History of Salsa

Ballroom dancing

History of Salsa

I imagine that many musicians and non musicians’ salseros who are attracted by the flow of musical cadence and rhythm so contagious have asked themselves where word 'Salsa' came from and who started calling these tropical rhythms as such. The truth is that it all began in Venezuela back in the sixties, when a radio DJ named Phidias Danilo Escalona announced as "Salsa" every tropical disco music playing in his program "The bigotón" Radio Continent. The origin of the word salsa has been surrounded by some ambiguity between musicians who have a long career in this universal language of Latin. Some say it comes from Puerto Rico, others require their origin in New York. This question is not resolved in the book I wrote about the sauce César Miguel Roldan, who was noted and documented that F. D. Escalona, who already died, has started to use the term coined in his radio program.

Salsa has always been fashionable, charming with its magic, culture and tradition, invading every corner of the universe, mixing love and rooted in a romantic idyll with other towns where there is no divorce. However, the word "salsa" came to New York and was marketed by Jerry Masucci, an Italian American who did not invent the Salsa but he located it where is nowadays. Is like his godfather, due to the support offered to the market and marketing, creating a record label called Fania Records, which incidentally takes its name from the first LP of this great Dominican flutist and director of the stars of Fania Johnny Pacheco , entitled "gunshot". He was a disc called numerito "Fania" which was repeated in other words, without knowing why Masucci and Pacheco liked it. Thus, in order not to put their own company names, he named it Fania.

J. Masucci was a man of 'money', as they say in America, and J. Pacheco was the shepherd who gathered a large herd of excellent artists, musicians and singers. As they are Pacheco, Hector Lavoe, Santitos Colon, Larry Harlow, Pete "Conde" Rodriguez, Ray Barreto, Roberto Roena, Ismael Miranda, Willie Colon, Bobby Valentine, Celia Cruz, Cheo Feliciano, Mongo Santamaria, Ismael Quintana, Justo Bethancourt, Luis Texidor, Richie Ray, Bobby Cruz, Papo Luca, Panamanian singer / songwriter that great creator of consciousness latina, Rubén Blades, Barry Rogers, Juan Torres, Hector Zarzuela, Oreste Vilato, Nicky Marrero, Salvador Cuevas, as well as staff from musical trends such as Billy Cobham, Jorge Santana, Manu Dibango, Jan Hammer, etc..

In New York where he sold the Salsa, Masucci is known as the godfather of the same for his valuable contribution to the production of the film Our Latin Thing "(Our Latin Thing), which opened the way to the European market, exporting the music Latino scenarios from countries like France, England, Spain or Italy, but also to Africa, Japan, Germany and the Scandinavian countries where there have been known and renowned artists as Tito Puente, Machito, Celia Cruz and Eddie Palmieri.

For those not familiar with the Salsa it's difficult to understand, to understand that it becomes a divine gift that provides many forms of rhythmic music, running in key 3-2 or 2-3 (*). The key is the basis of Latin music, an accent for all rhythmic phrases that keeps the instruments together.

For the musician inexperienced in it, the problem of Latin music is the ignorance about the importance of the key. Is especially when many groups playing a "crossover “chorus, music can be good, but not rhythmically exact. I want to briefly summarize the Salsa as a compendium of music dominated by tropical Caribbean rhythms and Afro Cuban Son Montuno, the guaracha, cha-cha-cha, the guaguanco the charanga, etc. .., by the Dominican merengue, the pump and full of Puerto Rico, Panama tamborito, Colombian cumbia, the Venezuelan Joropo, etc.

Seeking the roots of salsa.

To find its origin we must go back to the SON, the backbone of any modern Latin music. The SON was born in the sixteenth century in Santiago de Cuba, moulded black musicians added to the rhythmic sound of classical and African music. African percussion, call the Afro-Cuban, who revolutionized both groups and orchestras in the first half of this century, being Cuba the country that has most contributed with rhythmic staff in the musical world.
Trio Matamoros Salsa6Salsa7 released worldwide topics as "Son de la Loma", "La Mujer de Antonio", "Fruits of Caney and others. Other sources that are popular in the twenties were the Sexteto Habanero, Andrea Baró, Piñeiro. And in 50 years, Benny Moré with the son montuno, the variant is a greater sharing orchestra. (In the photo above the Trio Matamoros).

