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Latin American Music Research Paper

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Introduction

Colonial composers, classical music of latin america, the 1970s, the return to the mainstream, major changes that occurred in the latin music world between 1970 and today, popularity and influence latin music internationally, influence of latin music in us society, popular latin artist, reference list.

This paper discusses some of the colonial music composers in Spanish Caribbean. The author examines Tango, Baroque and Latin Jazz as some of the old classical music in the region. Further, the writer highlights the Latin American music during the 1970s mainstream and explains changes that emerged during this period.

Consequently, the paper describes how Latin music influenced the US and the world. The final segment of the pager discusses the achievements of Shakira as a modern popular Latin American musician and describes her contributions towards growth of Latin American music Industry.

Colonial Latin composers provided a benchmark for modern Latin American music. The colonial composers’ influence has led to sprouting of various musical styles, which, in a big way, revolutionized the music world. The prosperity and growth of modern musicians has its roots in the efforts of early Latin musicians; especially the composers. Modern Latin Musicians such as Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and others, on their part, have helped to popularize Latin music styles across the world.

The colonial composers in Latin America, Spain and Portugal, were predominantly Roman Catholics. Their music compositions were tailored towards liturgical celebration. The colonial government in most Latin American countries influenced adoption of Roman rites and music.

Because of religion, popular spiritual music began emerging and impacting strongly on succeeding conventional music (King, 2004, p.275). Besides spiritual music, Portuguese and Spanish colonialists from the homeland also carried conventional music and style along to the colonies. The conventional music and style introduced complemented social, work and leisure aspects of the society.

Gaspar Fernandes is one of the most renowned composers of colonial Latin American music. He was a Portuguese and owing to his enthusiastic approach to music, the Spanish colonial masters appointed him as chapel master in Puebla, Mexico. His music propagated Christian ethics and was purposed towards the spiritual nourishment of the faithful.

Gaspar formed a choir comprising of African musicians that were former slaves. His composition and style focused on and stressed social issues such; ethnicity, race and slavery; the ills that bedeviled the colonial society. Besides, his compositions highlighted the cruelty of enslavement and how the same defined the relations that existed between African and whites in Mexico (King, 2004, p.132). One of Gaspar amiable song was “Eso rigor e repente”.

Joan Cererols is another colonial composer in Latin America. He was a Benedictine monk and he was very enthusiastic about composing Christian music (Buelow, 2004, p.414). Born at Martorell in 1618, he joined Escolania de Montserrat choir school in 1626.

Father Joan, who was fascinated by his talent and skills in understanding vocal entries and polytonal discourse, inspired his interest in music (Buelow, 2004, p.414). These skills made him a unique composer when compared to his compatriots. His ability in composition contributed to popularity of his music. Joan’s notable production included; “Missa pro defunctis” and “Missamartyrum” composed in the 17 th century (Buelow, 2004, p.160).

Latin America was musically influenced by the arrival of Spanish, Portuguese and Roman Catholic missionaries (Moore, 2010, p.74). Some of the genres introduced included; Baroque, Latin jazz and Tango (Moore, 2010, p.74). Baroque was a simple music unlike European Baroque, this was because Latin Americans did not have quality and efficient instruments for training (Moore, 2010, p.74).

Latin Jazz is a classical genre of music that started in Latin America. The composition embraced the old Cuban style, exploited Latin and African rhythms (Moore, 2010, p.88). Consequently, it incorporated harmonies of US, Caribbean, Latin and European origins. Moreover, the composition encompassed a straight rhythm, which differed from mainstream backbeat common with US jazz. The composition enshrined clave, guiro for percussion, timbale and conga (Moore, 2010, p.88). Latin jazz was embraced by small groups or in orchestras.

Lastly, Tango is also closely associated with classical music to have emerged in the region. Tango classical embraced specific instruments which included; violins, Bandon eons, piano and double bass (Moore, 2010, p.96). In addition, clarinet and guitars were common in Tango performances.

During 1970s, Latin American music reflected the music of 1920s (Roberts, 1999, p.188). In the1930s, Latin music was unified in mainstream US popular genres as a musical sub style. However, in 1970s, it emerged stronger in the US society and across the world (Roberts, 1999, p.188).

Increase in Salsa album production was also a common phenomenon in 1970s. This period recorded the highest production of Salsa albums ever created in Latin American Salsa history. For example, albums such as, “Maquino de Tiempo Time” done by Rafael Cotijo’s had a blend of Plena’s and Afro-Rican flavors (Roberts, 1999, p.188).

“Maquino de Tiempo Time” was the first Latin jazz fusion incorporated in Salsa tradition. The fusion strengthened commercial appealing across the region leading to increased production (Roberts, 1999, p.188).

Development in the1970s led to strengthening originality and creativity in Latin American music. Willie Colon for instance was a Bugalu cohort; he instilled and brought new changes in New York salsa, which was lively and innovative. This innovativeness included creative use of sound elements and artistic use of new constituents. He combined Jibaro Music of Puerto Rico, and infused Panamian, Brazilian and Colombian features (Roberts, 1999, p.192).

Creating of new bands was also a key characteristic of 1970s Latin mainstream music. Toro was one of the successful Latin American groups formed in 1972(Roberts, 1999, p.192). It emerged as a popular and influential group, although their music failed to capture Salsa roots. Sequida was also another group formed in 1970s. Sequida branched from New York Salsa. It was a successful and ambitious group, which helped in strengthening salsa during this decade (Roberts, 1999, p.192).

Dramatic changes occurred in Latin Music in 1970s. Salsa musicians became very creative. For example, Yomo incorporated Puerto Rican guitar, Larry Harlow introduced electric piano whereas Cecilia Cruz embraced Brazilian tunes (Roberts, 1999, p.193). Besides, this period increased diversification of Salsa making it transform into smooth and sweet romantic. Thus, salsa ingrained lyrics directed towards romance and love (Roberts, 1999, p.194).

Jazz fusion also underwent various changes; the style was bubbling, renewed and exiting. In addition, integration of new ingredients to Jazz music such as, “free-form improvisation” was common to style up Jazz music (Roberts, 1999, p.191). Various incorporations therefore encouraged fusion of jazz music intensifying the improvisatory aspects to 1990s.

Moreover, fusions albums were popular; although created by similar groups, style differed exponentially. Instead of embracing a codified style, some musical compositions assumed formerly outdates styles.

Rock music in Latin America was throbbing especially in Argentina in 1970s. Its composition varied i.e. the national rocks and homegrown rock such as Almendra (Roberts, 1999, p.198). At the end of 1970s, popularity of rock music was entrenched in the society. The popularity further surged when the government of the time banned English music from being aired in radios (Roberts, 1999, p.198).

The impact of Latin music in the global scene is intense and widespread. Its perplexing sounds and rhythms have gone beyond Caribbean to global. Latin music artistes use Spanish and English, which are diverse modern languages. This has transpired into its preference across cultures and thus entry into wider markets around the world.

Latin American music is has slowly but sure transformed to fuse with other different popular genres across the world. US artistes have heavily borrowed from Latin genres to establish their own compositions (Roberts, 1999, p.195).

Further, the influences of Latin American music find expression around the world through rumba, calypso and tango among other popular Latin genres (Roberts, 1999, p.197). This is because of diversity of culture and colonization. Embracing diversity and originality of style in music merged with unique cultures has contributed to its impact across the world (Roberts, 1999, p.253).

US is endowed with diverse Latin and other Spanish speaking cultures. In recognizing their culture, a lot can be learned through Latin American Music. Away from Latin and Spanish cultures, Latin musical practice and style has influenced US in more than one way. The popularity of the Latin styles is noticeable in classical music.

Although it was heard earlier during ragtime, its influence inspired US and as such, US composers such as Philip Sousa and Victor Herbert. With a distinctive US musical language, the impact of Latin American music has stood resilient. Various elements of Latin music have been incorporated in popular US music and in other types of genres across the US (Roberts, 1999, p.246).

The Cuban musical style was a major influence on US music and society. Cuban music embraces a blend and varying extent of European, African, and units of homogenization origins. The blended style of “Habanera” is popular in US. This style had its origin from Argentinean Tango.

Tango also positively affected US music and altered jazz music as well (Roberts, 1999, p.245). The universality of Salsa is the major explanation for the popularity of Latin American music in US. The influence of Salsa is evident around major cities in US; it has influenced wearing style of most US musicians and public.

Latinos presence in the US and their music has evolved in forming a diverse culture. The Latin American Music has led to the establishment of “National Academy of Arts and Sciences”; an agency that recognizes and gives awards to prominent artist “the Grammys” every year (Waxer, 2002, p.263). The agency has added Latin American Music category assortment process. The category has further been broken down into various classes in appreciation of multiplicity existing in Latin music (Waxer, 2002, p.263).

The Latin American music has also influenced emergence of female singers in the US. Gloria Estafan, a Cuban female singer collaborated with Miami Sound machine in early 1980s (Waxer, 2002, p.263). Since then, women with Spanish heritage such as Selena and Shakira have emerged and shaped the American music industry (Roberts, 1999, p.194).

Emergence of Reggaeton in the music scene is credited to Latin music. Reggaeton hip-hop is one of the leading popular styles in the US music. Reggaeton combines rap like vocals and Latin rhythms. Artistes such as pit Bull and Daddy Yankee have been synonymous with embracing this style across the US (Waxer, 2002, p.263).

Shakira is one of the most popular Latin artistes of our modern times. She was born as Isabel Mebarak Ripoll in 1972 (Krohn, 2007, p.35). Shakira is her professional or stage name. She is a songwriter, dancer and a musician. She emerged in music limelight in 1990s.

Her music life was influenced by her father, whom she used to watch writing stories using his typewriter. At the age of seven, Shakira was writing moving poems, which puzzled some of her friends. Some of her poems culminated to powerful music. Her first song was “Your dark glasses”; his father who had a taste of wearing dark glasses motivated it.

Her early exposure in public life helped her encounter Monica Ariza, a theater producer who later helped her to sharpen her music career. Monica convinced Ciro Vargas, a Sony executive to give Shakira an audition (Krohn, 2007, p.99).

The audition was granted and the talented Shakira mesmerized him and other directors. Impressive performance in the audition made the chief executive to sign Shakira to record her three albums i.e. Shakira’s Magia and Peligro album (Krohn, 2007, p.99). The albums were produced by Sony music in 1990 (Krohn, 2007, p.99).

The latter albums were officially released in 1991.The albums exemplified Shakira’s talent and influenced her exposure in Colombia. However, the album did not fetch enough money commercially. Shakira released her second album “Peligro” in 1992 and it was received with great enthusiasm than the previous “Magia” though it failed commercially because of failed popularization (Krohn, 2007, p.101).

