Latin American music

Started by Ciel_Rouge, January 07, 2009, 05:38:42 PM

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Ciel_Rouge

I hope I can find some experts on this subject here. I would like to get more into the Latin American music. I already like Celia Cruz and "La vida es un carnaval". I also like something styled to sound "Latin American", namely  "The Song of the Disposessed" by Dead Can Dance. I am already aware I have some inclinations for listening to the real Latin American sound but I am totally confused about the genres etc. It would be of great help if you could assign the genre to the pieces mentioned as well as provide me with some other suggestions of things that sound similar. What I like is more on the "melancholic" side of the spectrum, it can also be powerful or even cheerful but with a deeper, emotional side to it. I kindly await your suggestions.

Iconito


No expert here, but if you already like a song by Celia Cruz, and since she was known as the "Queen of Salsa", I’d say you might like, well... Salsa... So you might want to go to youtube and search for Rubén Blades, Willie Colón, Oscar D'León, Marc Anthony, Tito Puente (many more here: http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:292) and do a little sampling to see if Salsa is indeed what you are looking for.
It's your language. I'm just trying to use it --Victor Borge

bwv 1080

Also check out

Antonio Carlos Jobim ( Verve has several compilations)

Astor Piazzolla, who took Tango into the realm of modern classical music, Tango - Zero Hour would be the CD to get

Diletante

#3
Oh my, Latin American music is a world on its own. Many non-Latin American people think it's only salsa.

I'm not an "expert" but I've casually listened to Latin music my whole life (being Latin American), so I hope I can at least shed some light on the genres and recommend you some of the most popular pieces. Probably other members can get more technical. You must also take into account that I'm from Bolivia. People from other countries have surely been exposed to different music.

There are dozens of genres, but the biggest would be:

Salsa: Dance music built around a 3:2 clave with eight beats. Recognizing the beat is crucial to identifying if a piece is salsa (and to dancing, of course!). You'll most likely hear bongos in the beats 4 and 8, so it'll be 1-2-3-bongo-5-6-7-bongo. I find it funny that you can dance salsa listening to nothing but a clave. If you're interested in this, this page is golden.

Some popular pieces:

Gilberto Santa Rosa - Perdóname (this live performace is especially good, check it out)

Héctor Lavoe - Todo tiene su final (video)

La India - Ese hombre (video)

Marc Anthony y La India - Vivir lo nuestro (video)

DLG - La quiero a morir (video)



Cumbia: Dance music that originated in Colombia. However, the cumbia that's usually heard here is not the traditional Colombian. Popular here is also the Argentinian "cumbia villera", which originated in the slums of Buenos Aires (and usually has randy lyrics). Cumbia in my zone has kind of a bad reputation, it's seen as music of the lower class. To be honest, most of it is not my cup of tea and I can only take it in small doses. It's also danced in 8 beats, so I sometimes confuse it with salsa. For example, "La vida es un carnaval" by Celia Cruz sounds to me more like cumbia than salsa.

Some popular pieces:

Selena - Amor prohibido (video)

Kumbia Kings - Sabes a chocolate (video)

Los Pibes Chorros - Ay Andrea (cumbia villera, it contains the lyrics: "Andrea, you're such a whore")

La Pollera Colorá (video. Colombian cumbia)




Merengue: Upbeat dance music. If you don't feel like dancing when you listen to merengue, there's something wrong with you  :). It's got two beats so it's easier to dance than salsa and it's easy to identify (it's basically: left, right, left, right...).

Popular pieces:

Elvis Crespo y Milly Quesada - Para darte mi vida (video)

La Línea - Si me dejas no vale (video)

Los Cantantes de Ramón Orlando - Te compro tu novia (video)

Los Hermanos Rosario - La dueña del swing (video)



Bolero: Slow romantic dance that originated in Spain and spread to Latin America.

Luis Miguel - La barca (video)

Armando Manzanero - Pensando en ti (video)

Consuelo Velásquez - Bésame mucho (here performed by Los Panchos)



Bachata: Slow dance music from Dominican Republic derived from bolero. Very romantic.

Popular pieces:

Juan Luis Guerra - Burbujas de amor (video)

Aventura - Sólo por un beso (video)

Monchy y Alexandra - Dos locos (video)

Aventura y Thalia - No, no, no (video. The bachata part begins when she starts singing "no no no")




Tango: Argentinian dance. Sexy! By the way, tango is usually melancholic and emotional, with poetic lyrics, so consider exploring this genre.

Carlos Gardel – Mi Buenos Aires querido (video)

Carlos Gardel – Por una cabeza (video)

Julio Sosa – Cambalache (video)



Reggaetón: Ugh. This is what you'll hear in most clubs around here. Sexual and uninspired lyrics (sometimes quite explicit), uninteresting song structure, lack of originality, etc. etc. To be honest the only reason I can see for it having become so popular is that it's stupidly easy to dance and that dancing it 'properly' involves repeated contact of the dancers' pelvises. I recommend you stay away from this.