Other musical forms such as mambo begin to be felt in the forties and more specifically in 1947 by Perez Prado and his whole "the Que Rico Mambo" which was moved to early fifties by the cha-cha-chas of Henry Jorrín.

After the Cuban crisis that led to the emigration of Cuban musicians to other countries in search of a better way of life, the Salsa came with them to New York where she was known as Afro-Cuban music and tropical rhythms. (In the photos above, both the left and right Benny Moré Enrique Jorrín).

Even today the word salsa is not in the dictionary Cuban music: They are still called Afro-Cuban music. After the Second World War, Puerto Ricans migrated to New York and were in a colony called "East Harlem, also lived in the neighbourhood where Jews, Italians and Cubans.

There the emigrants were the ones who most played and listened to salsa, adding their musical traditions, and the full pump. In the thirties, the recording of "Manisero" Moses Simons made the rumba (Cuba) was one of the most popular dances from the USA, played by the "Havana Casino Orchestra" director D. Azpiazu and sung by Antonio Machín, that years later would enjoy great popularity in Spain. All this happened back in 1937. (In the photo above Machín Antonio).

Many Latinos were the musicians who joined the jazz orchestras of the thirties. Alberto Socarras including the wonderful flautist, Mario Bauza, and then, trumpet, today saxophonist and trombonist , Juan Tizol.

Among all would make Latin music and jazz inevitably walk together. Still, Flutist Wonderful ran one of the few orchestras that were the true and authentic Latin music. (In the photo above Moisés Simons).

However, the band made famous by the new forms of Latin music in this decade and was the director of the Spanish violinist Xavier Cugat, always changing his musical repertoire in different styles Latinos, so that while some music critics to be more commercial real undoubtedly had quality and professionalism. Cugat was one of the leaders of Latin music grew inside American scenarios, leading to two great vocalists as singers who gained great fame in his musical career: Miguelito Valdez and Frank Grillo "Machito". (In the photo above Xavier Cugat).

jazz and Afro-Cuban music brought a new style of Latin music and was responsible for this outpouring Machito and his Afro-Cuban's, along with his brother, the saxophonist and trumpeter Mario Bauza, who managed to be the required in most rooms and with performances by many jazz greats, Dizzie Gillespie and Stan Kenton and others. After the forties many jazz musicians, leaders in their bands, added Afro-Cuban rhythms to his music. The name given to this merger was "Cubop or Afro Cuban Jazz. That was like Machito began to record with Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kenton and others. Morales and Machito Nano gave air to their jazz bands, becoming a vital force without losing their original identity, leaving Cugat in the background. Morales and Machito orchestras conducted on their own in the forties. (In the photo above Frank Grillo "Machito").

At the same time, born in Cuba was a talented artist who would be the goddess of pace: Celia Cruz, adding that one of the orchestras' La Sonora Matancera "most bullish in the fifties, would mark his musical career. Roberto Torres would start at the age of sixteen in a band called "Swing Rhythm" and then go to join the Orquesta Universal. Born in Guines, Havana Province, Cuba in 1959 would leave to the United States, where he created the Broadway Orchestra, along with brothers Zervigón. (In the photo above with the Sonora Matancera Celia Cruz).

While operating in Puerto Rico as the orchestras of the late Luis Morales, where he started as singer Andy Montaner, former singer with the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, born in Santurce in 1942. The group of Rafael Cortijo and his Combo, which belonged to Rafael Ithier, director of the Great Combo was founded in 1962 when R. Ithier together with other colleagues decided to leave the combo R. Cortijo, then number one on the Puerto Rican music scene.

The prophecies, that fell on him were in vain, and his faith in the success finally realized his dream. International group was born: Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.

The struggle was not easy, they have had decays, but also great satisfaction. Twenty pieces were recorded under the label Gema LP and created his own label EGC, which failed as managed by people whose administration was poor and abused of the trust they had been given by people. So they decide to record the seal Combo Rafi Cartagena and so far everything has gone very well. Have won a number of awards, is an especially prized Gold Monkey Venezuela in 1971. This award was his encouragement and made them understand that this orchestra led by a great pianist and arranger named Rafael Ithier, who has no musical education, has created an institution in salsa. And that institution is called El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.