In 1995, Shakira rose to the limelight and strengthened her attractiveness in Latin America through her album “Pies Descalzos” (Krohn, 2007, p. 103). She further recorded three tracks in Portuguese. The influence of this album and her popularity in many states encouraged her to return to Sony thus recording “Pies Descalzo” in 1995(Krohn, 2007, p.103).

Later, she successful performed “Esta Corazon?” and Pies Descalzos” which was available in Latin American markets in 1995 and globally in 1996. It was debuted as number one in more than eight countries around the world.

Shakira’s second self-produced album (produced by herself and Emilio Estan, Jr., as a co-producer) was known as “DondeEstan Los Ladrones?” This album was inspired by loss of her lyrics at the airport (Krohn, 2007, p.35). The album was a hit than “Pies Descalzos”. The success of “DondeEstan Los Ladrones” excited Shakira and she embarked on an English crossover album.

This was important for her to promote herself in a greater market while preserving the popularity of mainstream music and career diversification.”Whenever, Wherever” was the first English lead single in 2001 and 2002. The song is credited for having heavily borrowed from Andean music including Panpipes and Charango in its instrumentation. “Whenever, wherever” was internationally successful as it achieved number one slot in many countries (Krohn, 2007, p.88).

Shakira has encompassed several genres in her music productions. The most notably genres include folk, rock and mainstream pop hence her music is a synthesis of diverse features. Moreover, Shakira is one of the best and highest Latin America selling artists. She has sold over 60 million albums globally (Krohn, 2007).

“Hips don’t lie” was one of the most aired single in US radio history. Consequently, she was one of the first artists in history of commercial charts to claim a pre-eminent spot in top 40 mainstreams and Latin American Charts (Krohn, 2007).

Colonialists helped to develop the Latin American music in a big way. Latin music styles are now appreciated all over the world. By embracing elements from Africans, Europeans and Indians among other cultures, Latin musical styles such as; Salsa, Tango, Baroque, Bassa and Nova have received a lot of attention internationally. Consequently, a good music foundation traced back to the colonial period has contributed to current level of performance by modern Latin American Musicians such as Shakira and Enrique Iglesias.

Buelow, G., J. (2004). A History of Baroque Music . Indiana: Indiana University Press

King, J. (2004). The Cambridge Companion to Modern Latin American Culture . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Krohn, K. (2007). Shakira , Minnesota: Twenty-First Century Books.

Moore, R. (2010). Music in the Hispanic Caribbean. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Roberts, J. (1999). The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Waxer, L. (2002). Situating Salsa: Global Markets and Local Meanings in Latin Popular Music . New York: Routledge

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Made in Latin America: Studies in Popular Music (2016)

Made in Latin America serves as a comprehensive introduction to the history, sociology, and musicology of contemporary Latin American popular music. Each essay, written by a leading scholar of Latin American music, covers the major figures, styles, and social contexts of popular music in Latin America and provides adequate context so readers understand why the figure or genre under discussion is of lasting significance. The book first presents a general description of the history and background of popular music, followed by essays organized into thematic sections: Theoretical Issues; Transnational Scenes; Local and National Scenes; Class, Identity, and Politics; and Gendered Scenes.

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• Cultural Nationalism and Ethnic Music in Latin America

In this Book

• William H. Beezley
• Published by: University of New Mexico Press
• View Citation

Music has been critical to national identity in Latin America, especially since the worldwide emphasis on nations and cultural identity that followed World War I. Unlike European countries with unified ethnic populations, Latin American nations claimed blended ethnicities—indigenous, Caucasian, African, and Asian—and the process of national stereotyping that began in the 1920s drew on the themes of indigenous and African cultures. Composers and performers drew on the folklore and heritage of ethnic and immigrant groups in different nations to produce what became the music representative of different countries. Mexico became the nation of mariachi bands, Argentina the land of the tango, Brazil the country of Samba, and Cuba the island of Afro-Cuban rhythms, including the rhumba. The essays collected here offer a useful introduction to the twin themes of music and national identity and melodies and ethnic identification. The contributors examine a variety of countries where powerful historical movements were shaped intentionally by music.

Music has been critical to national identity in Latin America, especially since the worldwide emphasis on nations and cultural identity that followed World War I. Unlike European countries with unified ethnic populations, Latin American nations claimed blended ethnicities—indigenous, Caucasian, African, and Asian—and the process of national stereotyping that began in the 1920s drew on themes of indigenous and African cultures. Composers and performers drew on the folklore and heritage of ethnic and immigrant groups in different nations to produce what became the music representative of different countries. Mexico became the nation of mariachi bands, Argentina the land of the tango, Brazil the country of Samba, and Cuba the island of Afro-Cuban rhythms, including the rhumba. The essays collected here offer a useful introduction to the twin themes of music and national identity and melodies and ethnic identification. The contributors examine a variety of countries where powerful historical movements were shaped intentionally by music.

• Table of Contents

• Half Title, Title, Copyright, Dedication
• pp. vii-viii
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The Rise of Cultural Nationalism and Its Musical Expressions
• 1 Music and National Identity in Mexico, 1919-1940
• 2 La Hora Industrial vs. La Hora Intima: Mexican Music and Broadcast Media Before 1934
• Sonia Robles
• 3 Guatemalan National Identity and Popular Music
• 4 Cuban Music: Afro-Cubanism
• Alejo Carpentier
• 5 An Accidental Hero (Cuban Singer in the Special Period)
• Jan Fairley
• 6 Cuzcatlán (El Salvador) and Maria de Baratta’s Nahualismo
• Robin Sacolick
• 7 Cumandá: A Leitmotiv in Ecuadorian Operas? Musical Nationalism and Representation of Indigenous People
• pp. 129-148
• 8 Dueling Bandoneones: Tango and Folk Music in Argentina’s Musical Nationalism
• Carolyne Ryan Larson
• pp. 149-178
• 9 Carnival as Brazil’s “Tropical Opera” Resistance to Rio’s Samba in the Carnivals of Recife and Salvador, 1960s–1970s
• Jerry D. Metz Jr.
• pp. 179-218
• 10 The Opera Manchay Puytu: A Cautionary Tale Regarding Mestizos in Twentieth-Century Highland Bolivia
• E. Gabrielle Kuenzli
• pp. 219-226
• 11 Sounding Modern Identity in Mexican Film
• Janet Sturman and Jennifer Jenkins
• pp. 227-254
• List of Contributors
• pp. 255-258
• pp. 259-262

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Latin American Music Review/Revista de Música Latinoamericana explores the historical, ethnographic, and sociocultural dimensions of Latin American music in Latin American social groups, including the Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, and Portuguese populations in the United States. Articles are written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese.

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Antonio Carlos Jobim, by Isabelle Leymarie reviewed by Maria Beatriz Cyrino Moreira

Tan lejos y tan cerca: El compositor interpreta su obra para guitarra , by Alex Rodríguez reviewed by Hermann Hudde

Naná Vasconcelos’s Saudades , by Daniel B. Sharp reviewed by Steven F. Butterman

Modernity and Colombian Identity in the Music of Carlos Vives y La Provincia, ,  by Juan Sebastián Ochoa, Carolina Santamaría-Delgado, and Carlos Eduardo Cataño reviewed by Juan Sebastián Rojas

Volume 43, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2022

Music Entrepreneurs in Contemporary Havana: The Children of Transition by Freddy Monasterio

Tópicos musicales de escena y salón en el templo: Arrepentimiento, loor y exaltación en las canciones religiosas de Pedro Ximénez (Sucre, Bolivia, 1833–1856) by Zoila Vega Salvatierra

Apogee and Decline of Chilean Cathedral Music in the Nineteenth Century: Revisiting the Historiographical Canon by Valeska Cabrera and Mario Poblete

Lieder aus Chile/Canciones de Chile, by Violeta Parra reviewed by Steven Loza

Elite Art Worlds: Philanthropy, Latin Americanism, and Avant-Garde Music, by Eduardo Herrera reviewed by Jesse Bruer

The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, by Peter Freeman reviewed by Maria Beatriz Cyrino Moreira

Latin Jazz: The Other Jazz , by Christopher Washburne reviewed by Sue Miller

The Cultural Work: Maroon Performance in Paramaribo, Suriname , by Corinna Campbell reviewed by Yvonne Daniel

Capricho para pianoforte, en forma de cielito,  by Juan Pedro Esnaola reviewed by Silvina Luz Mansilla

Volume 43, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2022

Actitud decolonial, linajes y saberes otros en la música y las letras de Los Jaivas by Israel Holas Allimant y Sergio Holas

Álbumes musicales de mujeres, marcas de uso y escena cultural by Laura Jordán González y Fernanda Vera Malhue

La red Musical atlántica: Circulación de instrumentos musicales entre España y Nueva Granda (1778–1804) by Oriol Brugarolas y Lluís Bertran

Música ritual de un pueblo huave, by Roberto Campos Velázquez reviewed by Robert L. Kendrick

Bossa Mundo: Brazilian Music in Transnational Media, by K. E. Goldschmitt reviewed by Martha Tupinambá de Ulhoa

The Invention of Latin American Music: A Transnational History, by Pablo Palomino reviewed by Daniel F. Castro Pantoja

Heavy Metal Music in Argentina: In Black We Are Seen, by Emiliano Scaricaciottoli, Nelson Varas-Díaz, and Daniel Nevárez Araújo reviewed by Guillermo A. Luppi

Marasa Twa (three-album triology). Water Prayers for Bass Clarinet, by Dr. Merengue, and The Vodou Horn , by Paul Austerlitz reviewed by Rebecca D. Sager

Styling Blackness in Chile: Music and Dance in the African Diaspora,  by Juan Eduardo Wolf reviewed by Laura Jordán González

Volume 42, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2021

José Ángel Lamas (1775-1814) y el arte útil de Antiguo Régimen en Venezuela by David Coifman Michailos

Revisitando a Robert Stevenson: Entre cartas, viajes, y la musiología latinoamericana del siglo XX by Laura Fahrenkrog

Carlos Chávez in Mabel Dodge Luhan’s “Whirling around Mexico” by Christina Taylor Gibson

Cariocas de New Orleans: Brazilian Interpretations of North American Jazz by Rafael do Nascimento Cesar

Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles (CD), by Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles reviewed by Monica Fogelquist

Thinking about Music from Latin America: Issues and Questions, by Juan Pablo González reviewed by Amanda Minks

Moving Otherwise: Dance, Violence, and Memory in Buenos Aires, by Victoria Fortuna reviewed by Wanda Balbé and Camila Losada

Machine Gun Voices: Favelas and Utopia in Brazilian Gangster Funk, by Paul Sneed reviewed by Derek Pardue

