Part 4 A Diversity of Popular Musics Chapter 15: Latin Popular Musics America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition PowerPoint by Myra Lewinter Malamut Georgian

Part 4A Diversity of Popular Musics

Chapter 15: Latin Popular Musics

America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition

PowerPoint by Myra Lewinter MalamutGeorgian Court University

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Part 4: A Diversity of Popular Musics Chapter 15: Latin Popular Musics

2© 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Part 4: A Diversity of Popular Musics With the coming of rock and roll, American

popular music diversified as never before

Pop and country-western struggled to hold their own against the powerful new music

In time, various styles found audiences and vied for popularity with rock and among themselves

Disco, new wave, gospel, rap, jazz, regional and ethnic musics



Vernacular Art The beat generation of the 1950s

A term invented by Jack Kerouac Originally involving his talented friends who provided some

of the twentieth century’s most inspired poetry and prose Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac,

friends and colleagues stood for nonconformity… Which was a concept in vogue in Europe

At the same time, performers gave vent to the same spirit motivating the literary beats

James Dean, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley



Vernacular Art: Visual Arts Visual arts found new means of expression and established new

artistic ideals

Pop artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

Puzzled and intrigued his contemporaries Achieved new color harmonies with silk-screen prints His “serial” paintings, multiple repetitions of an image,

feature common objects of popular American culture Movie stars, advertising logos, political figures, more

Identified with some vernacular musicians of his day 1965: Punk rock group Velvet Underground

accompanied the showing of one of Warhol’s artworks



Vernacular Music During the twentieth century, popular or vernacular music

became a significant cultural concept and an important business

Recent decades have produced an unprecedented variety of popular music

Grunge, hip-hop, alternative rock, women in rock, new country, teenybop, Latin pop, rave

All of these styles have not replaced but rather joined rhythm and blues, classic rock, light pop, and the other music of our popular culture



Vernacular Music: The 1990s and Early Twenty-first Century 1990s: One of pop’s most experimental periods

Technological advances brought down recording costs Computerized inventories allowed stores to carry more

stock

Early Twenty-first century Downloading of music has changed the nature of the pop

marketplace Challenging major labels to find new ways to make money in

what may soon be the post-CD era



Vernacular Music Today We are in the midst of a prodigiously

productive period

Richer than any earlier time

Richer than any other contemporary culture in the variety, quantity, and quality of our vernacular music



Latin Popular Musics Latin American music has enriched the popular and concert music

of the United States for at least a century and a half

This music is of more significance to North American popular music today than ever before

Southwest United States Traditional Spanish dance music is played

Other parts of the country Latin American dance music has affected pop and jazz

“Latin Pop” is a category in its own right on the Billboard trade magazine popular music charts



Latin Popular Musics: Early Twentieth Century Latin popular dances took the United States by storm

First as exotic curiosities, then as fads, and finally entering mainstream American popular music

The Argentinean tango The first Latin rhythm to affect American pop A graceful, yet torrid dance, sedate in tempo, sensuous 1911: The tango was introduced to Broadway audiences 1913: Made widely popular as danced by Irene and Vernon

Castle in a musical A sophisticated fusion of European and African ingredients



Latin Popular Musics: The Tango and the Habanera Lyrical tango melodies often suggest the influence of

Argentina’s Italian population

Tango rhythm is that of the Cuban dance, the habanera… Subdivides eight eighth-notes (four beats) into 3 + 3 + 2 Habanera beat has influenced United States popular music…

In Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s piano pieces Jelly Roll Mortin called it the “Spanish tinge” in ragtime W. C. Handy used habanera rhythm in the four-line verse

—”tango section”—between stanzas of “St. Louis Blues”

The habanera beat has been heard as the basic rhythm of numerous pop styles



Latin Popular Musics: Influence of Latin Performers 1930s: Several Latin dances entered American pop through

big band music Especially that of popular bandleader Xavier Cugat, born in

Spain and raised in Cuba

Several renowned Latin performers began their careers at about that time Appearing in popular stage shows and later in film musicals

