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History of Salsa
Introduction
In the 60’s a wave of cuban rhythm fused with jazz. Izzy Sanabria, a graphic
designer at Fania studios, combined them all together
under the same name to avoid confusion and
to sell the concept more easily.
He chose salsa,
a word that was shouted out to bands and musicians
to request them to spice up or liven up the music.
Salsa music has a very defined structure:
- an introduction
- a melodic phase
- a rhythmic or percussion phase called montuno
- another melodic phase
- and the ending
The exclamations are used to announce a change , especially in the montuno, which is the part
with greatest rhythmic energy.
An old Antecessors of Salsa in Cuba is the 'contrandanse' danced
in Versailles, which went first to the Spanish court
and afterwards to the Caribbean. During the colonisation, this dance had already got the name contradanza. The contradanse arrived in Haiti and the contradanza
in Havana.
Another fundamental factor for the development of salsa
are the African rhythm which were used by the slaves for their
religious rites. This preservation of these rites was possible
due to the similarity of their deities, the orishas,
and the Catholic saints.
Immigrants from Haiti in Cuba also played an important
role for the creation of salsa rhythms. Immigrants of the first colonisation
introduced the contradanza criolla (of Hispanic
American origin), a criolla version of the contradanse
with African influence in the instrumentation and
interpretation. The second wave of immigrants arrived
in the middle of the 19th Century from the Republic
of Haiti, contributing to the birth of the Cuban
son.
Rhythm and Composition
The singing tradition and the rhythm of the drums
are a central part of religious and social practices
among the Africans. A relevant aspect is the shared
musicality.
One of the musicians plays a constant,
specific rhythm (the clave)
and the others play together forming a polyrhythm.
The polyrhythm is an essential component of salsa
music. The most common claves are those of the son,
the rumba and
the samba; all descendants of the African clave.
The pregón-choir
is another legacy of religious ceremonies, in which
songs were directed by a social or religious leader.
The method of composition used in Cuba during the
second half of the 19th Century varied according
to the geographical location. In the East, music
was based on a rhythmic progression of simple chords
that accompanied the improvised words that obeyed
the clave. All of these are characteristics that
are apparent in salsa.
The music from the West was
more European and the instruments used reminded of those found in French orchestras. The preservation
of the orchestral structure, instruments and specialized
musicians would later make jazz’s appearance and entrance into Cuban music much easier.
When Cuba became an independent colony, what used
to be a geographical difference turned into a social
stratification in the capital: European music for
the upper white classes and the music of the East
for the lower black classes.
Salsa in Mixed-breed
Cuba
The Caribbean cinquillo
rhythm pattern was acquired by Cuban dancing and
habaneras
through the criolla (Hispanic American) contradanza.
The dances for these musical forms were used to be
group activities in the past and became coupled dances. The individualisation
of the dance paved the way for the introduction
of African movements in the derivatives of the
contradanse. The new dance
received more approval among the colored communities
than among the conservative governing elite.
North American influences during the Batista dictatorship brought over performances by American musicians,
which led to jazz’s elements in salsa. The mambo went on
to be acknowledged as a genre in its own during
the 40’s. The cha
cha chá, another descendant of the new
rhythm section, was still played
by the charangas
(flute and violin) and preserved an intermediate
tempo. The big change involved the introduction
of the conga.
Both styles spread rapidly throughout the rest of
the world.
Cuban
Revolution and beyond
Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. The American
economic sanctions against Cuba could not prevent
new rhythm from escaping; the most remarkable ones include
the songo and
the mozambique. However, the political change and its impacts reduced Cuba's presence
on the global scene.
Apart from the Caribbean, three new salsa centers
sprang up: New York, Miami and Colombia.
In New York, immigrants from Puerto Rico abandoned
Puerto Rican folklore music such as the bomba or the plena – except perhaps Willie Colón-,
in favor of Afro-Cuban music.
Miami was a destination
chosen by many of the exiled Cubans. Salsa in Miami
is fairly politicised, and Carnival or salsa’s
promotion in Miami are mostly due to right-wing
political activists. Salsa there is a symbol of
a great desire: a Cuba without Castro.
In Colombia, the considerable responsibility of
being a main salsa centre can be observed in its
great contribution of talents and rhythmic innovations.
Cuba prepared what has become another great historical
contribution to the history of Salsa: the Timba.
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