Sounds of Crossing: Music, Migration, and the Aural Poetics of Huapango Arribeño, by Alex E. Chávez reviewed by Kevin Parme

Cultural Nationalism and Ethnic Music in Latin America, Edited by William H. Beezley reviewed by Viviana Parody

Volume 42, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2021

Escribir, componer, improvisar: Prácticar creativas desde la perspectiva de jóvenes raperos de La Plata by Ana Abrina Mora

Whistling, Gender, and the Aesthetic Turn in Mexico City by Anthony W. Rasmussen

Back to the Neighborhood: Musical Contributions to the Study of Locality in latin American Cities by Christian Spencer-Espinosa

Zapateado en sones de Xantolo y sones Huastecos: Sensacíon fiscamente encarnada by Raquel Paraiso y Román Güemes Jiménez

The Latin American Songbook in the Twentieth Century: From Folklore to Militancy, by Tania da Costa Garcia reviewed by J. Ryan Bodiford

Bandas de música: Contextos interpretativos y repertorios, Edited by Nicolás Rincón Rodríguez and David Ferreiro Carballo reviewed by Ketty Wong

Sound, Image, and National Imaginary in the Construction of Latin/o American Identities, edited by Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste and Pablo Vila reviewed by Jacqueline Avila

A todas las imágenes del mundo: Antología del canto a lo divino, by Daniel González y Danilo Petorvich (investigación y recopilación) reviewed by Ignacio Ramos Rodillo

Música popular y sociedad en el Perú contemporáneo, Edited by Raúl Renato Romero reviewed by Jonathan Ritter

¿Músico pagado toca mal son? Unas miradas hacia el mercado laboral del son jarocho, by Randall Kohl reviewed by Alexandro D. Hernández

Submissions and Reviews

Latin American Music Review  publishes original articles in the fields of musicology and ethnomusicology, broadly defined, applied to Latin American musical expressions. Manuscripts, notes, and bibliographies should be typed double-spaced with ample margins, free of identifying information, and submitted electronically as Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text (.rtf) files at  https://lamr.scholasticahq.com/ . The total length of the article, including notes and bibliography, should be approximately 8,000–12,000 words. If score examples, photographs, or other diagrams are to be included, please attach them separately as graphic files (.tif or .jpg) with as high a resolution as possible (300 dpi minimum). Along with the article, please submit two short abstracts of 75–100 words each—one in English, and the other in Spanish or Portuguese. Underneath each abstract, please designate 4–6 keywords that pertain to your article. Also submit a brief biographical sketch of the author of approximately 75–100 words, submitted as a separate word document. Articles and reviews may be submitted in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, and formatting for punctuation, quotations, and capitalization should follow the conventions for scholarship in the language of the article. Formats for notes and bibliography are those of the Chicago Manual of Style . Communications and books and CDs for review should be sent to the editor, Robin Moore, School of Music, 1 University Station E3100, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712-0435.

La Revista de Música Latinoamericana publica artículos originales en los campos de musicología y etnomusicología, ampliamente definidos, dedicados a las expresiones musicales latinoamericanas. Los manuscritos, notas y bibliografías se deben redactar a espacio doble y márgenes suficientes, sin información identificativa, como archivos de tipo Microsoft Word (.doc) o Rich Text (.rtf) que se puede mandar al  https://lamr.scholasticahq.com/ . El tamaño total del artículo, incluyendo las notas y la bibliografia, debe ser aproximadamente 8,000–12,000 palabras. Si se deben incluir imágenes (partituras, fotos u otras figuras), favor de adjuntarlos como archivos gráficos (.tif o .jpg) separados, con la resolución más alta posible (mínimo de 300 dpi). Con el artículo, favor de incluir dos breves reseñas—una en español o portugués, y otra en inglés (75–100 palabras cada uno). Debajo de cada reseña, favor de incluir 4–6 palabras clave que pertenecen a su artículo. También incluya una biografía del autor de 75–100 palabras, presentado como documento separado. Las materias se pueden entregar en inglés, español o portugués, y el formato para puntuación, citas y uso de mayúscula se debe seguir las normas para publicaciones en el idioma del artículo. En cuanto al estilo de notas y bibliografía, véase el Chicago Manual of Style o utilice el estilo Harvard. Otras comunicaciones, libros y CDs enviados para reseñas se deben mandar al editor, Robin Moore, School of Music, 1 University Station E3100, University of Texas, Austin TX 78712-0435.

Editorial Correspondence and Review Copies: Robin D. Moore, Latin American Music Review, School of Music, MRH 3.204, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712-1208. (Email: [email protected] ).

BOOK, CD, & DVD REVIEW GUIDELINES   

Reviews should be 800–1,200 words. Fewer than 800 words is also acceptable, and may be more appropriate for CD and DVD reviews. Given space limitations, we ask that you do not exceed 1,200 words .

BOOK REVIEWS 

We recommend that you do not summarize chapter by chapter. The main goal of the review is to situate the publication vis-à-vis existing literature. Brief discussion of content is acceptable, but we stress that content needs to be evaluated in terms of its contribution to current work on Latin American music. You may wish to address the following:

• What are the author’s goals? Are they achieved?
• How does the publication contribute to the existing literature and current work on Latin American Music?
• What is the Target Audience? Who—specialists, music scholars, music instructors, graduate students, undergraduate students, performance students, the general public, etc.—would find the publication useful?
• Are the author’s arguments supported with compelling evidence?
• What is the author’s methodology?
• Brief comments on writing style; for example, is the writing clear? does the author employ technical language?
• Does the publication include musical examples/analyses?
• Does the publication include multi-media materials, such as an accompanying CD, mp3 downloads, or supporting website?
• A brief statement of the publication’s strongest and less-satisfactory aspects.

You may wish to address the following:

• Comments on the liner notes: How useful are they? Who is the author? How is the material presented? its organization, conceptualization, languages, etc.
• How does the CD contribute to exiting sources of similar genre, period, region, style, etc.
• Is the music already commercially available?
• What is the recording quality? Are these field recordings?
• What are the goals of the CD?
• How useful is the CD for pedagogical or research purposes?
• Does the CD include additional video/online resources?

DVD REVIEWS

These should be treated as book reviews: Situate the DVD in relation to existing materials on Latin American music scholarship, the goals of the DVD, the target audience, its utility for pedagogical and research purposes, etc.

• Times New Roman font and submitted as MS Word document.
• Please include bibliographic/discographic information at the beginning of the review. Place your name and affiliation at the end of the review.
• For citations, use a simple parenthetical style: “citation” (129). References should be kept to a minimum and included only when absolutely necessary. If citing an outside reference use: “citation” (Author, 2010: 213). Again, we ask that outside references be kept to a minimum.

Please send reviews to the assistant editor at :  [email protected]

GUIA PARA RESENHAR LIBROS, CDS, & DVDS 

Resenhas devem ser 800–1,200 palavras. Menos de 800 palavras está aceitável, e talvez mais apropriado por resenhas de CD ou DVD. Por causa de limitações de espaço, pedimos que não ultrapasse 1,200 palavras .

Resenha de livros 

Recomendamos que não resume capitulo por capitulo. O objetivo principal da resenha é situar o livro vis-à-vis a literatura existente. Breve discussão do conteúdo está aceitável, mas enfatizamos que o conteúdo precisa ser avaliado pela sua contribuição ao trabalho atual sobre a música da America latina. Consideria (Talvez gostaria/desejaria?atingir/tratar-se dos seguintes aspectos/questões/pontos:

• Quais são os objetivos do/a autor/a? Foram realizados?
• Como contribuir o livro à literatura acadêmica e/ou à pesquisa atual/contemporânea da música latinoamericana?
• Quem é o público-alvo? A publicação é mais útil quem, especialistas, acadêmicos, professores/as de música, alunos graduando ou pós-graduando, estudantes de programas acadêmicos ou de performance, o público geral, etc. ?
• Os argumentos de autor/a são apoiado com provas convincentes?
• Qual é a metodologia do/a autor/a?
• Breves comentários sobre o estilo de escrever; por exemplo, o texto está nítido? O/A autor/a usa linguagem técnica?
• A publicação incluir exemplos de partituras e análises?
• A publicação incluir materiais multimídia, como CD, mp3 downloads, ou uma web site que acompanha a publicação?
• Comentários sobre os fortes e menos bons aspectos.

Resenha de CDs 

Considere (Talvez gostaria/desejaria?atingir/tratar-se dos seguintes aspectos/questões/pontos:

• Comentários sobre a encarte do álbum: São úteis? Quem é o/a autor/a? Como está apresentada o material?, sua organização, conceitualização, linguagens, etc.?
• Como contribuir o CD aos fontes existentes do mesmo gênero, período, região, estilo, etc.?
• A música já estava disponível antes desse novo CD?
• Informações sobre a qualidade da gravação? São gravações do campo?
• Quais são os objetivos do CD?
• O CD está útil para fins pedagógicas ou de pesquisa?
• O CD incluir recursos adicionais, como vídeo ou online?

Resenhas de DVD , devem ser tratados como resenhas de livro: Situe o DVD em relação das materiais já existentes sobre pesquisa em música latinoamericana, os objetivos do DVD, o público-alvo, e a utilidade do DVD por fins pedagógicas e acadêmicos, etc.

• Times New Roman font e entregado como documento de MS Word
• Por gentileza incluir a informação bibliográfica/discográfica no início da resenha. Coloque o seu nome e afiliação profissional no final da resenha.
• Para citações, use um estilo parentética simplificado, ex.: “citação” (129). Referências devem ser mínimas e incluídas só se for absolutamente necessário. Caso de citar uma referência externo use: “citation” (Autor/a, 2010: 213). De novo, pedimos que referencias externas sejam mínimas.

Por favor, enviar resenhas a assistente editor:  [email protected]

Peer-Review Process and Publication Ethics

Peer-Review Process

Articles submitted to the  Latin American Music Review/Revista de Música Latinoamericana  are initially reviewed by the editors, who determine whether the manuscript will be sent to outside reviewers. If chosen for review, the manuscript is then evaluated in a double-blind process by at least two outside reviewers, including members of the journal’s Editorial Board and/or other experts in relevant fields as selected by the editors. This peer review process is designed to ensure that the  LAMR  publishes only original, accurate, and timely articles that contribute new knowledge, insights or valuable perspectives to our discipline.

Reviewers play a vital role in ensuring the quality of papers published in the journal.

Questions addressed by reviewers include:

• Is the topic within the scope of the journal?
• Does the topic contribute in useful ways to existing scholarship/knowledge?
• Is the scholarship adequately documented and is relevant literature reviewed?
• Are the research aims and methodological choices made by author clear and justified?
• Is the article well organized and clearly written?