Desi Arnaz and Carmen Miranda

Three Latin areas—the Caribbean, Brazil, Mexico—have influenced popular, classical, and religious music in North America



The Caribbean The slave trade bringing blacks to North America

carried many slaves to the Caribbean islands

These slaves managed better than their northern counterparts to preserve their cultural traditions

The drumming largely forbidden in the North was tolerated south of the border

African tribal religions blended better with the Christian Catholicism prevalent in Latin America than with the Protestantism characteristic of the North



The Caribbean Since 1898 Puerto Ricans arrived to settle primarily in New York

City

Cubans have come to New York City as well as to Florida

Cubans and Puerto Ricans brought African-derived musical and dance forms to the United States

Because more African slaves originally were brought to Cuba, the black Cuban population is sizable and the African influence on its culture is strong

Chicago and Los Angeles have people from Haiti, Trinidad, and other areas of the West Indies



The CaribbeanSanteria: The Way of the Saints Santeria is a religion created in the New World by slaves

brought from West Africa to the Caribbean sugar plantations

Nominally converted to Catholicism, slaves often fused their traditional beliefs and rituals with elements of their new religion

Thus, in Cuba the religious practice called Santeria evolved

In the United States Santeria has members of the Cuban, Puerto Rican, African American, and Anglo-American communities

Music is important to Santeria



Santeria: The Music Traditional rhythms of Cuban batá drums accompany rituals

Batá are double-headed, hourglass-shaped drums Believed to be shaped like the thunder ax god Both heads of the drums are sounded with the hands Each rhythm constitutes a musical prayer to a specific god An oral tradition rooted in ancient Africa, ensembles evolve

their own performance style and technique

Each Santeria song is associated with a particular deity Sung without harmony in call-and-response fashion

The Leader improvises phrases in an open, relaxed vocal style characteristic of African practice



The Caribbean: Bomba Bomba = African-derived Puerto

Rican couple dance; one of the first Latin dances to become popular north of the border Allowing the man great flexibility and

freedom to display dancing skills The female performs fixed steps

The song’s text—in call-and-response fashion—concerns daily events

With drums, optional maracas, guiro (see photo) and cowbell

guiro



The Caribbean: Rumba Rumba: A group of Afro-Cuban musical

and dance forms Dancing couples hold each other a

bit apart, shoulders level, moving hips

Rhythm of two or four beats per measure, divided according to clave rhythm, tapped using claves (see image), which underlies Cuban dance music (refer to figure 15.2, page 256)

claves

First two measures: Habanera rhythm; second measure sounds on beats two and three; tempo variable but never very rapid



Rumba is the style at the deepest roots of Cuban music Arrived in Cuba with African slaves

Soon African languages were replaced by Spanish Melody lines adapted scales and figures from Spanish songs This synthesis seeded all Cuban music that followed…

Including son, chachacha, conga, mambo, salsa, cabaret music, pop songs, classical Cuban compositions

Around the world rumba reached into… Rhythm and blues, disco, Spanish flamenco-pop, African

guitar-rock

Rumba continues to evolve



Rumba: Instruments Traditional instruments

add to the exotic flavor of rumba Bongos

Pairs of drums of different size

Held between the knees

Usually played with the fingers and hand, sometimes with a stick

Bongos



Rumba: Conga Drums, Timbales, Maracas The Conga drum is the largest of the Latin instruments

Often played in pairs Sound is produced by their muleskin head

Timbre varying according to whether it is struck by the heel, palm, or fingers of the hand

Timbales Pairs of metal drums mounted on a stand, struck with a stick

Maracas Pairs of gourds filled with pebbles or seeds

Shaken or rotated by handles attached to one end



The Rumba in the United States 1930s—Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians performed

rumbas in New York’s uptown Latin district, El Barrio

Xavier Cugat and other bandleaders entertained downtown ballroom crowds in a rhythmically simplified Americanized version of the rumba

Tin Pan Alley songwriters produced songs with Latin American flavor, such as… “Heat Wave,” by Irving Berlin “Begin the Beguine,” by Cole Porter

