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The Good Neighbor Policy; Latin music in the 30's and 40's....

HadleyH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,811
Location
Top of the Hill
more Spanish-Italian alliance.... hope you like? latin (meaning in Spanish) music a lil beyond our 1930s ... worthwhile beautiful music


[video=youtube;Y1j-khGI3K8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1j-khGI3K8&feature=related[/video]
 
Messages
13,460
Location
Orange County, CA
Francisco Canaro y su Orquesta Tipica -- Te Quiero Todavia
(I Still Love You) -- Tango
vocal by Ernesto Fama

[video=youtube;FPdohnMV6bk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPdohnMV6bk[/video]

y Feliz Cumpleaños, Carlitos!

Carlos Gardel -- El Dia Que Me Quieras (1935)
(The Day That You Love Me)

[video=youtube;RmXCVOmOCPU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXCVOmOCPU[/video]
 

Señor Soft Collar

New in Town
Messages
10
Location
UK
This tune has been covered approx. 4 billion times - here's the original:Guilllermo Portabales El Carretero

[video=youtube;DNbn2Ca935I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNbn2Ca935I[/video]

¡A gozar!
 

Señor Soft Collar

New in Town
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10
Location
UK
The common theme that I do pick up on is the use of some Latin components as gimmicks. Americans looked on Latin music in the 30’s, as a bit of a fad. In fact people still refer to the Rumba as a dance when there is no real dance called the rumba. It’s just an umbrella term for afro-Caribbean rhythm. A “Rumbon” was an informal gathering to play and dance music. Perhaps that is where the term came from.

Now, there were specific afro-Caribbean rhythms that were prominent in the 30’s. The first and foremost was the Danzon, which could be traced back 2 hundred years and had it’s origins in European music. Many people don’t realize that the Caribbean was a racist region that had slaves just like the United States. As African music was brought to America, so was it brought to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and so on. The major difference in the development of their music (as opposed to "ours" in the States) was that the slaves in the Caribbean were allowed to keep their drums. Just as jazz was thriving in America, so was African based music thriving elsewhere.

At the turn of the Century right up to the 30’s, African elements kept infusing into the Danzon. High society in the region at the time considered this morphing to be scandalous and distasteful (some things never change).

The other major Cuban dance of the 30’s was the “Son”. Elements of the Son have survived and have been incorporated into various styles of “Salsa” (another umbrella term).

You can’t really have a discussion on the modern development of Afro-Caribbean music,
without mentioning Israel “Cachao” Lopez and Arsenio Rodriquez. Those are the two that really led the way with regards the use of African derived rhythms and African derived percussion instruments. They invented most of the elements that we regard as standard today.

The other two guys that were instrumental in the development and deployment of modern Afro-Carribean music were “Machito” (Frank Grillo) along with his partner Mario Bauza (the father of Latin Jazz), and Benny More (essentially Cuba’s version of Frank Sinatra). Machito and his Afro-Cuban orchestra was based out of NY. Today they are considered the "Duke Ellington" of Latin Jazz music.

Most of the afro-Caribbean clips in this thread are gentrified bastardizations of Latin music invented for the soft pallets of the American audience. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the music, especially if you happen to enjoy it. But the real deal is out there waiting to be discovered. All you have to do is look. That music changed my life.

^ Very well said!
 

Señor Soft Collar

New in Town
Messages
10
Location
UK
Las Anacoanas, 1938:

Anacaona2.JPG


Graciela Grillo (3rd right) was Machito's cousin, and later joined his band.
 

vitanola

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,254
Location
Gopher Prairie, MI
[video=youtube_share;Fn7y_4K-Vv0]http://youtu.be/Fn7y_4K-Vv0[/video]

In my youth I always loved the Maxixe, and was rather good at it, or so I've been told.


Of course there is tango, my favorite being A Media Luz

[video=youtube;oJkxiNUHWJw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkxiNUHWJw&feature=share&list=PLE80DB8263637032F[/video]


Whiteman's O Ya Ya

[video=youtube_share;STkeZnHfgxE]http://youtu.be/STkeZnHfgxE[/video]


One of my favorite ballad recordings, Juan Arivzu singing Mantelito Blanco


[video=youtube_share;GlufGUYIP_4]http://youtu.be/GlufGUYIP_4[/video]
 

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