Reviewers make one of three recommendations: acceptance (that can also be accepted with revision), revise & resubmit (that implies a new submission by the author that can be reviewed by the same colleagues or two new revisors), and rejected.  Reviewers are asked to include comments explaining the recommendation to provide authors with suitable feedback to improve the article. Our aim is to create a constructive process that benefits the journal and the authors while respecting the time and efforts of all volunteer reviewers.

Review Timetable

We understand that the timeliness of decisions and publication is a major concern of authors. The typical manuscript is reviewed by one of the editors and sent out to reviewers within a couple of weeks after submission. Reviewers typically have six weeks to prepare their review (a second round of reviews may be solicited if the initial reviewers disagree). Then a couple of weeks are typically required to reconcile reviewer comments (and identify any significant copyediting issues for papers that were accepted or accepted with slight revisions). Thus, it is quite possible that an author could hear back in less than two months from the time of submission. However, the realities of the peer-review process (especially our reliance on the work of international scholars) sometimes extend our timeline. You will receive a response as expeditiously as possible. If you are seeking publication for a tenure packet, please allow ample review time and let us know this is a consideration. Authors receive the reviewers’ comments and are often asked to revise the manuscript in line with the reviewers’ and/or editor’s suggestions. If the revised article is accepted for publication, the editor then determines the journal issue in which it will appear. Authors can help speed the process by ensuring they follow the submission requirements and, if accepted, addressing the reviewers comments and any copy-editing requirements in a timely fashion.

Publication Ethics The editor(s) and editorial board of the Latin American Music Review are committed to the following:

• We will make our best efforts to ensure that our peer-review processes and editorial decisions are fair and unbiased, and that manuscripts are judged solely on their merits by individuals with appropriate levels of expertise in the subject area.
• We have the right to reject a manuscript at any point in the process if, after an unbiased evaluation, it is the opinion of the editor(s) it does not contribute significantly to existing scholarship, does not align with the journal’s mission or editorial policies, or would be in conflict with the journal’s legal requirements.
• We treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and will not discuss them or share information about them with anyone outside the editorial staff, editorial board, potential reviewers, or the publisher.
• We expect transparency on the part of editors and reviewers regarding potential conflicts of interest and will assign manuscripts to individuals who are not expected to have such conflicts.
• submitting only original, unpublished works;
• respecting the intellectual property rights of others;
• adhering to the journal’s policies regarding simultaneous submissions;
• acknowledging sources;
• appropriately crediting all authors, other research participants, and funding sources;
• disclosing any potential conflicts of interest; and
• notifying the editors and/or publisher of any significant errors discovered after submission or publication.
• We will promptly investigate any credible allegation of unethical or illegal practices related to an article we have published. When warranted, we will issue corrections, retractions, and/or apologies, working with the author(s) as appropriate to find the best resolution.
• Concerns may be reported directly to the editor(s) or publisher by email at [email protected]

Latin American Music Review is indexed in the  Academic Search Premier, Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI), IBR (International Bibliography of Book Reviews), IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature), The Music Index . 

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Music and Resistance in Colonial Latin America

This season, we have been exploring the theme of music as resistance : the ways in which music has given voice to those who have been chronically underrepresented. Our explorations have included a  panel discussion  which unpacked how music can push back again persecution, oppression, and injustice;  a recent article  from  Laury Gutiérrez  on  Antonia Bembo , the remarkable Italian baroque composer who created her own musical language during her self-imposed exile in France; and the remarkable history of Holocaust music and Francesco Lotoro , the man on a mission to catalog it.

In this final article in our Music as Resistance series, musicologist Daniel Zuluaga presents a bird’s eye view of music of the Americas during the colonial period. His essay raises questions and considers the obstacles that emerge when considering the opposing forces of resistance and assimilation.

By Daniel Zuluaga

For most of the Spanish colonial period in the Americas, musical performance was a core element in the interaction between the continent’s Indigenous populations, imported slave force, and colonizers. Spanish musical traditions were a powerful evangelical tool for the early missionaries. They also represented a link to the homeland for some, a pathway to a new profession for others, and a marker of differentiation through culture, education, and religion, for most of the distinct groups that comprised colonial society.

In addressing the idea of music and resistance in the Americas during the colonial period, there are three major obstacles that concern chronology, geography, and documentation. Let’s start with the chronology. A good number of the urban settlements that became important cultural centres in the colonies, such as Bogotá, Lima, or Puebla, were established as early as the 1530s. On the opposite end, the Spanish colonial period comes to an end, albeit incomplete, in the early 1820s.

These boundaries represent a time frame of nearly 300 years and encompass three well-defined major eras in European music — the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods. And yet musical production in the Americas is often misaligned, stylistically speaking, with these eras. It also lags with regard to vanguard trends in Europe, so that in the 1620s, for instance, composers are still writing abundant material that echoes Spanish cancioneros from the mid-to-late sixteenth century rather than, say, monody or early opera.

Partly to make the chronology manageable, researchers have tended to focus on early Spanish-Indigenous musical interactions. More recent studies have examined the later history of such interactions and the assimilation at the urban and rural levels of Spanish musical traditions, uncovering self-sufficient communities, musically speaking, developing separately from Spanish jurisdiction.

A second obstacle is geography. The region extends from Patagonia in the south to most of what is today the United States. This vast colonial society was underpinned by several key administrative institutions: two sixteenth-century viceroyalties, that of Nueva España , comprising Central and North America, and that of Perú , covering most of South America, expanded in the eighteenth century to include new districts for Nueva Granada (Colombia, Ecuador, Panamá and Venezuela) and Río de la Plata (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay). Further subdivision into political or religious jurisdictions underscores the Spanish intent to use cities as centres of cultural and economic development and to resettle Indigenous populations into reducciones .

The heterogeneous nature and massive scale of the territory impacted musical culture, whereby the urban entities that are better known to us today are only a partial image of music-making in the continent. Their complement is the largely unscrutinised rural musical culture. Interestingly, it is this heterogeneity which provided the most fertile soil for the active incorporation and successful assimilation of Spanish musical practice into the native communities.

The third obstacle is documentation. One of the main issues in the study of colonial music is the lack of clarity in the geography of music-making in the region. Our current knowledge favours the urban culture over the rural, although that is slowly changing. This is a consequence of better record availability at urban centres, often also linked to the role of the Catholic Church as a main patron of the arts.

Where documentation of another nature survives, there is a sense that music-making was pervasive. For instance, documentation of import duties between 1512 and 1516, charged by customs offices in Puerto Rico to all merchandise brought into the continent, show the regular import of guitars, vihuelas, and instrument strings, pointing to commonplace music-making since the earliest days of the Spanish presence.

In this context, the idea of resistance in the form of music suggests several questions, none of which is easily answered. How do we engage with the profoundly traumatic aspects of the continent’s history under the Spanish empire? How to interpret the contradictions present in the musical repertoire, where a song text depicting the sorrows of slavery is set to music that invites dancing and singing? What was the perception (and reception) that the different groups, Indigenous, Black, and Spanish, had towards each other’s music?  

Currently there are no definitive answers to such questions, but they still allow us to posit some ideas that can help further the conversation. Thanks to the research of musicologists such as Geoff Baker, a key figure in colonial music, we know that the Spaniards’ early view of Indigenous music was tolerant and, if anything, apt to be changed and used for the religious conversion of local populations.

Against the tolerant views stood a cohort that saw Indigenous music and dance as a tool for perpetuating their religious practices, either covertly or out in the open, and sought to ban it. While in theory we get the sense that for every voice that was tolerant, there was another vehemently against it, in practice the result varied by both chronology and geography, with some areas and periods more prone to try to move local populations away from their musical traditions by force, often by repressive churchmen.

At the other end of the spectrum, we find the music such as that copied by the Spanish bishop Baltasar Martínez Compañón, who in the 1780s, travelled through his archdiocese in Truxillo, in Northern Perú, recording the lives, traditions and music of its inhabitants in nine volumes of watercolours. The few scores he copied succinctly show an amalgam of native and European traditions that undoubtedly reflects living musical practice.

As to the contradictions, the answer probably lies in developing our awareness as listeners: that many of the surviving songs that seemingly portray rural or local music making more likely reflect musical practice rooted in Spanish institutions and the corresponding performance practice, as appropriated and adapted by local populations. It serves us well to remember that written music presumes at least a medium level of musical literacy, which was more common in the proximity of urban centres.

To the point raised in the first question, we should remember that cultural interaction in the Colonial Americas was not one between equal parties. The Spanish conquest and colonization of the continent, like most endeavours of the sort, was an extremely violent, exploitative process. The main purpose of the colonizers was never other than the economic exploitation of the newly conquered territories and the evangelization of Indigenous populations. Paraphrasing Geoff Baker once again, it is key to keep in mind that when one speaks of colonizers, one also speaks of the colonized, which can be seen as a euphemism for enslavement, oppression, and suffering.

In the popular imagination we still have the tendency to think about music in colonial Latin America as exotic. The evidence points elsewhere: to numerous divergent practices that have strong roots in imported Spanish musical practices. Thus, a clear definition of resistance, at least in this context, remains unattainable.

However, if I were to point to one element that illustrates the idea of music as resistance in the colonial Americas, I would ask the reader to look more closely at the humble guitar. In a sense, this instrument is an embodiment of many of the ideas in this essay, one that has bridged the aforementioned obstacles of chronology, geography, and (lack of) documentation. Its ubiquity in musical practice throughout the entire continent, in urban and rural settings, both then and now, speaks of adaptation, appropriation, and assimilation in a manner that reinforced the development of the distinctive musical practices of the Indigenous, Black, criollo, and Spanish populations in colonial Latin America—populations who took this instrument and made it their own.

Daniel Zuluaga has made the history and performance practice of early plucked instruments the central tenet of his career as a professional performer and researcher on the baroque guitar, lute, and theorbo. A JUNO Award winner (2016) and a Grammy Award nominee (2018), he is a specialist in Latin American Baroque music. His programming and leadership in the interpretation of this repertoire has earned him numerous critical accolades. He collaborates regularly with leading orchestras in the US and Canada as performer and director, including Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, L’Harmonie des Saisons and Portland Baroque Orchestra. An avid researcher, Mr. Zuluaga holds a PhD in musicology from the University of Southern California and has been recipient of grants and awards from the Fulbright Commission, the American Musicological Society and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Daniel Zuluaga’s recommended recordings for further listening:

• Fiesta Criolla  Ensemble Elyma, Gabriel Garrido (K617) on Naxos Music Library and YouTube
• Las Ciudades de oro  L’Harmonie des saisons (ATMA Classique) on Spotify and YouTube
• Juan Gutierrez de Padilla  Ars longa de la Habana, Teresa Paz (Almaviva) on Spotify and YouTube
• Padilla: Sun of Justice  Los Angeles Chamber Singers’ Cappella, Peter Rutenberg, dir. on Spotify
• Codex Martínez Compañón  Capilla de Indias, Tiziana Palmeira (K617) on Spotify and YouTube

All images are from the Codex Trujillo, or Codex Martinez Compañon . 