The beguine is a native West Indies dance



The Caribbean: Cu-Bop 1940s: Cuban instruments and instrumentalists were

strongly affecting jazz

Another dance, the conga, a line or chain dance

Cu-bop merges Latin rhythms with bebop

Introduced by Dizzie Gillespie in a 1947 bebop concert

From then on, Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, and other musicians flavored much of their music with Brazilian, Cuban, Latin influences



The Importance of Rhythm Rhythmic patterns are at the heart of Cuban (and African)

drumming

Over a constant pulse other pulses are layered, then varied

Creating rhythmic expectation through repetition, then subverting it

This is what a jazz soloist does

Jazz musicians adapted such techniques

Stan Kenton’s band used the Latin effect double-timing which subdivides the beat, implying a faster tempo



The Caribbean: Mambo An Afro-Cuban form of big band dance music

Tito Puente (1923-2000)—born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents—became known as the “Mambo King” for his sophisticated versions of this Latin dance Puente was a percussionist and bandleader of Afro-Cuban

music, influenced by swing and Santeria

Couples danced the mambo moving forward and back The slower, simpler chachacha, popular in the 1950s is closely

related to or even a form of the mambo



The Mambo’s Influence Merged with big band jazz

Inspired many Tin Pan Alley songs recorded by…

Perry Como, Nat “King” Cole, more

The mambo affected 1950s rhythm and blues

Introduced Latin rhythms into early rock

Bo Diddley, Ray Charles, James Brown absorbed Latin percussion sounds and rhythms into their own music



The Caribbean: Salsa Late 1970s: Salsa emerged with new status

Salsa = sauce (literal translation)—was a term for peppy sounds

Today salsa sometimes refers to all African-Latin musics

Salsa had been dance band music with instrumentation, rhythms, flavor unlike swing band sound

Timbres: Voices, trumpets; or, flutes and violins Rhythms: Complex; varied Puerto Rican, South

American elements

Salsa had been a Cuban music considered a substyle of popular music for decades



Salsa Sophisticated jazz musicians enthusiastically incorporated salsa

rhythms into their virtuosic performances

1980s and 1990s

Salsa in New York changed, acquiring a distinct African-American inflection

The match of young freestyle singers with classic salsa rhythms has proved powerful, as revealed by brisk sales of recordings by salsa artists

Marc Anthony, and, India



Listening Example 54Ojos (“Eyes,” 1978)Composed by Willie ColónPerformed by Rubén Blades (vocal)Willie Colón (trombone)Listening guide page 259

Rhythm: Clave rhythmInstrumentation: Brass with trombone on lead lines; percussion,

including conga drum, timbales, bongos, maracas, claves, piano repeats syncopated patterns

Form: Two-partCanto (narrative) and montuno (rhythmic, more instrumental)

This performance exemplifies howsalsa musicians absorb varied influences and apply them to thisCuban style

Notice how the brass instrumentssound like those of big band jazz

Canto After a brass introduction, the first section, like the verse of aTin Pan Alley song, presents thesong’s narrative content

Montuno The second section alternates instrumental and vocalperformances, increasing intensity and rhythmic complexity



The Caribbean: Reggae Reggae fused elements of North American rock

and African Jamaican music to form a kind of “acculturated rock”

1960s—popular in England

1970s—popular in the United States

Bob Marley (1945-1981) was a leading performer who became famous in the United States



Reggae Reggae comes in several styles, all roughly

related to rhythm and blues But the polyrhythms are more complex Bass lines stronger Tempos more relaxed

Reggae combos consist of Electric guitars, electric organ, electric bass

guitar, drums Electronic studio techniques

Toasting or Dubbing = rapid patter talking, to influence development of rap music

Electric guitar



Reggae: Religious and Spiritual Implications Reggae—a vernacular music (rock) borrowed and

transformed by a culture (Jamaican) other than the one that introduced it (African American) to form a new style Represents a popular music with strong religious connotations

Rastafarianism = a black religious movement Many of the songs have urgent political content

