History of Salsa

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Ana Azucena Proffesor Music 25 11 March 3015 Salsa is one of the most dynamic and important musical phenomena of the 1900's represented by a second generation of salseros. In many Hispanic communities, it remains today the most popular style of dance music. Salsa represents a mix of Latin musical genres, but its primary component are the Cuban son with a combination of Afro-Cuban dance(1). The Spanish and Afro-Cuban musical elements were combined, both in terms of rhythm and the instruments, with heavy use of percussion a few examples are (clave, maracas, conga, bongo ), the instruments and the singers often mimic the call and response patterns of traditional African songs, and then segue into the chorus. Although, many argue that salsa originated in Cuba, Puerto Rico also played an enormous role in the orgin of salsa music. The Puerto Rican plena which can be found in salsa is a tropical sound accompanied by percussion, the plena is a uniquely Puerto Rican style that deals with contemporary events, it is often referred to as "el periodico cantado" (the sung newspaper.) It is composed of an alternating, call-and-response scheme between the soloist and the chorus. As time progressed and immigrants from Cuba began to migrate to the United States due to the Cuban embargo, salsa became a blend of many genres; hybrid that it is today. Salsa played an important role for these new immigrants living in the barrios of the South Bronx and Brooklyn at a time where there was violence, illicit drugs, and political and economic disparities among its community. Salsa was used as an arena to discuss these issues and served as a significant factor on how salsa in New York was performed, sounded and produced. For many salseros in the barrio it represented their position in social environment that help unite the diverse groups living in the community. During the 1940s and 50s,

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