Urban popular dance genre developed in New York City and Puerto Rico during the 1960s and 70s, based on Cuban dance styles and incorporating Puerto Rican elements and influences from jazz and rock. The term ‘salsa’ literally means ‘sauce’, the culinary metaphor of a spicy concoction mirroring the music's hybrid origins and infectious appeal.
In general stylistic terms, salsa closely resembles its Cuban antecedents, fusing West African rhythmic and textural principles with Iberian melodic and harmonic structures. Most salsa compositions derive from the Cuban son and related forms such as the upbeat guaracha. Songs are based on a two-part formal structure, with verses sung by lead vocalist, followed by a call-and-response section known as the montuno. The montuno section features driving rhythms, solo improvisation and punchy brass choruses known as mambos. A salsa ensemble typically includes vocals, Cuban percussion, piano, bass, trumpets, trombones and saxophone, and usually ranges in size from ten to 14 members. The percussion instruments include small two-headed bongos and the long, cylindrical single-headed tumbadoras, more commonly known outside of Cuba as conga drums. Other important percussion instruments include timbales, a pair of toms mounted on a stand with accompanying cymbal, cowbells and woodblock; claves, two wooden sticks struck together; maracas (rattles); and güiro, a notched scraper of Amerindian origin.
The distinctive feel of salsa is based upon a foundation of interlocking rhythmic ostinati. These rhythms, and also the brass ‘punches’ and syllabic accents in the lyrics, are governed by a two-measure timeline known as the clave, which can be felt as either a 3+2 or 2+3 pattern. Each rhythm instrument has its own part, known as tumbao in the conga drums, martillo in the bongos, cascará on the timbales and montuno on the piano. The bass line is also notable for its ‘anticipated bass’ pattern, which emphasizes off-beats rather than the downbeat stress typical of other Latin American and Caribbean popular styles. The piano montuno is usually doubled at the octave in the left hand, but pianists can also use chord inversions in the left hand to enrich the harmonic texture (ex.1), a technique that became widespread during the 1990s. Most salsa tunes feature simple four- or eight-bar harmonic progressions (e.g., I–V–V–I or I–IV–V–I or VI–II–V–I); the excerpt in ex.1 has been condensed in order to show typical chord movement over salsa rhythmic patterns.
Given that its proponents in New York City were largely Puerto Rican migrants, it is not surprising that salsa became an emblem of Puerto Rican cultural identity in the 1970s, for both islanders and those living in the United States. Despite the oft-repeated claim that salsa is just ‘Cuban music’, New York and Puerto Rican salsa differs from its Cuban antecedents in several ways: the style of playing is more strident, with prominent use of trombones; Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms such as bomba are used (e.g. for contrast during instrumental interludes); the Puerto Rican cuatro (a small ten-stringed lute, shaped like a violin) is incorporated in the ensemble; there is a strong use of jazz harmonies and solo improvisation; and references are made in the lyrics to life in Puerto Rico and in particular to the harsh experiences of the New York Latino barrio. Important salsa innovators and performers include Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Willie Colón, Ruben Blades, Johnny Pacheco, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, Louie Ramírez and Larry Harlow.
During the 1960s and 70s, salsa spread to other parts of Latin America, especially urban centres in Venezuela, Colombia and Panama. Venezuelan and Colombian salsa bands have also made their mark on the international scene. In the late 1980s and 90s, a new style called salsa romanticá (fusing the pop balada with salsa rhythms) helped expand salsa's appeal to Latin American middle-class and upper middle-class audiences. Salsa's popularity in America has been superseded in some sectors by the Dominican merengue, but it remains one of the most prominent styles in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is firmly entrenched as a significant transnational musical genre, commanding large audiences throughout the Americas, Europe and Japan.
J.S. Roberts: The Latin Tinge: the Impact of Latin American Music on the United States (New York, 1979, 2/1999)
C.M. Rondón: El libro de la salsa: crónica de la música del Caribe urbano (Caracas, 1980)
R.L. Singer: ‘Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary Latin Popular Music in New York City’, LAMR, iv (1983), 183–202
J. Duany: ‘Popular Music in Puerto Rico: Toward an Anthropology of Salsa’, LAMR, v (1984), 186–216
C. Gerard: Salsa! The Rhythm of Latin Music (Crown Point, IN, 1989) [incl. cassette]
F. Padilla: ‘Salsa: Puerto Rican and Latino Music’, Journal of Popular Culture, xxiv (1990), 87–104
R. Mauleón: Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble (Petaluma, CA, 1993) [score]
P.L. Manuel: Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae (Philadelphia, 1995)
F.R. Aparicio: Listening to Salsa: Gender, Latin Popular Music and Puerto Rican Cultures (Hanover, NH, 1998)
L. Waxer: Cali Pachanguero: a Social History of Salsa in a Colombian City (diss., U. of Illinois, 1998)
LISE WAXER