Promoting the 1960s “back to Africa” movement

Marley’s spiritual descendents Buju Banton – His album Unchained Spirit Luciano – His album Ultimate Collection (2003) sings of moral

chastisement, spiritual uplift



The Caribbean: Calypso, a Song Style of Trinidad Popular in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean

Was a communication between African slaves forbidden to talk to each other Satirically humorous song lyrics Often sung in French-Creole dialect, or patois

Often mocked masters, politically charged, or risqué

Singer-composers take grandiose names, such as Lord Executor

1944: Lord Invader’s “Rum and Coca-Cola” sung by the Andrews Sisters led to Calypso’s popularity in North America, including Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song” (“Day-O”)



Calypso Steel drum was the favorite accompanying instrument

1940s: The steel drum was developed in Trinidad The only new acoustic instrument of the twentieth century Made by pounding the bottom of a 55-gallon drum, concave

Chiseling various sizes of grooves to produce tones Timbre: Ringing

1970s: As calypso declined in popularity, other versions of calypso appeared Soca = A party music version, more up-tempo Rapso = calypso-style lyrics, rhythms influenced by hip-hop

Today: Calypso still has devoted fans



Brazil The relaxed, easy pace of Brazilian music can be

related to the sounds and inflections of the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil

Brazilian dances—gentler, slower, less intense that the exciting Cuban and Puerto Rican musics—achieved their own popularity in the United States

But never to the degree of the hot Caribbean sounds



Brazil:Samba and Bossa Nova 1949: The Afro-Brazilian samba, sometimes called the

national dance of Brazil, arrived in New York Became popular as sung and danced by the glamorous Carmen

Miranda

The word samba has religious connotations Samba has been the main dance at Rio’s Carnival, before Lent

1960s: Bossa Nova emerged as middle and upper class youth’s reaction against samba’s perceived commercialism Sometimes called jazz samba, it is derived from samba

Bossa Nova used elements of cool and progressive jazz with sophisticated Brazilian rhythms



Bossa Nova Less vibrant, more melancholy than Cuban-flavored music

Bossa nova adapted beautifully to the world of jazz Flexible rhythms, colorful instrumentation

Bossa nova met initial resistance from traditionalists They did not understand its elusive flavors, new sounds And, like bebop, bossa nova is for listening

Bossa nova is not a dance, but a rhythm--with subtle, flexible polyrhythms

Samba had Exotic stars singing, dancing, flashy band Bossa nova—Soft singing, single guitar, at most a four-

man band



Bossa Nova:Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) A leading figure of the bossa nova movement

The term bossa nova first emerged in the lyrics of the song “Desafinado,” by Jobim

Bossa = slang for something particularly distinctive Nova = new “Desafinado” = off key—The lyrics say that by singing “off

key” the singer tried to attract his beloved’s attention

Early 1970s: Rhythms and melodies of bossa nova were added to much music, including but not limited to… Weather Report, with Brazilian percussionists; Brazilian singer

of jazz and Brazilian music Flora Purim; Pat Metheny



Listening Example 55Desafinado (“Off Key”)by Antônio Carlos JobimLyricist: Newton MendoncaPerformers: João Gilberto (vocalist, guitarist)and Stan Getz (jazz tenor saxophonist)Listening guide page 262, 263

Meter: Four beats to the barTempo: Slow, relaxedForm: StrophicGilberto’s calm voice is uniquely suited for the long, sinuous, chromatic

melodic line; notice the harmonies to make the singer seem “off key.”

If you say thatI sing out of tune, love,I want you to know that thiscauses me great pain.

Only the privileged have ears as good as yours.I only possess what God gave me.

If you insist in classifying my behavior as antimusicalI myself lyingshould arguethat this is bossa nova,that this is very natural….



