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 CD
News:
"Que
Siga La Rumba"
...is the latest (and best!) creation from Michael Tate and
Chris Amelar, in a series of CD's, which began with "Ritmo
de Vida" a few years back.
Que Siga La Rumba's first track
"Mi Amor Eterno" immediately sets the tone for what to
expect from the rest of the CD, fusing salsa with Caribbean
beats, perhaps creating a new genre of music, built on a
deep rooted Caribbean influx.
The CD is an artist-packed piece of work, with a groovy
mix of salsa and Latin Caribbean beats. The artist roster
includes Herman Olivera, Ricky Gonzalez, Lenny Underwood,
Willie Torres, Ruben Rodriguez, Jerry Lopez, Ray Vega, Ray
Chew, Lino Iglesias, and many others.
BUY IT HERE
Is Giovanni Hidalgo Rally the
best?
Purloined by Don Jibaro
 An artist some describe
as "touched by the hand of God," conguero Giovanni Hidalgo
plays a major role in shaping the way the world thinks of
hand drumming. With legendary percussionists Tito Puente,
Armando Peraza, Patato and the late José Mangual, Sr.
topping the list of his most ardent fans, Giovanni and his
natural talent are bringing new respect to Latin rhythms as
well as to the rhythms of his birthplace, Puerto Rico.
READ MORE
 Systematic
Analysis of
Caribbean Conga Drums
Purloined by Don Jibaro Barbablanca
 he
conga is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum of African origin,
probably derived from the Congolese Makuta drums or Sikulu drums
commonly played in Mbanza Ngungu, Congo. A person who plays conga is
called a "conguero".
Les Rivera with his new
Puerto Rican Tumbadora ~~>
Although ultimately derived from African drums made from hollowed logs,
the Cuban conga is staved, like a barrel. These drums were probably made
from salvaged barrels originally.
READ MORE
 Youngsters
are keeping the tradition alive!
Recently a group of young musicians from the East Coast of
Puerto Rico began playing at local activities produced by
their school. The School of Fine Arts in Humacao provided
these youngsters with the stage and forum, allowing them to
have maximum exposure on a small scale. The youngsters were
anxious and driven to expose their fresh classic salsa sound
to the general public. Their type of salsa can best be
described as a classic salsa sound with a young feel.
READ MORE
|
Salsa Picture
Moments
from the Past to Present! |
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Les
Rivera going to a Hector Lavoe salsa event at the age of 16. |
Les Rivera and Yomo Toro today. |
The Peas Brothers unite for a pic and evaluation.
 ¿Wassa
Salsa?
Salsa refers to a fusion of informal dance styles having roots in the
Caribbean (especially in Cuba and Puerto Rico), Latin and North America.
The dance originated through the mixture of Mambo, Danzón, Guaguancó,
Cuban Son, and other typical Cuban dance forms. Salsa is danced to Salsa
music. There is a strong African influence in the music as well as the
dance.
Salsa is usually a partner dance, although there are recognized solo
steps and some forms are danced in groups of couples, with frequent
exchanges of partner (Rueda de Casino). Improvisation and social dancing
are important elements of Salsa but it appears as a performance dance
too.
The name "Salsa" is the Spanish word for sauce, connoting (in American
Spanish) a spicy flavor[1]. The Salsa aesthetic is more flirtatious and
sensuous than its ancestor, Cuban Son. Salsa also suggests a "mixture"
of ingredients, though this meaning is not found in most stories of the
term's origin.
 More on
this fabulous and
delicious concept later
Mambo Master Cachao Dead at 89
 Israel
Cachao López — the legendary Cuban composer, songwriter and bassist
known simply as “Cachao” — died last March at age 89 in Coral Gables,
Florida. Cachao is revered as the pioneer of the mambo, the genre
created in the late 1930s that became the bedrock of modern Cuban music,
salsa, and the Latin-influenced genres of rock and r&b.
Born in 1918, Cachao’s 80-year career began in the silent movie era as
he accompanied pianists in movie theaters in his native Havana. At 13,
he became the bassist of the Havana Philharmonic, a position he held for
30 years. Simultaneously, with his brother Orestes, he played in a
succession of dance orchestras and smaller ensembles as the duo wrote
thousands of songs in the traditional Cuban styles...
READ MORE
Timbales, Conga y Bongó|
A Short Historical Primer
 By
Bobby Sanabria
The Timbales
The timbales were developed as a portable replacement for the "timbal
criollo" (creole timpani) in Cuba's Danzónera Bands. The design of the
timbal criollo was based on the European timpani but was slightly
smaller. The European timpani was introduced to Cuba by an Italian Opera
orchestra that toured the island in the mid 1870's. The Danzóneras were
brass bands that played the elegant danzón - a style of music based on
the French contradanse but with clave driven rhythm propelling it. By
the mid 1930's a small cowbell was added to interpret son based music.
Son is the folk root of the music we today call Salsa which is an urban
contemporary interpretation of the son. The smaller timbalitos were
developed
READ MORE
 Don Jibaro,
the Man Behind Jibaros.com Talks To Salsaricans
—Interview by By Les Rivera
"Eccentricity is necessarily defined
relatively. For the purposes of this interview, an eccentric is someone whose
behavior, beliefs and hobbies deviate in a significant way from the accepted
norms of their society, but otherwise can function largely as normal in that
society. He or she may be regarded as strange, odd or at least unconventional,
irregular and exotic. Other people may regard the eccentric with apprehension
but also with amusement...
Read More
One Truly Boricua... Bomba & Plena
 Courtesy
of The Smithsonian Institute
Bomba and plena are percussion-driven musical traditions from Puerto
Rico that move people to dance. Often mentioned together as though they
were a single musical style, both reflect the African heritage of Puerto
Rico, but there are basic distinctions between them in rhythm,
instrumentation, and lyrics. You can hear the difference in these songs.
In "Baila, Julia Loíza" the drums or barriles are lower pitched and form
a different rhythmic accompaniment than the pandereta drums in the plena
example, "Báilala hasta las dos."
READ MORE
 The
One Queen of Salsa:
Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz (October 21, 1925 – July 15, 2003) was an
Afro-Cuban-American salsa singer who spent most of her career living in
New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American
countries. Cruz was one of the most successful Cuban performers of the
20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name and has earned
the moniker "La guarachera de Cuba".
Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the
best-known and most influential female figure in the history of
Afro-Cuban music." Cruz once said in an interview "If I had a chance I
wouldn't have been singing and dancing, I would be a teacher just like
my dad wanted me to be".
Read
More
 WASSAMAMBO?
Mambo. So what is it? Well, Mambo is a fully featured content
management system (CMS) that can be used to build and maintain a web site. It’s
a user friendly software that allows both novices and experts alike to
efficiently and easily manage online content.
WAIT!!! Wrong mambo!! Our mambo is a Latin American dance form greatly
revered in dance circles. Though music similar to the now recognizable style of
the mambo existed as far back as the mid-19th century, the dance itself was not
invented until the 1940s. Perez Prado is credited with the invention of the
mambo dance, as well as with marketing his style of music as...
Read
More
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