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Music in Colonial Latin America by Jesús A. Ramos-Kittrell LAST REVIEWED: 23 June 2023 LAST MODIFIED: 23 June 2023 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199766581-0281

While European influences were important in musical culture of the colonial period, the movement of practices from among the different ethnic groups makes music in colonial Latin America a robust landscape of investigation. European music was surely a means to negotiate racial tensions. However, recorded evidence also shows that non-European elements participated in this exchange. Additionally, there are recorded accounts of “folk” or “popular” musical expressions happening in society. And while the wealth of notated European music sources made religious repertories the immediate point of focus in early scholarship, the flux of musical practices in the public sphere suggests that “European assimilation” or “imposition” might be unfitting one-way labels to understand the complex exchanges that shaped the colonial musical experience. For this reason, more recent studies have begun to incorporate approaches from cultural studies and social history to address this frame of activity. The following list pays attention to music from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries (although some sources spill into the nineteenth century). The bibliography begins with sources giving a general overview of music history in Latin America. This section, General Overviews , offers information on firsthand secondary source material for the study of colonial music, followed by general studies focused on specific countries. The next section points to useful Reference Works (the information contained in this segment does not attempt to be exhaustive; rather, it is meant to guide the reader to sources where more detailed information and further bibliographic materials may be found). After that, the bibliography organizes sources in five sections: Ecclesiastical Music Studies , Music Theory and Education , Transatlantic Exchanges , Social and Cultural Studies , and Secular and Vernacular Music .

General Overviews

Due to an early interest in European music by American scholars, some of the first publications on colonial Latin American music feature inventories or compilations of surviving music sources ( Spiess and Stanford 1969 , Stevenson 1970 , and Stevenson 1974 ), although some of these publications do offer general historical information to situate the sources found. Other early sources provide the first historical studies of music in Latin America, and these bring attention to the colonial period ( Slonimsky 1945 —the reader may use caution in reading into the cultural biases in this source). The importance of cities (main hubs for the experience of modernity) was also the focus of other early studies ( Stevenson 1952 , Stevenson 1968 ). In these studies, Tenochtitlan and Peru were considered the pinnacles of pre-Hispanic civilization. Studies in Spanish also emerged and attempted to redress Euro-American readings of Latin American music history ( Béhague 1979 ). Out of an interest to cope with the rhetoric of progress, these Latin American music studies emerged to map a history of Latin American culture when this very idea was being debated in and outside of the United States. More recently, scholars have begun to focus on a more comprehensive view of music history in light of the richness and difference in cultural perspective that has permeated colonial music studies ( Waisman 2019 , Gómez, et al. 2009–2016 , and Vera 2020 —see the introduction).

Aretz, Isabel. América Latina en su música . Paris: UNESCO, 1977.

A view by Latin American scholars of musical development in Latin America since the conquest. Chapters written by different authors. Three chapters devoted to the colonial period. The source is somewhat influenced by primitivist views informing ideas of national culture.

Béhague, Gerard. Music in Latin America: An Introduction . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1979.

A general history of music in Latin America with attention to Western art music produced in Latin America. Considered to be the first comprehensive and thoroughly documented historical book on the subject.

Gómez, Maricarmen, Álvaro Torrente, and José Máximo Leza, eds. Historia de la música en España e Hispanoamérica . Vols. 2–4. Madrid: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2009–2016.

A multivolume collection featuring historical analyses carried out by different researchers. The collection offers a rich panorama of historical context, practices, repertoire, and personalities.

Hague, Eleanor. Latin American Music: Past and Present . Santa Ana, CA: Fine Arts Press, 1934.

This is brief and generalizing view of the so-called civilizing process of cultural encounter, with attention of the idea of cultural fusion.

Mendoza de Arce, Daniel. Music in Ibero-America to 1850: A Historical Survey . Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2001.

A survey study of music in Ibero-America at large, with a focus on institutions, in twelve chapters. Seven chapters devoted to the colonial period.

Slonimsky, Nicolas. Music of Latin America . New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1945.

A European-based view of history, composers, and characteristics of music from twenty Latin American countries.

Spiess, Lincoln B., and E. Thomas Stanford. An Introduction to Certain Musical Archives . Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1969.

A preliminary inventoried list of musical holdings at the cathedrals of Mexico City and Puebla. Due to the limited access given to the authors by cathedral authorities, and to the constraints of working space, the list is rather short and not representative of the actual musical sources found in these churches. This was, nonetheless, one of the first efforts to account for musical holdings in ecclesiastical institutions.

Stevenson, Robert. Music in Aztec and Inca Territory . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.

A survey study of music in these two territories, including pre-Hispanic music, the study of musical cultures (European and Indigenous) at the time of encounter, and the development of musical practices.

Stevenson, Robert. Renaissance and Baroque Musical Sources in the Americas . Washington, DC: General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1970.

List of music sources in different Latin American repositories, which as of 1970 had not been accounted for in previous catalogues. Repositories include the cathedrals of Bogotá, Cuzco, Guatemala City, Oaxaca, Puebla, and Sucre; National Libraries in Lima, Mexico City, and other archives in archbishoprics, former colleges, and museums.

Stevenson, Robert. Christmas Music from Baroque Mexico . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.

DOI: 10.1525/9780520317932

A partial study of Christmas music sources, some acquired by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, others seemingly in private hands at that point. As with his volume from 1970, Stevenson’s effort was to unearth repertory. Bibliographic information to locate some of this material is not forthcoming in the book.

Waisman, Leonardo. Una historia de la música colonial hispanoamericana . Buenos Aires: Gourmet Musical Ediciones, 2019.

Monograph focused solely on the history of colonial music in Latin America. The book gives due attention to music in Jesuitic missions and grapples with the different academic paradigms that have permeated research in colonial music studies.

