Surf-Mexico Guide to Surfing and Adventure Travel in Mexico

Salsa!

Born of African roots mixed with the indigenous and European that are spread all over Latin America and the Caribbean, Salsa first emerged in the late 1800's/early 1900's and is a melted pot of rhythms from Merengue to Mambo, Cha Cha Cha to Conga, Guaracha to Rumba. Salsa didn't become a worldwide household word, though, until the 1960's/70's.

The music uses all of the percussion and string instruments of the regions of its inception. Its noted musicians as promotors of salsa in North America include Willie Colon, Larry Harlow, Oscar D'Leon, Ruben Blades, Fania All Stars, Hector Lavoie and Johnny Pacheco. Popular Cuban artists such as the Buena Vista Social Club and Ibrahim Ferrer, Cachao, Los Van Van, Eliades Ochoa and Compay Segundo have made their ways into the hearts and music collections of salsa lovers around the world. The genre of African Salsa is currently putting out some excellent music with the rawer rhythms of its own African roots, in the music of groups such as Kekele, and Africando.

Scroll down for our Salsa selection...!

Learn how to dance Salsa!
The Quick & Dirty Guide to Salsa - Part 1, Beginners The Quick & Dirty Guide to Salsa - Part 2, Intermediate The Quick & Dirty Guide to Salsa - Part 3, Advanced
Other Salsa resources
The Book of Salsa: A Chronicle of Urban Music from the Caribbean to New York City (Latin America in Translation)
Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa
Latin Guitar: The Essential Guide to Brazilian and Afro-Cuban Rhythms
From Afro-Cuban Rhythms to Latin Jazz (Music of the African Diaspora) 
National Rhythms, African Roots: The Deep History of Latin American Popular Dance (Dialogos (Albuquerque, N.M.).) 
 
History of Salsa
James' Introduction to Salsa
 


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