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Chapter Reference: Colonial Crucible; Postcolonial Blues; Neocolonialism; Nationalism
Cuban music has been internationally influential for well over a century. Few would question that the special genius of Cuban music lies in the confluence of European and African musical ideas. The chords of a Cuban son, played by the guitarist's left hand, might fit exactly into a Spanish song, but the right-hand rhythms would be quite different, their subtlety and variety unquestionably African. Cuban music, often under the misspelled, misapplied name "rhumba," enjoyed a sustained U.S. vogue from the 1930s to the 1950s. Decades later, Cuban music returned to national prominence in the form of salsa. The name designated a New York version of Cuban son that incorporated urban lyrical themes and electric instruments. Puerto Ricans were prominent among salsa musicians, too. From New York, salsa spread throughout the Caribbean basin, where earlier waves of Cuban music had prepared the way. More recently there has been a revival of U.S. interest in mid-twentieth-century son, as exemplified (also driven) by the Buena Vista Social Club recording and film. A paper on the music and the conquered world should focus on the process of transculturation whereby African and European musical ideas blended in places like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil.
Questions for Analysis and Further Reflection:
- In what settings did African and European musical ideas mix during the colonial period?
- How did music play into nationalist movements after independence? What forms of group identity were connected to musical ideas in the region by the early twentieth century?
- What role does Latin American music play in contemporary U.S. Latino identities?
Bibliography: (Titles with ** are good starting places.)
Austerlitz, Paul. Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity. With a foreword by
Robert Farris Thompson. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997.
** Béhauge, Gerard H., ed. Music and Black Ethnicity: The Caribbean and South America.
Miami: The North-South Center, University of Miami; New Brunswick: Transaction
Publishers, 1994.
This collection of essays provides a good introduction to many of the themes in the history of music in Latin America, especially those related to identity and ethnicity.
Carpentier, Alejo. Music in Cuba. Edited and with an introduction by Timothy Brennan.
Translated by Alan West-Durán. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001.
Originally published in 1946, Music in Cuba is a concise look at the history of music on the island from the early colonial period up to the early 1900s. It was written by one of twentieth-century Latin America's great novelists, who was also a musicologist and music producer.
Leymarie, Isabelle. Cuban Fire: The Story of Salsa and Latin Jazz. New York: Continuum,
2002.
** Manuel, Peter, with Kenneth Bilby and Michael Largey. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean
Music from Rumba to Reggae. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995.
Manuel presents a readable portrait of Caribbean music history, touching on indigenous and African roots, and then giving readers a tour of musical currents and tradition on different islands.
McGowan, Chris and Ricardo Pessanha. The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova, and the
Popular Music of Brazil, new ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998.
The first chapter of this survey of Brazilian music offers a look at the history of musical ideas in Brazil.
Orovio, Helio. Cuban Music from A to Z. Translated by Ricardo Bardo Portilla and Lucy
Davies; revised by Sue Steward. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004.
Cuban Music from A to Z is a reference book with entries on instruments, musicians, rhythms, just about everything else concerning Cuban music.
Pacini Hernandez, Deborah. Bachata: A Social History of Dominican Popular Music.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995.
Roy, Maya. Cuban Music: From Son and Rumba to the Buena Vista Social Club and Timba
Cubana. Translated by Denise Asfar and Gabriel Asfar. Princeton: Markus Wiener
Publishers; London: Latin American Bureau, 2002.
Roy provides a concise historical overview of Cuban music from the musical rituals and creations of colonial slave populations to the turn of the twenty-first century.
Other Resources:
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