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Latin American Music: Culture and Politics Hey, everybody loves music—some music. Music is as close to a universal language as we have. Even when the words are foreign, the beat, melody, sense, instruments, feeling can communicate to us. Yes, this is a history course. However, culture is a powerful and vital part of history. So, along with learning the “facts” of the past, you will learn and in some cases learn to appreciate the musical richness of Latin American culture. The first portion of this essay introduces you to some Latin American composers and musicians you should know about--just to be a cultured citizen of Planet Earth. The second portion highlights the highly political content of much Latin American music. The final section briefly traces the recent boom in Latino music in the US. This is an “exposure” exercise meant to introduce you to a wide range of music from the region. Thus there are gaps and serious omissions—but, in my view, SOME culture is preferable to none. Here are some brief notes on some of the artists and composers-- consider it a sampler, not a full course meal. [Those entries without attribution come from the World Book Encyclopedia, CD ROM Millennium 2000 version; or Encyclopedia Britannica 2002, Expanded DVD edition .] A Few Musical Folks You Should Know Chavez, Carlos (1899-1978), a Mexican composer, was one of the most important influences on the musical life of Mexico in the 1900's. Many of Chavez's works reflect his interest in Mexican folk music. Some of Chavez's other compositions were written in a strong romantic style.The use of complex rhythms became a dominant element in his mature compositions. Chavez wrote seven symphonies, several ballets, and cantatas, songs, and chamber works. Several of his pieces use native Mexican folk instruments. For example, Xochipilli Macuilxochitl (1940) is an orchestral composition that requires traditional Indian drums. Chavez was born in Mexico City. In 1928, he organized the first permanent symphony orchestra in Mexico, and he served as its conductor until 1949. He also directed the National Conservatory of Music almost continuously from 1928 to 1934 and the National Institute of Fine Arts from 1947 to 1952. In addition, Chavez was a music and art critic for a Mexico City newspaper. Chavez served as guest conductor for several major symphony orchestras in the United States. Gardel, Carlos was born in the city of Toulouse, France, on 11 December 1890. Son of an unknown father and Berta Gardés,who gave him her surname, he was christened as Charles Romuald Gardés. In 1893 his mother arrived in Argentina with her small child who was around twoyears old. His childhood was spent in the surroundings of the Mercado de Abasto, his adopted neighborhood, so then "El Morocho del Abasto" was born. In 1916, already recovered, he resumed alongside Razzano his season in Mar del Plata. The following year he decided to sing publicly a tango, and so one evening at the Teatro Empire in Buenos Aires he premiered Mi noche triste by Samuel Castriota and Pascual Contursi. Since then he would include tangos in his repertory. On 9 April 1917 the Glucksmann house hired them to record. He is starred on a silent movie: "Flor de Durazno" and together with Razzano he started his first tour of Chile. Gardel helped propel the tango to international popularity. The tango is a ballroom dance for a couple in slow 2/4 or 4/4 time. The dancers alternate long, slow steps with short, quick steps, sometimes making sudden turns and striking dramatic poses. The tango was danced in the United States about 1912 by Vernon and Irene Castle, a famous ballroom dancing team. It also became popular in Paris and London. Today's tango is related to an Argentine dance called the milonga, a Cuban dance called the habanera, and a tango from Spain's Andalusian region. Gardel's last recording in Buenos Aires was on 6 November 1933 when he committed to disc Madame Ivonne, a tango by Eduardo Pereyra and Enrique Cadícamo. Between January and February 1935 he was starred on the films "El día que me quieras" and "Tango Bar" where he sang his most remembered hits. In April, Gardel decided to set out for a tour of Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Aruba, Curaçao, Colombia, Panamá, Cuba and Mexico, but destiny prevented its completion by the tragic air crash in Medellín which ended his life on 24 June 1935. Source: Todo Tango Jobim, Antonio Carlos (1927-1994), Brazilian composer, pianist, and arranger of popular music. He became known for the song "The Girl from Ipanema," which was a worldwide hit in 1964. The lyrics for the song were written by the Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes. Other songs by Jobim, including "Waters of March" and "Wave," also achieved worldwide popularity. Jobim was the leading composer of the style called the bossa nova. This is a Brazilian form of dance music that combines the rhythm of the samba with complex arrangements and harmonies of jazz music. The bossa nova began in Brazil during the 1950's and spread to the United States in the 1960's. Jobim's songs were recorded by many American musicians, including Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz. Jobim also composed music for motion pictures and the stage. Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almedia Jobim was born in Rio de Janeiro. Jobim (Vh-1 bio) Puente, Tito (Ernesto Antonio Puente, Jr.) 1923-, American musician, b. New York City. One of the premier composers and players of Latin music, he is a bandleader, pianist, and virtuoso percussionist. He began playing in the 1930s and performed in various bands while studying at the Julliard School of Music (1945-47). In 1947 he formed his own group, the Piccadilly Boys, which shortly afterward became the Tito Puente Orchestra. During the 1950s Puente became renowned for his Big Band renditions, in person and on recordings, of such Latin dance craze styles as the mambo and cha-cha; in the 1960s he also turned to pachenga music. Puente played in and led many other bands. Beginning in the 1960s he also collaborated with several jazz musicians and since then has customarily worked in either a Latin or jazz style, or a combination of the two, becoming an important figure in salsa music. During his long career, Puente has won four Grammys and has recorded more than 100 albums. Tito Puente brief bio Puente (VH-1 bio) Hey, did I omit someone really important? Someone you really like? Suggestions for additional performers welcome! Part 2: Mixing Politics and Music in Latin America As you've observed during the course of the semester, free political expression in Latin America has been an infrequent luxury. Elites dominated the political arena during the 19th century, leaving little room for the voices of the people. Aside from an uprising (called a montonera in Argentina), the masses had few means of voicing their political concerns. In Mexico, for example, the dictatorship of Porfirio D�az (1884-1911) stifled opposition voices, monopolized political offices, rigged elections, and banned or broke strikes and protests. During the 20th century, military dictatorships repeated cut off most means of political expression: voting, organizing unions, free press, TV and radio. With the legitimate means of political participation non-existent, many Latin Americans turned to non-institutional means of political expression. Thus the arts, literature, and, yes, music, became vehicles of political protest. With political institutions not functioning at all or tightly controlled by repressive regimes, people turned the arts and music to political ends. We could cite many examples over the decades. Here are a few. Corridos of Mexico's Borderlands Corridos Sin Fronteras/ Ballads Without Borders A corrido is a ballad or folksong whose theme, characters, or events flow from the values and experiences of local communities of northern Mexico and/or the American Southwest. "Between 1848 and 1860, the modern corrido emerged out of an ancient musico-literary form that had been introduced from Spain in the sixteenth century � the romance. And it was evidently in Texas, and not in Michoac�n, Durango, or Jalisco, as once thought, that the first corridos were composed. The climate of conflict that grew out of the Anglo invasion and subsequent annexation of what became the American Southwest at the end of the Mexican-American War (1848) was the ideal setting for the birth of an expressive culture that would key in on this conflict. The folklorist Am�rico Paredes has argued that the Mexican corrido actually originated along the Texas-Mexico border, since the earliest corrido collected in complete form comes from Texas � "El corrido de Kiansis" ("The Ballad of Kansas"; 1860s). In the early corridos, the conflict is generally placed in terms of professional rivalries, without expression of violence. Later, "El corrido de Juan Cortina" ushered in what has been called the hero corrido. This type of corrido invariably features a larger-than-life Mexican hero who single-handedly defies a cowardly, smaller-than-life gang of Anglo-American lawmen. Hero corridos were written until the 1920s in Texas and elsewhere, including such classics as "Joaqu�n Murrieta and Jacinto Trevi�o," but perhaps the most memorable is "El corrido de Gregorio Cortez", the story of a folk hero who fled for his life after killing an Anglo-American sheriff in self-defense. Historically, the corrido and canci�n are two distinct genres or musical forms. However, in the Hispanic Southwest they have at times experienced considerable overlap, especially since the 1920s. Of course, this convergence is never complete; some corridos retain enough of their "classical" narrative features to stamp them unmistakably as corridos, while most canciones remain purely lyrical expressions of love." Source: Free Resources from Gale Publishing Gregorio Cortez (1875-1916) lived in Karnes County, Texas, at the turn of this century. One day Sheriff Morris went to his house and accused him of stealing a horse. Gregorio had no idea of what was going on because he didn't know how to speak English. The sheriff didn't know any Spanish but he had a translator with him. Unfortunately, the translator, Mr. Choate, did not know Spanish very well. When the sheriff asked Gregorio if he knew anything about a missing horse, Choate translated the word "horse" incorrectly. Gregorio said he knew nothing about this "horse." Tempers flared, leading to disaster. The sheriff shot Gregorio's brother, who died. Then Gregorio shot the sheriff, who crawled off into a field where he bled to death. His translator had fled to seek help. By the time Choate returned with others, the sheriff was dead. A statewide manhunt ensued, involving Texas Rangers and lawmen from many counties. Gregorio had fled, and was able to elude his pursuers through his horsemanship and with the help of friends. Cortez was captured just before reaching the Mexican border. He was tried and sent to prison. But the story of the long chase was now known by the entire state, and soon became the subject of "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez," a story of legendary horsemanship and complex issues. You can read more about Cortez in the book With a Pistol in His Hand , by folklorist Americo Paredes (1915-1999). See also the 1982 film with Edward James Olmos. Corrido "Gregorio Cortez" Selena (Quintanilla Perez) (1971-95) Although less overtly political than her Tejano predecessors, Selena became a powerful cultural icon during her short career. Her tragic murder makes her story all the more poignant. Dubbed the Latin Madonna (supposedly a compliment), Selena was poised to achieve crossover success with the release of her first English-language album shortly before being murdered. The founder of her fan club, suspected of embezzlement, and possibly degranged, short and killled the singer in a Corpus Christi, TX, motel room. Selena, who had performed from the age of nine with the family band, was a vivacious entertainer whose fluid voice celebrated the sound of Tejano, a fast-paced accordion-based Latin dance music that combined elements of jazz, country, and German polka and was rooted in South Texas. Selena's Tex-Mex popularity earned her laurels as the queen of Tejano, and she won a 1994 Grammy award for best Mexican-American album for Selena Live. Another album, "Amor Prohibido," sold more than 400,000 copies and was nominated for a 1995 Grammy award. At the time of Selena's shooting death, her song "Fotos y Recuerdos" was number four on Billboard's Latin chart. Six years after her untimely death, Tejana pop star Selena lives on in the memory of her family and fans-and in fashion through the efforts of award-winning designer Sandra Salcedo. In the spring of 1998 the first designs of the newly mass-produced Selena clothing line made their debut in stores nationwide. Salcedo, who has her own label, created the new collection along with Selena's sister, Suzette Quintanilla Arriaga. Hispanic Magazine tribute and links Selena (VH-1 bio) Victor Jara (1932-1973) Martyr of Chilean Protest Music, victim of Chile's fascist military dictatorship. Photos of Victor Jara Victor Jara Sings "Chile Stadium" There are five thousand of us here in this little part of the city. We are five thousand. I wonder how many we are in all in the cities and in the whole country? Here alone are ten thousand hands which plant seeds and make the factories run: How much humanity exposed to hunger, cold, panic, pain, moral pressures, terror and insanity? What horror the face of fascism creates! How hard it is to sing when I must sing of horror. Horror which I am living. Horror which I am dying. To see myself among so much horror and so many moments of infinity in which silence and screams are the end of my song. What I see I have never seen. What I have felt and what I feel will give birth to the moment. . . . The life of Victor Jara (September 23, 1932-September 16(?), 1973) by Brad Chapman Victor Jara is an extremely important influence on the music and culture of Chile. His life was a reflection of his country, of the tumultuous times in which he lived, and of his personal philosophies. Victor Jara began his life in a small town of Chile and with his music talent and great love for the people of Chile, became one of the best known and most influential musical figures of Latin America. Victor Jara was born in Loquen, Chile, a small town outside of Santiago. His parents were rural farmers--his father, Manuel, worked as a simple laborer while his mother, Amanda, performed many odd jobs to make money for the family. Victor Jara's father had a drinking problem, and their home was often not happy because of the many fights when Victor's drunken father used to hit Amanda. After some years of this unhappiness, Victor's father moved to the countryside to work as a farmer, and Amanda was left on her own to raise Victor Jara and his brothers and sisters. She was an extremely hard worker, and in the words of Victor Jara, her optimistic outlook on life gave strength to the family. She was an extremely important part of Victor Jara's life. She sang and played the guitar, and taught Victor to play the guitar and also taught him many traditional folk songs of Chile. The time he spent with his mother had a great influence on his musical style. Amanda had a great belief in the power of education, so when Victor finished elementary and high school he began studying accounting. Sadly, Amanda died when Victor was only 15 years old. He left his accounting studies and entered into the seminary. He was very sad over