History of Salsa

Salsa - Spanish for "sauce" - as its name indicates, is the result of several musical influences, whose origins are scattered throughout the Caribbean, especially in Cuba and Puerto Rico. It is a mixture of Afro-Cuban music, rhythm and blues and pop music.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Puerto Rico moved to the sound of the bomba and the seis, while Cuba did the same with the changui andthe rumba. Then came the migration movement to New York. Dozens of artists left the two islands in pursuit of the American dream. In the Big Apple, Puerto Ricans had an administrative advantage over Cubans: they had just been offered American citizenship by the Jones Act of 1917. Many Boricua musicians gradually met their American counterparts, mainly of African origin. The 1920s saw the birth of jazz. Many Latinos from the Caribbean began to make their mark. The Puerto Ricans of a group of musicians from the 369th Infantry of the U.S. Army, who had participated in the First World War, were the first Latin American artists to play in New York clubs and other theaters.

In Cuba, while Puerto Ricans were boasting about jazzy sounds, Havana was witnessing the emergence of a new musical phenomenon. In the early 1930s, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Havana, Xavier Cugat, the Spanish "king of rumba ", had fun mixing jazz accents with rumba. The fusion between two genres takes place. In New York, the mixture is symbolized by the emergence of a group led by Cubans Mario Bauza and Frank Grillo, known as El Machito. Machito and his Afro-cubanos became the first group to mix Afro-American jazz with Latin American melody. With the help of their friend, Dizzy Gillepsie, percussion was added to the ensemble, giving birth to the first Afro-Cuban jazz sounds. Then a television series, I love Lucy, conceived by the Cuban Desi Arnaz, will play a very important role in the birth of salsa. It popularized two new musical genres, born of the fusion of Puerto Rican and especially Cuban cultures, the cha-cha-cha and the mambo.

The beginning of the 1950s in New York marked the emergence of new Latin clubs, including the Palladium on Broadway, which experimented with the mambo, then the cha-cha-cha. These two musical styles fed the concerts of the new New York phenomenon, the Big Three, composed of the Cuban Frank Grillo, the New Yorker of Puerto Rican origin Tito Puente, and the Dominican Tito Rodriguez. A whole host of artists then flourished, popularizing the meeting of Afro-Caribbean sounds and Afro-American jazz, such as Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barreto, or later Willie Colon, Héctor Lavoe...

In 1962, the American blockade of Cuba began. Only the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico occupied the New York Latin scene. But the "damage" was done. Latin music found genres and places to reproduce itself. In 1964, the Dominican Johnny Pacheco created the music label Fania, which would produce most of the mambo and cha-cha-cha artists. Labeled and distributed in the musical genre salsa, the term will remain. Salsa was born!

In Puerto Rico, the Gran Combo salsa group is the most famous, and it seems to be eternal. The singers Andy Montañez and Roberto Roena, who for a time were an integral part of the group, popularized salsa all over the world. In the 1960s, the Gran Combo was one of the leading groups at the famous Palladium in New York. It made millions of salseros (salsa dancers) dance around the world for more than 30 years. The hits of the group are innumerable: Brujería, La Muerte, Ojitoschinos, Se me fue...

One dance, two inspirations

Puerto Rican salsa. Agile steps that are danced in pairs to a lively tempo: Puerto Rican salsa is highly technical and sometimes even very acrobatic! However, before being able to perform figures, it is essential for a salsa dancer to master the basic steps and the timing to the music. Thus, in Puerto Rican salsa, one can dance on two, which means that one starts on the second beat of the music, or on one, when one marks the strong beat on the first beat of the music. The on one dance is the most practiced in the world, except in New-York, because this tempo is the most natural. Once the base is integrated, dancers can give free rein to their creativity by using movements from cha-cha-cha but also from jazz dance. For example, there are leg games called shines, performed by the dancers when they break away. Puerto Rican salsa is also recognized by the multiple turns performed by the dancers. They can be spectacular, to the point of reminding the pirouettes of figure skating! Finally, unlike Cuban salsa, which is danced in a circular fashion - the dancer turns around the dancer - Puerto Rican salsa is practiced on an imaginary line.

