Subject: Salsa Music Originated in America?

Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 09:32:53 -0800

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Reggie has made the case that today's Salsa is an American (African-American) dance, and I somewhat agree. Although, I have discovered that a lot of the moves come not only from Lindy Hop (Swing), but a great many come from Country Western, which dates back at least to 19th Century in the U.S. I was simply blown away when Ben Corpos showed me several popular Salsa tunnels and whips, and how they were derived from Country 2-Step.

However, I do not know enough about Salsa music to ever try to claim it's orgins. I just know that, as much as I like Salsa music, I'm not particularly fond of Salsa music specifically identified as "Cuban". I'm sure it's great music, I just don't like it because I can't "feel" it, and if I can't feel it and I can't hear the beat, I can't dance to it.

I found Richie Blondet's comments below on the orgins of Salsa music interesting. Don't know how true they are, but they do sound logical.

Who this guy is:

July 18, 2001 Hi Rose -- My name is Richie Blondet and I am a journalist/music reviewer, a concert promoter and a member of an organization called L.A.D.O. (Latin American Dance Organization) aimed specifically to assist dancers get their due. I have written for Salsaweb, Salsajam, and Oasissalsero among others. I've also sat down with and Q&A'd more than half of the people Jo Kim is referring to and am also a huge collector of this music in the form of CD's, old LP's, videos, Books, posters, newspaper clippings, etc. I've also done extensive research on the the music from Cuba, Puerto Rico, New York and have recently done research on the musical culture of The Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

What he says: [QUOTE]I've been surrounded by the music all of my life, yet I never really took an interest in documenting it or researching it extensively until about 1993.

As a child I assumed this music was Puertorican Fokloric music. When I got older, like Jo Kim, I had assumed that it was Cuban. Everythin gI read hada Cuban slant or was only about Afro-Cuban music history. One thing that peaked my interest was reading an article on the life of Mario Bauza and he stated that when he came to this country for the first time and began playing with African American jazz bands, he noticed over quickly that there were already Latinos playing in these big bands.

Unfortunately that's as far as he went on the subject as the interviewer never pursued who exactly was here before Bauza arrived. This piqued my cuirosity and got me into doing heavy research during the 1920s & 30s in New York City. And what I found blew me away and the whole notion that CUBA is the homeland of SALSA! . The Motherland for SON is CUBA. But SALSA was an american concoction based in New York and spread like wildfire around the globe. America is a melting pot. Mario Bauza, a cuban, said it himself, "This music does nto come from Cuba, and it does not come from Puerto Rico....but comes from New York City....this is the only place where it could have happened....".

I've got photos of Cuban bands that include many puertoricans, african americans and even Dominicans. To say that Cubans were the ones who solely developed this music is false. The blueprint or structure of the music is cuban based. Yet when other elements are thrown in, it stops being simply Cuban Music or SON. It's something much more. If it's just SON in the music then it wouldn't be called SALSA. [End Quote]

The above is taken from the ToSalsa.com web site: http://www.tosalsa.com/goto.asp?http://www.tosalsa.com/DearTOsalsa/deartosalsadancestyles.htm#question

This is the discussion: Salsa Dance Styles -- North American Salsa Dancing versus Cuban or Latin-style Dance Styles --