Mexico Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California absorbed many sounds

from nearby Mexico… Where folk music and popular music strongly reflect the songs

and dances of African slaves

Country music of the Southwest shows the Mexican influence Woody Guthrie, playing music in Texas in the 1920s sometimes

adapted Mexican topical ballads called corridos Corrido = Storytelling song, with roots in Mexico and the

southwestern and western United States

The Mexican ranchera (ranch song) “El Rancho Grande” became a standard of western swing bands



Mexico: Dances Dances traveled back and forth between Spain and Mexico

Dances acquired changes in name, instrumentation, performance style over time

These dances became popular in the Southwest

Baile = traditional Spanish social dance popular in the Southwest before and after the Civil War, and, today

Bailes are performed to celebrate engagements, weddings, joyful events



Mexico:Tejano and Norteño Music These are musical styles showing the influence of mid-

nineteenth century immigrants from Germany, Poland, and what is now the Czech Republic

Accordion in popular bands

Oom-pah-pah beat of polkas to Spanish songs and dances

Known as norteño in northern Mexico

Known as tejano in south Texas



Tejano Music 1950s: Tejanos were singing Tex-Mex rather than traditional

Spanish

1960s and 1970s: Orchestral sound infiltrated many tejano bands

1980s: Keyboards were included in the bands

1995: Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was murdered The murder of this shining young star brought tejano music to

national attention The music is now more familiar and popular as it evolves Today’s tejano groups mix salsa, meringue, techno, pop;

accordion still dominates some ensembles



Mexico: Corridos Corridos = Storytelling songs with roots in Mexico and parts

of the southwestern and western united States

Relate the unofficial history of Mexican communities and their heroes

The focus is more on the story than on the music

Sung by solo vocalist with guitar Current popular music groups, such as Los Tigres del Norte, a

Mexican band, have performed and made corridos more complex



Mexico: Conjunto Conjunto = An ensemble accompanying dance and song in

norteño music, north and south of the Mexico-Texas border

As Mexican Americans spread throughout the southwestern United States as well as north and east, conjunto ensembles played their traditional norteño music

The ensembles included accordion, guitar, sometimes double bass,

drums, later on sometimes saxophone

They played polkas, waltzes, European dances popular in Mexico and the United States, and by the 1950s rancheras, corridos, and traditional Mexican songs



Conjuntos: Recent Years Some modern conjunto musicians have resisted the traditional

polka songs

They have blended in other musical styles, including jazz, into performances

Besides saxophones, some have keyboards and synthesizers, creating conjuntos orquestales

Conjunto musicians have attracted enthusiastic new audiences to their música alegre (“happy music”) by…

Traveling widely Teaming up with other musicians Adding conjunto beat to other popular musics



Mexico: Mariachis Mariachis = Mexican groups of

strolling musicians playing string instruments and often led by one or more trumpets By 1970s, performed Mexican folk

music in the Southwest United States The music is joyous, often played at

weddings “Mariachi” may be derived from

mariage, French for “marriage”

Strolling mariachis entertain passersby

Mariachi sound is the musical symbol of Mexico



Latin Music Today Latin music has become a vital force to the music of the United

States

Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Shakira

2000: The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences created a new Latin branch which presented the first Latin Grammy Awards that year

Latin Grammy Awards include

Pop, rock, tropical, regional, traditional, jazz, Brazilian, children’s, classical, production, video



Listening Example 56Jarabe Tapatío

Traditional

Listening example page 267

Meter: Duple

Texture: Mostly chordal

Form: A series of strains, each composed with eight bar phrases (labeled A, B, C, and D)

The jarabe is a medley of dancesfrom various regions of Mexico,and tapatío means “from the cityof Guadalajara.” Jarabe translates as “sweet syrup,”perhaps suggesting the mixture of meters within one section of aJarabe, though no one knows themeaning for sure.



Image credits: Slide 16: Guiro, Royalty-Free/Corbis Slide 17: Claves, ibid Slide 19: Bongo Drums, ibid Slide 30: Electric guitar, ibid Slide 46: Strolling Mariachis © Corbis

Documents

Part 4 A Diversity of Popular Musics Chapter 15: Latin Popular Musics America’s Musical Landscape 5th edition PowerPoint by Myra Lewinter Malamut Georgian