The purpose for this glossary
is to educate and enhance your understanding of the evolution
of Latin music. The more familiar you become with all of the
terms and their definitions, the more you'll be able to enjoy
listening to Latin Jazz, as well as other forms of Caribbean
and Central/South American music.
You can find this glossary
and other insightful information about the evolution of Latin
music in the classic book "The Latin Tinge"
written by John Storm Roberts. This book can be found
in most public libraries.
NOTE: The definitions highlighted by blue type have been
added to this glossary. If you can't find a specific Latin American
music term in this glossary, feel free to send us an email with
the word, phrase or questions and we will try to help you.
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Latin Rhythms The basic meter of salsa is 4/4, organized by the
two-bar clave pattern. The individual forms, of which the most
common are listed below, are not simply "rhythms" that
can be tapped with a pencil, but combinations of rhythmic pulse,
melodic phrases, speed, song forms, and so on.
Agogó A percussion instrument of West African
origin, the agogó is essentially a two-note clapperless
double-bell, joined by a curved piece of metal and struck by
a stick. Used in the African-derived religions of Brazil, it
is one of several new percussion instruments introduced to the
U.S. by Brazilian musicians during the 1970s.
Aguinaldo Though they are sung around Christmas,
Puerto Rican aguinaldos cover a wide range of social and topical
as well as religious subjects. They are sung solo or by a choir
and are based on the ten-line décima, which travelled
from Renaissance Italy to Spain, and thence to virtually all
of Latin-America.
Baiáo One of many rhythms of the African-influenced
Northeast of Brazil, the baiáo became popular in Rio de
Janeiro around 1950 as a reaction against the increasingly international
popular music of the time. Its most famous exponent, Luis Gonzaga,
made the accordion-led regional group extremely popular. A few
U.S. jazzmen experimented with the baiáo in the early
1950s, but it was too unsuccessful to be called a bridge between
the samba and the bossa nova.
Bajo Sexto A form of 12-string guitar used as
an accompanying instrument by Chicano singers.
Barrio El "The district." The districts
or areas of Latin American towns are called barrios, so when
Latin immigrants settled in large numbers in New York's East
Harlem, it became The district. The nickname has stuck even though
many major U.S. cities now have barrios.
Batá Drums Double-headed drums shaped like an
hour-glass with one cone larger than the other. Sacred to Yoruba
religion in Nigeria, they are also necessary to Cuban and U.S.
lucumí worship. A number of salsa musicians have recently
began using batá drums in secular music.
Berimbau A Brazilian musical bow of Congo-Angolan
origin. An open goured resonater is held against the chest, and
the instrument's string is tapped with a stick.
Bolero The Cuban bolero, originally a mid-paced
form for string trios, became very popular internationally, usually
in a slower and more sentimental form. The modern bolero is a
lush romantic popular-song form, largely distinct from salsa,
and very few singers are equally good at both.
Bomba Orginally a Puerto Rican three-drum dance form of
marked west-central African ancestry, the bomba is especially
associated with the Puerto Rican Village of Loiza Aldea. In its
old form it is still played there at the festival of Santiago,
and New York Puerto Rican folk revival companies also perform
it from time to time. Even in the dance band form introduced
by Rafael Cortijo in the late 1950s, the bomba's melodies, as
well as rhythmic pulse, are strongly African.
Bongó Small double-drum played resting on the claves of
a seated musician, called a bongosero. Its heads are tuned a
fourth apart. Widely used in Cuban music of many sorts, especially
the quartets and sextets playing sones, and an integral part
of the salsa percussion section. In salsa, as in earlier string-based
groups, the bongó tends to be played more ad lib than
other drums and to provide a complex counterpoint to a number's
main rhythmic pulse. The basic toque for the bongó, called
the martillo, can be rendered onomatopoeically as "Dicka-docka-dicka-ducka."
Bossa Nova A Brazilian fusion of cool jazz elements
with various Brazilian rhythms, including the baiáo but
particularly the samba. Often wrongly considered Afro-Brazilian,
it is a sophisticated and recent form developed by hip musicians
and avant-guarde poets. Most were white, though Bola Sete a leading
bossa nova guitarist, is an exception.
Bugalú, Latin The Latin bugalú
was a somewhat simplified and more sharply accented mambo with
English lyrics, singing that combined Cuban and black inflections,
and r&b influenced solos. For a few years the bugalú,
and a less known Puerto Rican rhythm, the jala jala, were staples
of the "Latin soul" movement.
Cencerro Large hand-held cowbell played with
a stick, producing two notes according to where it is struck.
In Cuban music and salsa, usually played by the bongó
player when the band goes into the "ride" or mambo,
after the main vocal sections.
Cha cha chá The chachachá is said by some
to have derived from the second section of the danzón,
by others to be a slower mambo. It was sometimes called a "double
mambo" in New York, because its basic dance step was the
mambo with a double step between the fourth to first beats. The
chachachá developed around 1953 in the hands of Cuban
Charangas, most notably the Orquesta Aragón.
Charanga A Cuban dance orchestra consisting
of flute backed by fiddles, piano, bass, and timbales. Charangas
tended to play different dances from the Afro-Cuban conjuntos,
the most characteristic being the danzón. Charangas ranged
from large society units to small street-bands. Modern charangas
use bongó and conga in the rhythm section and have taken
on many more Afro-Cuban elements than their predecessors.
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