of transforming samba rhythms into bossa nova guitar playing style. What is this guitar style called?
8. Click below to listen to and describe the musical activity in “The Girl From Ipanema” by Stan Getz. What was the international significance of the original recording of “The Girl from Ipanema”? Who was featured on the recording? Who composed the song? When was the recording originally released?
“The Girl From Ipanema”
(Links to an external site.)
Tropicália – During the same year that bossa nova was riding the crest of its wave of popularity with the unprecedented international success of “The Girl From Ipanema,” 1964, other events playing out in both political and musical arenas were impacting the Brazilian musical landscape on many fronts. One of the most important outcomes of this period of crisis in politics, popular music, and the arts more broadly was the emergence of tropicália. Read pages 231-234 and briefly respond to the following:
9. What political factors impacted the Brazilian musical landscape in the late 1960s?
10. Who were the leading musicians and bands of the tropicália movement?
11. Listen to and describe “A Minha Menina” by Os Mutantes (CD ex #1-1).
Trinidad and the Steel Band Tradition – The musical highlight of the Trinidadian version of Carnival (which is presented as a nationalized secular event rather than a Catholic observance) is Panorama, a competition featuring enormous steel bands that consist of hundreds of instruments and include upward of 100 musicians each. The pieces performed by the competing groups in Panorama are extraordinarily long, complex, and virtuosic—and exciting. The best groups whip the massive crowds in attendance into a frenzy, and the ability to do just that is indeed essential to competitive success. Read the information contained in the “Insights and Perspectives” box on pages 230-231, and briefly respond to the following:
12. What are the origins and historical roots of the steel band?
13. What instruments are included in the typical steel band?
14. Describe how the pans of the steel band are constructed and tuned.
Argentina and Paraguay: Tango – Tango is a highly sensual form of dance and music from Argentina. It has been poetically described as “the vertical expression of a horizontal desire” on account of its often overtly sexual character. Tango emerged from the hard streets, bars, and brothels of the port district of Argentina’s capital city, Buenos Aires, during the latter part of the 19th century. Read the information on pages 234-236, and briefly respond to the following:
15. What eclectic musical influences came together in the early development of tango?
16. What are the key features of the tango dance?
17. Who was the tango “superstar” during tango’s golden age (1920s-1930s)?
18. Who was the motion picture star whose on screen performance of the tango launched the international tango craze?
19. Who was the dominant figure in tango music during the second half of the 20th century?
20. What kind of instrument is the bandoneón? In CD4-1, how can the musical relationship between this instrument and the guitar be paralleled with the roles of male and female dancers in a tango dance performance?
Folkloric Andean Music of Bolivia and Peru – Music is an essential component of ritual and daily life on all levels in the Andean ayllu. Particular instruments, traditions, and styles of music have specific associations with seasonal observances, agricultural rituals, life-cycle events (births, marriages, funerals, etc.), and religious ceremonies (which in modern times encompass both indigenous belief systems and Catholicism, often in syncretic forms). Traditional Andean ayllu music is covered in this section of the chapter, but so too is Andean folkloric music, which is presented as a “modernist-cosmpolitan” idiom of broad international and commercial scope. Read the information on pages 236-239, and briefly respond to the following:
21. What are the two principal languages other than Spanish spoken by members of traditional Andean communities?
22. Describe the roles music plays in ritual and daily life in Andean communities.
23. Name the instruments in the standard Andean folkloric group?
Mexico: Mariachi – Mexico is home to a great variety and rich history of diverse musical traditions, with the mariachi tradition being arguably the best known internationally. Mariachi music emerged from the ranches and small towns of western central Mexico. As Mexico’s population became more urban in the twentieth century, so did mariachi music. Read the information on pages 239-243, and briefly respond to the following:
24. List several of the musical traditions (genres) found in Mexico.
25. How is mariachi a “national symbol” to Mexican people and communities worldwide?
26. Click on, view, and describe the musical activity and the instruments being played in the video below featuring the fine group Mariachi Los Amigos:
Mariachi Los Amigos in concert – January 2013
(Links to an external site.)
The Roots of Latin Dance Music – From page 243 on, the focus of the chapter is on a musicultural trajectory with roots in West Africa and Spain that crystallizes in Cuba and also experiences important developments in Puerto Rico and the United States en route to its status as a pan-Latino phenomenon of Latin dance music. Read pages 243-246. Become familiar with the early history of the Spanish colonization of Cuba.
27. What two types of traditional, neo-African music developed in Cuba? How did these forms influence the development of Latin dance music? Include discussion of forms, instruments, and characteristic instruments.
28. Define creolized dance-music styles. Identify and describe two of the several major dance-music forms. How did these creolized dance-music styles became important symbols of the emergent Cuban national identity?
Big Band Mambo – Although cha cha chá declined as an international mass culture phenomenon after its heyday in the early 1950s, it took on a new life in Latin ballrooms, serving as a contrast to big band mambo numbers and evolving into new style strongly influenced by big band mambo.
29. The first international mambo hit, “Mambo #5,” was recorded by Perez Prado in 1949. Listen to and describe “Mambo #5” – be sure to list any of the characteristics (located on page 249 of our textbook) you recognize in this recording.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOuRWkLP-dA
30. Listen to and describe Lou Bega’s version of “Mambo #5”. How is Lou Bega’s 1999 version different than Prado’s version of the same title.
Mambo #5 – Lou Bega
(Links to an external site.)
“Sambia” – Machito and the Afro-Cubans, CD4-6 – As a teenager, Tito Puente joined Machito and the Afro-Cubans and began to master the Cuban rhythms that would become such a major factor in his own music in later life. Machito had formed this group in 1940 as a reaction to the “watered-down” music of Latin society bands such as that of Xavier Cugat and forged an innovative sound combining classic Cuban son with big band jazz. Among those influenced by Machito was a young Stan Kenton. Read the “Insights and Perspectives” box on Machito and the Afro-Cubans on page 251 as a prelude to listening to CD4-6.
31. Briefly compare “Sambia” by Machito and the Afro-Cubans to “Brazil” performed by Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra (below). Listening carefully and compare “Brazil” to “Sambia” by Machito and the Afro-Cubans (question 35)–what differences do you notice in rhythms used, the tempo, instrumentation (instruments being played), overall style or feel, and other features. Finally, do you agree or disagree with the categorization of Cugat’s sound as “watered-down”? Why or why not?
Brazil – Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf Astoria Orchestra 1943
(Links to an external site.)
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