the death of his mother, and also believed that the profession of a priest was the most important in the world. But after two years, he became disenchanted with religion, and left to join the army for a few years. After this he returned to Lonquen, but had no job or prospects and thus began to study the folk music of Chile with a group of friends. During this time he developed an interest in theater, and began to study acting in the School of Theater in the University of Chile. There he showed an inclination towards directing, and after his acting degree was completed, he began in the directing program. During these years and in the future, Victor Jara participated in countless theater productions. He was also beginning to further sing and study folk music when he first met Violeta Parra. She was an extremely talented singer and artist, an admirer of the traditional music and instruments of Chile, and the owner of a small cafe in Santiago. Victor began to help in this cafe, and soon began singing more and more. During this time he also began to get involved in the politics of Chile. In 1966, he made his first solo disk, self titled "Victor Jara." In the following years he continued as a theater director but began to spend more and more time with his songs and political activities. Finally, in 1970, he left the life of the theater to spend all of his time working for the people of Chile through his songs. The songs of Victor Jara are filled with his thoughts on the simple people of Chile. He had a great love for the hard working people of small towns and villages, and many of his songs celebrate the lives of these people. Also, because of his great love for his country, many of his songs attack injustices in society or political scandals. Victor Jara is an essential part of the great Latin American musical movement known as "Nueva Cancion" or New Song. This movement is involved with many revolutionary activities in Latin America, and all of the artists of Neuva Cancion share many common goals and thoughts (please see the essay on Nueva Cancion for more information). Finally, Victor Jara's political ideas where an extremely important part of his songs. He believed in the general communist philosophy, like many progressive singers of Latin America, because of it's promises to better the lives of poor people. You can see the devotion of Victor Jara to his political ideals most strongly in his support of the presendency of Salvador Allende in 1973. Allende was a part of the Popular Unity party (a subsection of the Communist Party of Chile) and Victor Jara, along with other Chileans singers, gave concerts in favor of Allende and his political goals. Allende was a progressive canditate who had a great love for the people of the small towns of Chile. The Popular Unity party had plans to increase education, and to supply increased housing and free socialized medical care. One of the concerts representative of this campaign for Allende was the concert given in the Stadium of Chile, where many political artists sang in favor of Allende. In the end, the Allende campaign was a success, and he was elected president of Chile, after some political compromise and manuevering. However, there was much opposition to the election of Allende and the military organized a coup to overthrow the newly placed president. In the resulting coup, Allende was killed and the military seized control of the government. On the day of this tragedy, Victor Jara was at his job in the State Technical University, which was surrounded by the military, who took Victor Jara prisoner for five horrible days. During these days, he was forced to live in cold and dirty prisons without proper food or water, but other prisoners there with him testify that during these sufferings, he was only concerned with the welfare of his fellow prisoners. Finally, the military brought Victor Jara and other political prisoners to the Stadium of Chile, the place where the concert for Allende has previously been held. There the milatary men tortured and killed many people. They broke Victor Jara's hands (Note: many stories indicate that Victor Jara's hands were cut off, but Joan Jara's book about Victor indicates that when she saw him after his death, his hands were broken, so that is the version being used in this essay) so that he couldn't play his guitar, and then taunted him to try and sing and play his songs. Even under these horrible tortures, Victor Jara magnificently sang a portion of the song of the Popular Unity party. After this, he received many brutal blows, and finally was brutally killed with a machine gun and carried to a mass grave. After his horrible death Joan Jara, the wife of Victor, was shown to his body and gave him a proper funeral and buriel. Because of all of the problems in Chile following his horrible coup, she was forced to leave the country in secret with tapes of Victor Jara's music. Even today, the policital and intensely human songs of Victor Jara are respected all over the world, and the ideals of Nueva Cancion and political music in general remain extremely strong. The life of Victor Jara is a beautiful example of an intelligent and sincere singer who spoke strongly through his songs. As a result, the songs of Victor Jara are a testimony to his strength and positive view of life. Bob Marley (1945-81) Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, and guitarist; critic of racism everywhere and corruption in Jamaican politics. As a member of the Wailers, a reggae band t included Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh , and later on his own, Marley propelled reggae to worldwide popularity. His commitment to nonviolence and the Rastafarian religion are transparent in his music, and his smoky tenor and loping reggae beat combine to enhance the appeal of his political message. Reggae is a type of popular music that developed in Jamaica in the 1960's. At first it was primarily performed by and for poor Jamaicans. It later became popular throughout Jamaica and also in England and the United States. Reggae has influenced soul, rhythm and blues, and rock music. The words in most reggae songs deal with the social concerns and religious beliefs of poor Jamaicans. The songs are in 4/4 time and feature strong accents off the beat. Short rhythmic patterns are repeated many times by electric guitars and drums. They are also sometimes repeated with organ or piano. The rhythms in reggae are sometimes complex, but the harmonies are simple. As with rock music, the volume of reggae is loud. Reggae has its roots in traditional African music, Jamaican folk music, and North American popular music. It developed from two other types of Jamaican popular music--ska and rock steady. Reggae began to gain popularity outside Jamaica in the late 1960's through the recordings of a number of reggae musicians. The most important was Bob Marley, who grew up in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica. Marley led a group called the Wailers, founded in 1964. He was the most famous reggae star internationally until his death from cancer in 1981 at the age of 36. His colleague friend and Peter Tosh also met a premature end a few years later-- at age 42-- murdered during a robbery gone bad. "Until the philosophy which hold one race Superior and another inferior Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned Everywhere is war, me say war" - Bob Marley, in his song "War," quoting from H.I.M Haile Selassie I VH-1 Behind with Scenes with Bob Marley Marley (VH-1 bio) Bob Marley Foundation Sosa, Mercedes A strong voice against mlitary dictatorship in Argentina. Born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina on July 9th, 1935, Mercedes Sosa grew up in a modest home, where she developed a love for popular artistic expressions. As an adolescent, she loved singing, dancing and hoped to become a native dance instructor. She entered the Argentine folklore scene in a rather unusual way. In the mid-1960s, while living in Mendoza, she along with her musician husband, Manuel Oscar Matus, and poet Armando Tejada Gómez became the founders of the Movimiento del Nuevo Cancionero, which renewed the natively rooted artistic expressions of the time. It was in those days that she recorded her debut album with an independent work, Canciones con fundamento. Shortly thereafter, she performed at the Cosquín Festival for the first time, thanks to the generosity of the already famous singer Jorge Cafrune. That same year,1965, she recorded the only track of the concept work Romance de la Muerte de Juan Lavalle, by Ernesto Sábato and Eduardo Falú. During the autumn of 1966, she released Yo no canto por cantar, her first album with PolyGram -at present Universal- and started a relationship with the company which she has kept for 33 years. Undoubtedly, an exceptional case of fidelity to a record company. In April 1967, after recording her third album Para cantarle a mi gente - she started hir first world tour. She sang in Lisbon, Miami, Rome, Warsaw, Leningrade, Kislovo, Sochi, Gagri, Bakú and Tiflis. During that tour she met Ariel Ramirez, author of Misa Criolla, who invited her to be the leading vocals in his work Mujeres Argentinas. She accepted and recorded that album in 1969, shortly after the release of Con sabor a Mercedes Sosa. By that time, her assertive voice had was becoming an inconvenience to the military government of her country, and she was frequently censored on official radios. New Beginnings: In 1999, she returned to the stage and began a worlwide tour. Apart from her numerous concerts in Argentina, she performed in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central American countries. In July of that year, she accompanied Charly García at a rock concert in Mexico City. The following September, Sosa began an important tour around Portugal, Spain, England, France, Israel, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Finland and Italy. Mercedes Sosa, known worldwide as, The Voice of Latin America, has never avoided any challenge. Thus, almost 35 years after her original debut as a folklore singer, she reinvented her musical style. For the first time, she recorded an album outside of the popular music genre. Sosa hit the peak of her career with Misa Criolla y Elegía, and strengthened her image as young artist - even though her own grandchildren remind her that she is already 64 years old. Misa Criolla y Elegía was be released in November, 1999. Source: More on Mercedes Sosa Sosa (VH-1 b io) Estefan, Gloria (1957-...), popular Cuban-born singer and songwriter--vehemently anti-Castro, darling of Miami's Cuban exiles. Estefan was born in Havana. Her original name was Gloria Maria Fajardo. Her family moved to Miami in 1959. She began to appear with a Cuban American band called the Miami Latin Boys in 1975. The group was soon renamed the Miami Sound Machine. Estefan received a degree in psychology from the University of Miami in 1978 but decided to pursue a music career instead. She married Emilio Estefan, Jr., the group's leader and keyboard player, in 1978. The Miami Sound Machine had its first hit in "Conga" (1985). Estefan was the Miami Sound Machine's dynamic lead singer and also composed many of its songs, including the hit "Anything for You" (1987). Her other compositions include "Live for Loving You" (1991), "Coming Out of the Dark" (1991), "Always Tomorrow" (1992), and "Go Away" (1993). In the 1990's, Estefan left the Miami Sound Machine to pursue a solo career. Popular with the rabidly anti-Castro Cuban community in Miami, Estefan often expresses opposition to the Cuban President. Like many Latino performers, she mixes politics and music. Estefan (VH-1 bio) Fiel de la Vega, Puerto Rico [in Spanish] Narco Corridos Certainly one of the strangest musical political mobilizations has come along the US-Mexican border. Here traditional corridos (folksongs) that once honored revolutionaries like Pancho Villa, now make heroes of Mexican drug traffickers. Colombian drug lords also enjoy such musical celebrity, although in some cases, they pay composers for their work. In either case, many poor Mexicans and Colombians, see drug traffickers as populist folk heroes-- worthy of celebration in song. Narco Corrido: Brief Description Narco Corrido Book Part 3: La Bomba: The Latin Pop Explosion by Jeff Wallenfeldt Hispanics were on their way to becoming the largest ethnic minority in the United States by the first decades of the 21st century, but their music was already tops in 1999. The year saw a proliferation of Top 40 hits by Latino artists in 1999 and an explosion of Latin pop music. At the forefront were handsome, charismatic Ricky Martin�a 27-year-old Puerto Rican, the movement's answer to the young Elvis Presley�and sultry Jennifer Lopez, a 29-year-old Nuyorican (New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent) who first gained fame as a film actress. By midsummer Martin's �Livin' la Vida Loca� and Lopez's �If You Had My Love� both had reached number one in the charts. Suddenly the singers were everywhere�and not only in the Hispanic neighborhoods�their voices bleeding from Walkman headphones, their faces on the covers of Rolling Stone and Time, their well-toned bodies in heavy rotation on MTV. That dancing was at the heart of their performances was no surprise, not only because of the seductive rhythms of Latin music. Before starring in the film biography of Selena, the ill-fated Tejano pop sensation, Lopez was a dancer on television's In Living Color; by age 12 Martin had joined Menudo, the teenage song-and-dance franchise. He later acted on American television's General Hospital and in Les Miserables on Broadway before embarking on a Spanish-language singing career that made him an international star. His galvanic performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards was the watershed event of the Latin pop explosion, its �crossover� moment. The notion of Latin music crossing over was not new, however. Since the 1930s, Latino musicians had flirted with mainstream acceptance in the U.S., beginning with the �king of rhumba,� Xavier Cugat. In the late 1940s, New Yorkers flocked to dance halls to hear Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri. In 1959 Ritchie Valens had a Spanish-language rock-and-roll hit with �La Bamba,� and in the 1960s the group Santana infused its propulsive rock with Latin rhythms. Those rhythms were also pivotal to hits by non-Latinos, notably Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's work with the Drifters in the early '60s and the Philadelphia soul of writer-producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in the 1970s. In the 1980s, Cuban-born Gloria Estefan broke through with a string of Latin-flavoured pop hits, Spaniard Julio Iglesias became an international star, and Panamanian salsa singer Ruben Blades and Los Angeles's roots rockers Los Lobos became critics' darlings. None of these inroads, however, was as deep as the latest wave of Latin pop�which also included Nuyorican Marc Anthony; Julio Iglesias's son Enrique; Selena's widower, Chris Perez; and Colombian singer Shakira. Some critics noted that Martin's and Lopez's platinum hits were less than pure Latin music and much indebted to rock and rhythm-and-blues styles. Yet modern Latin popular music was a hybrid that drew on a variety of cultures and styles, from tango to Tejano ballads, Afro-Cuban polyrhythms to Brazilian bossa nova. Moreover, Martin and Lopez were careful not to ignore their Hispanic audience or the rapidly expanding Spanish-language radio market. Tons more links to quality information: University of Texas LANIC (Latin American Resources on Music)