Examples:

Chuculún (video. (WARNING: NSFW) Please see this if you aren't convinced of what I wrote. )

Daddy Yankee – Gasolina (video)

Tito el Bambino - Caile (video)

Dálmata - Pasarela (video)



Pop-rock: Sure, it's not originally Latin American, but there are artists who have developed a distinct Latin-flavored pop-rock. Some artists you could check out:

Bacilos (video. Ugh, this fan-made video is horrible, but the original isn't available.)

Juanes (video. Ditto)

Shakira (especially the albums she made before the crossover to English) (video)

Café Tacuba (video)

Julieta Venegas (video)

Aterciopelados (video)

All of those are respected artists in the genre. Also, Argentinian rock has a very special sound that isn't like rock from other parts of the world. If you're interested, check out the band Soda Stereo (video).

There are also many other genres like samba, zamba, mambo, guaracha, bossa nova, etc., and of course the folkloric music of every country, but I'm done.

I hope my post has been helpful.  :)


Orgullosamente diletante.

Ciel_Rouge

Thank you all for your great response, especially tanuki - this is exactly what I wanted - an insider look at the genres with some pointers towards representative pieces for each of them. I tried to do that with Wiki but a nice set of examples and easily understandable explanations works MUCH better. Thanks a lot, I will take a closer look at the recommendations and tell you what directions I have chosen. I always wanted to find the REAL Latin American  sound that I would enjoy and really get into. Thanks.

Diletante

No problem, it's my pleasure to introduce part of my culture to you. Hopefully this thread will also prompt other people to take interest in Latin American music.

I'm adding example videos to the last list of artists.

I hope you find a genre of your liking. Bye.  :)
Orgullosamente diletante.

Ciel_Rouge

#6
James:

Could you provide any titles of the things you heard? I appreciate every bit of help I can get as now is the time when I REALLY want to get a grip on Latin American as I would like to go into a new direction.

tanuki:

Actually, I was already familiar with Juanes - La Camisa Negra. I heard it a couple of times on the radio and it is one of those pieces that make me think I would really like to get into listening to a lot of Latin American music. I was also familiar with Astor Piazolla and his Liber tango. So I like both Juanes and Astor Piazolla apart from Celia Cruz mentioned earlier.

However, I still have certain directions I would like to expolore. So here are some additional clues for "my way" into the Latin American:

- I would like something very true to the basics, with purely acoustic sound - without electronic or electric additions and without "rap" and without English words added
- Apart from emotional, nostalgic pieces I would also like some very vivid ones, with a strong impulse in them - but also with an interesting, complex melody
- I like female vocals - could you add more examples of those?
- I like interesting instruments - I heard of the maraccas and some other interesting instruments that add the characteristic flavour to Latin American music - I would highly welcome some examples of the names of instruments and some example pieces with those

I also heard something which is very soothing and gentle and apparently has some maraccas or something similar in it - is that bosa nova? And how about samba? I would highly appreciate some examples for those. I also found something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GxSXbOM2bQ&feature=related

I suppose zamacueca is one of the less known genres. I would highly welcome additional suggestions and explanations of the matters I mentioned if you have some time to elaborate a little bit more. Your posts are very helpful.

bwv 1080

You are wasting your time if you do not start with Antonio Carlos Jobim, the father of the Bossa Nova.  There is no greater figure in Latin music and Joao and Astrud Gilberto were his prophets:

http://www.youtube.com/v/g6w3a2v_50U


http://www.youtube.com/v/WfHHoYhwreo

hildegard

Analyzing genres of Latin American music and the genuine "Latin American sound" is quite a task. Such genres, if we can call them that, vary as much by country as they do by region within each country, depending on the cultural influence of each region. Thus, the musical infrastructure of the Cumbia (Colombia), with its Afro-Caribbean influence, will vary considerably from the rhythms of the Zamacueca (Peru) or Bambuco (Colombia). All three are part of what might be considering a "folkloric" genre, yet the Zacueca and Bambuco may be closer in structure than the more upbeat rhythm of the Cumbia. 

Within South America itself, one can also differentiate from music originating in the Amazon region, home to the Samba, Bossa Nova, and other familiar Brazilian rhythms, from music with Andean origins, which have a more native and Spanish influence.

Then there is "Salon" music, like the pasillo, danza, etc., which sounds hearken back to the more classical roots of the waltz infused with Latin American rhythms. If you are interested in this genre, you might enjoy looking into the music of Moises Moleiro (1904-1979) from Venezuela; Teresa Carreno, (1853-1917) also from Venezuela; and Luis Calvo (1884-1945) from Colombia.

bwv 1080

Quote from: hildegard on January 10, 2009, 10:26:48 AM


Within South America itself, one can also differentiate from music originating in the Amazon region, home to the Samba, Bossa Nova, and other familiar Brazilian rhythms, from music with Andean origins, which have a more native and Spanish influence.


The dynamics are the same as what drive the differences between various Latin American countries - the proportionate mix of African, European and Native influences.  Argentina is almost entirely European for example and it is reflected in the Tango, whereas the African influence dominates in Brazil and most of the Caribbean.  And as you point out, Andean and Central American traditions, where slavery was less common, are dominated by a mix of native and spanish traditions

Roy Bland