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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Choro A Brazilian instrumental genre fusing European dances
such as polka, waltz, and schottisch with African-derived rhythms.
It is characterized by virtuosity, improvisation, and counterpoint.
Choro first emerged as a playing style in Rio de Janeiro during
the second half of the 19th century, performed by small groups
incorporating flute, cavaquinho, and guitar.
Cierre Essentially a break, the cierre ranges
from a two-note bongó phrase to a complicated pattern
for a full band more like a bridge-passage. Good cierres are
fundamental to salsa structure, but they are so varied and used
in so many ways that closer definition would be misleading.
Clave An offbeat 3/2 or 2/3 rhythmic pattern over two bars,
the basis of all Cuban music, into which every element of arrangement
and improvisation should fit. Clave is an African-derived pattern
with equivalents in other Afro-Latin musics. The common 3/2 Cuban
Clave varies in accentuation according to the rhythm being played.
Clave seems to be part of the inspiration for the two-bar bass
patterns in modern black music. 2/3 reverse clave is less common,
though the guaguancó uses it.
Claves Two strikers of resonant wood used
less frequently in salsa than in earlier Cuban music. The claves
player usually plays the basic clave pattern (q.v.), which is
normally implied rather than stated by modern bands. Many variants
of claves exist throughout Latin America.
Conga Drum A major instrument in the salsa rhythm
section, the conga is literally the "Congolese drum,"
and it began life in the Afro-Cuban cults. Arsenio Rodriguez
is said to have introduced it to the conjuntos on a regular basis,
and Machito's Afro-Cubans were the first to use it on New York
bandstands. There are several types of conga, including the small
quinto, a solo improvising the instrument; the mid sized conga;
and the large tumbadora. Played by an expert, the conga is capable
of a great variety of sound and tone, not only from the different
ways of striking or rubbing the head, but through raising the
instrument from the ground when it is played held between the
knees. A conga-player is called a conguero or congacero,
Conga Rhythm The Cuban conga was originally a
carnival dance-march from Santiago de Cuba, with a heavy fourth
beat, but the rhythm is common to carnival music in many parts
of the New World. The conga rhythm is more easily simplified
than most Cuban rhythms and was a natural for nightclub floor
shows. It never became permanent in mainstream Latin music, though
Eddie Palmiere introduced a modified version called the mozambique
in the late 1960's.
Conjunto (lit. "combo") Cuban conjunto sprang from the carnival
marching bands and combined voices, trumpets, piano, bass, conga,
and bongó. Arsenio Rodriguez ran a seminal Cuban conjunto
that used the smokey tone of the tres (q.v.) to balance the brass,
and over the years conjuntos began adding a trombone or even
in New York substituting trombones for trumpets. The chicano
conjunto consisted of an accordion lead, guita and/or bajos sexto
(q.v.), often bass, and sometimes spoons, with the addition of
bongó or other Cuban-derived percussion during the 1960s.
Used strictly for instrumental dance music until the 1930s, during
the 1940s it became the standard backing for corridos, rancheras,
and other vocal forms. The Puerto Rican conjunto, the basic group
of jibaro country music,consisted of cuarto, guitar, and güayo
scraper, though trumpet and/or clarinet were added at various
times, and accordion-led conjuntos playing danzas and waltzes
for dancing were not uncommon.
Contradanza 17th and 18th century dance of french
origin from which many Latin American ballroom dances derive
via mainland Spain, including the danzón and the danza.
Coro The "chorus." In salsa, the two or three-voice
refrains of two or four bars sung during montunos. The lead singer
improvises against the refrains. Coros are used in various ways
in arrangements; as reprises or, by an alteration of the refrain,
to establish a change of mood.
Corrido This Mexican and Chicano ballad form
developed during the 19th century and reached its peak during
the first half of the 20th. Pure folk ballads in their simplicity,
their detail, their deadpan performing style, the corridos were
the history books, news reports, and editorials of the illiterate.
They chronicled the whole of the Mexican Civil war, almost all
notable crimes, strikes, and other political events, and a hundred
other subjects besides.
Cuatro A small ten-stringed guitar, one
of the many guitar variants to be found in Spain and Latin America.
The cuatro is a major instrument in Puerto Rican jibaro country
music.
Cuica A small Brazilian friction drum with a tube fastened
to the inside of the drumhead, which is rubbed to produce a squeaky
sound on the same principle as children use with a wetted finger
and a window pane, but infinitely more varied. The cuica became
a familiar sound in 1970s disco music, jazz, and salsa.
Danzón A Cuban ballroom dance derived from
the contradanza in the late 1870s. It was regularly played by
flute-and-fiddle charangas until the early 1950s. The danzón
bears the mark of Europe and its first section was usually a
promenade, but its charm is not merely nostalgic. Its melodies
echo from time to time in modern salsa.
Descarga The word means "discharge"
and is a Latin musician's slang term for a jam session. Descargas
occupy a position midway between salsa and Latin-jazz, since
they tend to preserve the Cuban structures yet contain far more
jazz soloing than does salsa.
Guaguancó The mid-paced guaguancó has
African roots and was originally a drum form related to the rumba.
Though often played 4/4, it has strong 6/8 feel. The baic rhythm
is traditionally carried by three congas and usually includes
a good deal of solo drumming. The theme of a modern guaguancó
is a somewhat loose melody line. It is one of the few 2-3 reverse
clave forms.
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