The Role of Music in Latin American Culture

Music plays a crucial role in the culture of Latin America, and it always has. This continent has a rich and colorful musical landscape with sounds that range from tribal roots to folk music to modern pop. The sounds and songs of Latin America are expressive and diverse. We’re going to explore the role of music in this particular culture and understand its importance. 

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Latin American Music & Its History

Latin America is home to many indigenous populations and tribes. These tribes cultivated many unique instruments, folksy and earthy music, even leaning to very spiritually-inclined chanting and song. Prominent instruments like maracas or the pan flute come from these indigenous tribes. 

Further on in time, Spanish settlers influenced these tribes and populations, which led to the blending and emergence of new musical styles in Latin America and, of course, the spread of 

music like Samba, Tango, and Mariachi. 

Preserving Indigenous Cultures

A very important role that music upholds in Latin American culture is to preserve and proudly showcase the roots of the people. Music helps celebrate the culture of indigenous communities, and many of these communities across Latam have very rich musical traditions, showcasing truly one-of-a-kind vocal styles and instruments.

Because of colonization and modernization, these traditions have been lost, so music bridges the gap for those who want to reconnect to their roots and the music that their ancestors played. Music has helped preserve these traditions, and it’s also helped keep their memory alive. It isn’t only used to celebrate cultural heritage; it’s also used to educate those interested in these traditions without necessarily belonging to them. 

And as of late, there has been a re-emergence of such ancient songs and styles being incorporated into more modern mixes, with artists like Mose and Deya Dova deriving immediate inspiration from the earthy, often spiritual tones found in the music of these indigenous tribes. 

The Role Of Music In Identity

In Latin America, music has a role in representing collective identities and shaping individuality. It is intertwined with regional identities and national identities. Some examples of this: 

• Brazil: Samba 
• Argentina: Tango
• Mexico: Ranchera
• Columbia: Cumbia

In many countries across the continent, music expresses cultural heritage and national pride. 

The Role Of Music In Social Movements

Music is used and has been used as a social and political tool for activism across Latin America. For example, the “Nueva Canción” movement emerged in Chile and other Latam countries during the 60s and 70s. 

The music that represented this movement had clear socially-conscious lyrics criticizing the government and demanding social equality and justice. Unfortunately, political strife, corruption, and violence still prevail in Latin America, and so the music continues to play the role of bringing attention to the struggle across the continent. 

Music, of course, also plays a positive role in the social movement of Latam. Hits like “Despacito” have helped popularize Latin American music everywhere, with artists like Rosalita and Bad Bunny now dominating the modern music scene with contemporary Latino songs. 

Representing Diversity

Music also embodies and represents the diversity of Latin America. Latam music features diverse styles and genres hailing from different traditions that are all unique, colorful, and rich with history. Diversity can be detected and felt even within regional sectors of one country, offering listeners variations in the same genre or from playing the same instrument. 

Let’s look at Peru, for example. In the Andean regions of Bolivia and Ecuador, the use of pan flutes is more prominent, as well as other wind instruments. On the other hand, in coastal regions of the same countries, percussion and dance are more prominent.

In Celebrating Life And Death

Latin American culture celebrates life and death equally. They celebrate both life and death in Latam, with the Mexican holiday of “Dia de los Muertos” being one of the most popular examples of this. During the Dia de los Muertos, families gather to honor their deceased family members and to pay homage to their memory/life. Music plays a crucial part during celebrations such as this one. 

Mariachi bands who play traditional songs and ballads help create a joyful atmosphere even in a solemn celebration. For life celebrations like quinceañeras, more often than not, live music will be found. Either a band will be hired, or a DJ will play a blend of traditional songs and modern ones to keep the festivities up. 

Latin American Music on the Global Stage

Throughout the years, Latin American music has made a huge impact on the global stage and has influenced other countries’ musicians and listeners. Latin American music has gained much popularity for its bass-y and festive vibes, often being used for parties, couple dances, and so on.

The continent’s music has also influenced other genres like jazz and hip-hop. Latin American instruments and rhythms can be heard and are often mixed into these genres of beats and melodies, which have created timelessly catchy and unique sounds. 

Final Thoughts

Music holds a high place in Latin American culture, where it serves a purpose in many different aspects of people’s lives. From representing national identities to being used for celebrations of death and life, it serves a vital and dynamic part that not only helps people express themselves but to heighten human celebrations. 

New generations of artists have now taken more traditional elements of music and blended them with modern and contemporary elements, which makes for intriguing sounds and melodies. There’s more to hear from Latam music, and we’re excited to discover more.

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Latin American Music Influence Essay

The music found in Latin America is as rich and diverse as the people that reside there. Latin America is comprised of several countries including Mexico and all of those found in Central and South America. Considering all of the countries that contribute to and influence Latin music, one might imagine just how culturally dense the music of Latin America is. With an immense presence of talented artists, Latin American music encompasses a variety of genres and is ever-changing. One group that has had a powerful impact on the world of Latin music is Jesse y Joy.

This duo has a distinct style that has been heavily influenced by two cultures: Mexican and American. Through these influences, Jesse y Joy have successfully unified two very different cultures. In order to gain insight into modern Latin American music, this biography will explore the beginnings of Jesse y Joy, the influences in their life, their accomplishments in the music world, as well as their impact on others. Jesse y Joy are a unique Latin American group with an interesting background. Jesse and Joy Huerta are siblings that were born in the United States, in Wisconsin to be precise, but were raised in Mexico City.

Although raised by both parents, their mother was an English teacher from Wisconsin and their father was from Mexico City (Johnson, 2009). Throughout their childhood, Jesse and Joy’s mother was adamant about her children not speaking “Spanglish”, a cross between Spanish and English. In an interview with USA TODAY, Jesse Huerta stated, “She spoke to us in English, and our dad spoke to us in Spanish. There was no mixing. She was very specific about that” (Cordova, 2016). As a result, Jesse and Joy grew up with an appreciation for American and Mexican cultures and now speak ompletely fluent Spanish and English.

Throughout school, especially as young children, other students often teased or excluded Jesse and Joy for their mixed culture. Nonetheless, as they grew older, they realized their ability to speak fluently in two major languages was immensely valuable and would empower them in the future (Cordova, 2016). Throughout Latin America and even in the United States, Jesse y Joy have become one of the most popular groups in Latin American music. However, they did not always know they wanted to become involved in the music business.

As children, music played a significant role in the lives of Jesse and Joy. Their parents constantly incorporated music into their home, allowing their children to develop an interest in music (Vasquez, 2009). In particular, their mother played a number of her vinyl records that included artists like Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Neil Young, and Johnny Cash. Moreover, before Jesse and Joy learned to play instruments, they would pretend with spoons and buckets for drums and tennis rackets as if they were guitars.

As they grew older, they were allowed to play the instruments after services at the evangelical church they attended in Mexico City (Johnson, 2013). In 2001, when Jesse was 18 and Joy was 15, the siblings decided to become involved in the music world and recorded their first song, “Llegaste tu,” which would later become one of their most popular songs. In 2004, while Jesse was playing on a basketball and working at Cost Co in Mexico City, the siblings created a demo of their music which eventually reached Warner Music Mexico.

They did not anticipate the demo to generate much interest and had difficulty believing a call they received that requested them to meet with someone from the record company. On April 18. 2005, Jesse and Joy signed a contract with Warner Music (Buena Musica). In December of the same year, the siblings performed their first concert in front of a crowd of 130,000 people in an opening-act for Sin Bandera, which is one of the most popular duos in Latin American music.

Interestingly enough, Joy, the lead vocal, had a phobia of singing n front of others. Through their debut opening for Sin Bandera, Joy overcame her phobia, enabling her to move forward in her music career (Vasquez, 2009). Musical influences in the childhood of Jesse and Joy, such as Neil Young, The Carpenters, and Johnny Cash, have undoubtedly impacted the music they compose today. Jesse, with his skill on the drums, piano, guitar, bass, and even harmonica, and Joy, with her vocal talent and skill with a guitar, certainly have a multifaceted sound (Buena Musica).

Although most often categorized in the pop and alternative genres, their music includes hints of country twang, rock, and even jazz. For instance, one might observe rockabilly and folk tinges in their hit song “Espacio Sideral,” as well as modern-rock vocals and guitar in “Nuevo Dia. ” Joy’s vocal quality is exceptionally indicative of American musical influence, as she has been compared to artists like Norah Jones, Alanis Morissette, and Lady Antebellum (Caramanica, 2009). Indeed, Jesse and Joy’s musical creations have been heavily inspired by their childhood and their mixed culture.

In the span of twelve years, Jesse y Joy have developed into an exceedingly accomplished artists. In 2006, their first single “Espacio Sideral” became the second most popular song in Mexico. That same year, they were nominated at the MTV Latin Awards for “promesa artistica”, or promising artist award. In 2008, the siblings won “Best New Artist” at the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2009, the album “Electricidad” by the sibling-duo radiated throughout the Americas and reach number three on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums.

Perhaps one of their most notable successes is their third album, “? Con quien se queda el perro? ” One song featured on this album, “Me Voy,” was released on September 5, 2011, a couple months before the whole album was released. “Me Voy” quickly reached the number one song in Mexico, and soon earned number one on iTunes (Buena Musica). In 2012, “? Con quien se queda el perro? ” won the Latin Grammy for contemporary pop vocal album (Johnson, 2013). Moreover, their most popular single, “? Corre! “, reached number one on Tu Dial radio and maintained that position for eight consecutive weeks.

As a result, “? Corre! ” became the most successful song on Tu Dial radio for 2012. Furthermore, Jesse y Joy’s music has appeared in several famous Latin movies and television shows, such as Eclipse, part of the Twilight saga, and the Mexican version of High School Musical (Buena Musica; Caramanica, 2009). With five Latin Grammy Awards, three successful albums, and a persistent presence on Spanish radio, Jesse and Joy have certainly reached stardom in Latin American music. With their mixed heritage, Jesse and Joy have had an immense impact on the world.

While they certainly have an enormous Spanish-speaking fan-base, they have also connected with the English-speakers of the world. In fact, their single “Echoes of Love”, the English version of “Ecos de Amor,” made the BBC Radio 1 playlist in England (Cordova, 2016). As products of an English and Spanish-speaking home, Jesse and Joy create songs in both languages because both are fundamental to their identities. In staying true to themselves and their culture, they are able to reach and inspire millions of people with different cultural backgrounds.

Perhaps the biggest impact they have had is on each other. With a challenging childhood, being teased for their American heritage, Jesse and Joy grew up as best friends. The two are not only in sync with each other’s musical talents, but also with their thoughts and feelings. While Jesse is married with two children, he and his sister remain best friends and see each other almost daily (Johnson, 2013). It is well established that music has the power to unify people, for it is a fundamental aspect of most cultures. Jesse and Joy have massively contributed to the music and culture of Latin America.

Moreover, with a mixed Mexican-American heritage, the Latin sibling duo has also had an effect in the world of English music. In part, this can be attributed to the heavy influence of American music that is integrated into their music. Inspired by artists like Johnny Cash, Neil Young, and Aretha Franklin, Jesse y Joy’s music contains elements of country, jazz, and rock. These influences have enabled Jesse y Joy to create a unique and successful musical identity in Latin music, and will continue to impact their future musical endeavors.

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