Cuban salsa. Originally, in Cuban salsa, the dancers move in a circular fashion in a rueda de casino. The rueda de casino is a specificity of Cuban salsa, in which couples of dancers form a circle and perform figures called by a leader. According to a precise code, the participants change partners at his request. In Cuban salsa, the challenge is to use the arms well to perform figures sometimes long, with great fluidity, while detaching the least possible from his partner

The big names

Willie Rosario (born 1930). Willie Rosario was not born into a musical family, but he took his first guitar lessons at the age of 6, before later becoming interested in the saxophone and the conga. With friends, he formed the group Coamex (he was originally from Coamo), but soon had to give up the adventure as his family moved to New York. In the 1950s, he formed his own group. In order to earn some money, he played DJ for the radio and performed regularly in Latin clubs in New York. He is in the air of time. The salsa is industrialized and he signs in 1962 a first contract with the record company Alegre Record. He began an international tour. It was also the time when he opened his own club, the Tropicana, in collaboration with his friend and renowned bass player, Bobby Valentin. His hits include Lluvia, El timbal de Carlitos and El revendón.

Ismael Rivera (1931-1987). Emblematic figure of the boricua music, Ismael Rivera is a monument to him alone. He is so respected, his talent as an interpreter and improviser so well known, that the legendary Cuban singer Benny Moré once called him the Soneromayor (a major artist of the genre). Ismael Rivera made his official debut in an island group at the age of 18, before joining the group Cortijo y su Combo. The different styles of music interpreted by the group, such as the bomba or plena sounds, seduce the public. The contracts multiply, the concerts and the tours also. But the taste of the group for the drug leads it right in prison. End of a period. Released and back to Puerto Rico. Very quickly, he records new albums, of which the memorable Traigo de Todo in 1974. But this time, health problems, and in particular problems with his voice, ruined the end of his career. He died in 1987 due to heart problems, leaving an indelible mark on the modern culture of Puerto Rico

Héctor Lavoe (1946-1993). For all the salsa fans, Héctor Lavoe passed away way too early, at the age of 46. His nickname "El cantante de los cantantes" (the singer of the singers) does not deceive. Originally from Ponce, Héctor Lavoe took his first steps as a musician in the city's music school. He then left to conquer New York. After a few performances in small clubs, he met the very famous Willie Colon who made him join his band. They will work together until the middle of the 1970s. Héctor Lavoe then embarked on a successful solo career. Victim of AIDS, his health condition will unfortunately not allow him to work in good conditions at the end of the 1980s

Eddie Santiago (born in 1955). Like many great salsa singers, Eddie Santiago began his career in local bands. Born in Toa Alta, he started his solo career at only 30 years old, surrounded by his own musicians. He became one of the main ambassadors of the romantic salsa genre, which was then in fashion, at the end of the 1980s. With the songs Devorame otra vez, Lluvia, Tu me haces falta or Que locura fue enamorarme de ti, Eddie Santiago entered his name in the list of the most popular salsa songs of all time

Giberto Santa Rosa (born 1962). Known as the gentleman of salsa, Giberto Santa Rosa is considered a living legend of salsa. He was a teenager when he performed on stage for the first time. His talent was quickly noticed by other Puerto Rican artists who offered him collaborations. Giberto Santa Rosa distinguishes himself in particular on the tribute album to Eddie Palmieri. He evolves with the great ones: El Gran Combo, the Puerto Rican All Stars, Willie Rosario... In 2005, he participated in the emergence of Victor Manuelle, the rising star of salsa

Jerry Rivera (born in 1973). He is one of the stars made in Puerto Rico of the salsa. But with Jerry Rivera, you should not expect to dance on a wild rhythm. His specialty is rather the romantic salsa. Born in Santurce, he easily developed a good musical ear, his mother being a singer and his father a guitarist. As a teenager, he performed on stage with his father and accompanied him on vocals. A producer spotted him when he was only 14 years old. A first contract followed a few months later. His first album Abriendo Puertas seduced all of Latin America. The following ones will do the same, notably the very good Cuenta Conmigo which is the best selling salsa album in the history of the music industry. Jerry Rivera continues to perform on stage

The Puerto Rican Salsa Diaspora

They may or may not have been born in Puerto Rico and raised in the United States, but they are still part of the Boricua culture. Because they are the pride of the island, many Puerto Ricans consider them their fellow citizens. At different times, they have marked and continue to mark the world of salsa. Their names are Tito Puente (1923-2000), Ray Barreto (1929-2006), Eddie Palmieri (born in 1936), Willie Colón (born in 1950), Frankie Ruiz (1958-1998), Marc Anthony (born in 1968) or Elvis Crespo (born in 1971).