What is the purpose of beauty and culture in our lives? These are the questions that have been discussed from the very beginning: from the dawn of human civilization. The activity of a society is diverse (labor, politics, economics, ethics, aesthetics, law, family, religion, etc.). Each of the spheres of a society corresponds to a certain level of culture as a qualitative characteristic of its life. Culture plays an important role in human life and society, which is, above all, a means of accumulation, storage and transmission of human experience between generations. It is culture that makes us humane. An individual becomes a member of society, hence, the socialization of the individual, that is, development of knowledge, language, symbols, values, norms, customs and traditions of their people, their social group and of all humanity. The level of cultural identity is defined by its socialization - the communion of the cultural heritage, as well as the degree of development of individual abilities. The culture of personality is usually associated with the development of creative skills, erudition and understanding of works of art, native fluency in foreign languages, accuracy, courtesy, self-control, high morals, etc. All this is achieved in the upbringing and education. Culture brings people together, integrate them, ensures the integrity of the community During the socialization of values, ideals, norms and patterns of behavior become part of the consciousness of the person. They shape and regulate its behavior. We can say that the culture as a whole defines the framework in which can and must act in person.
Music is one of vital compounds in culture of every single one society! It has been a tool for passing knowledge from generation to generation. Try to imagine a world without music. Is it even possible? When you feel lonely, not in the mood, and there is no one to share your state of soul, mind; when your mind requires a splash of emotions and at the same time source of life energy, you unconsciously turn on your favorite music. First, you just listen, sometimes emotionless, but inside something soul relieving and then you start to twitch and sing along to the beat. And now begins to "let go" on one side and "bumped" on the other. The mood is lifted and the soul is definitely easier. Did the music. This is its enormous power. Music is not only cheering you up, whenever someone of something let you down, it shares with you the moments of sadness and happiness, wakes us up in the morning and helps to fall asleep at the end of the day. But that's not all the features of the great power of sounds. Scientists have proved that music influences a person with an incredible impact, which we are not even aware of. The role of music in human life is far greater and deeper than we imagine.
There are a lot of genres of music nowadays. Everyone chooses the one that meets his lifestyles, biorhythms. Some people say that there are more 200 of them, another state that 500. Personally I think that it is impossible to count all of them, due to the fact that there are a lot of subdivisions, subgenres, music is always changing and new genres are constantly added. From another hand, some genres, for example, are specific for certain remote areas. From all the music genres Salsa has caught my attention the most, because Latin culture and music especially, has influenced American pop music, RnB, jazz, and as well as country music.
Salsa Dancing music comes from Cuba in 1930's. Its roots originate from different African rhythms and the Cuban music "Son". It is more than just Cuban, because a huge part of the dance came from the island. The French migrants that fled from Haiti brought the English/French country-dance to Cuban culture. Shortly after it was mixed with rhumbas (Guaguanco, Yambu) from Africa.
First of all Salsa music originate from traditional Cuban music like “el Son”, “el Guaguanco”, “Rhumba” and “el Mambo”. Many musicians started to combine these music styles into new one during 1950s. During World War II, the music was brought to Mexico City and New York. This music was given the name “Salsa” in New York. Moreover, the use of this word for Latin Music was mentioned first in 1933 with the help of Cuban composer Ignacio Piñerio, he composed the song Échale Salsita. The new style of music was brought by Latin immigrants, when they travelled from Cuba and Puerto Rico to America, searching for better lives. Salsa was played in nightclubs and dancehalls, as an example “The Palladium”, where Latino immigrants gathered together.
Fania Records started to commercialiaze this new style they of music "Salsa" in 1960s. Salsa gained popularity with the speed of sound among the local bands and dancers, they were the first to switch their music styles to newcomer Salsa. Famous pioneers of this new style of music were Eddie and Charlie Palmieri, famous Johnny Pacheco, amazing Ray Barretto as well as Celia Cruz, and the fabulous Tito Puente.
The peak of fame was brought to Fania Records in 1970, by famous at that time musicians like Cheo Feliciano, Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades, Joe Cuba, Willie Colon, El Gran Combo and Frankie Ruiz. During this time frame, the recording company had huge successful concerts in Madison Square Gardens starring the mentioned performers.
Interestingly enough, In the 1980s, salsa music was changed by the newcomers Lalo Rodriguez, Ray de la Paz, Jose Alberto, Eddie Santiago and Oscar De Leon, they switched the fast-tempo mambo beat to a slightly slower rhythm. The creators named this genre "Salsa Romantica".
However, the middle of 1980s was the “black stripe” for Salsa artists. It was pushed out by Merengue, with the upbeat rhythm. More and more clubs turned to Merengue music, that came from Dominican Republic. Due to the low demand on Salsa music, many Local bands turned away from it and had to play merengue in order to be employed.
The time passes and brings changes. The 1990s were not an exception, moreover, it was the “white strip” for salsa and served as revival for this genre of music. RMM was a new record label that began to promote a new energetic subdivision of salsa that utilized the elements of the original sound basing on the mambo. Under the influence of RMM a lot of artists started to revive sals from oroginal Cuban style, the most prominent ones were Buena Vista Social Club, Afro-Cuban All-Starts and Africando. With time new artists began to emerge and due to their activity passions of salsa was grought back to the dancers. Marc Anthony, Los Van Van, India, Fruko, Jerry Rivera, Grupo Niche, Michael Stuart, Victor Manuelle and Dark Latin Groove brought a lot of attention of the publicity and pushed salsa to the whole new level of popularity, it is the salsa we know today.
The transformation of salsa from what it was and what we see and hear nowadays has gone under a long slow process. The outcome of this metamorphosis can not be assigned to a certain person or a specific place. Furthermore, this music and salsa dance has developed with time through mixing elaborate system of cultures, with their own ideas, meanings and sounds. To prove this fact just listen to modern salsa: it will be easy to clearly hear the base of son as well as Cumbia and Guaracha melodies, it is a mixture of different culturological tunes. Old style beats as well as Merengue music stand out clearly in nowadays salsa.
It is amazing that salsa differs from place to place, from community to community, from one song to another. It is divergent and complex, yet very popular nowadays and that is what entices listeners. It is impossible to measure the cultural influence and contribution of Salsa. It caught attention to Latina culture from all over the world!
Finally, music plays a certain, inseparable, considerable role in our everyday life. And Salsa – is one of that bright examples. It proves the fact that music is the crucial constituent of cultural heritage.
Works Cited
Category. "Salsa - History and Overview of Salsa Music." Latin Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2013. <http://latinmusic.about.com/od/genres/p/PRO09BASIC.htm>.
"Salsa music." Princeton University - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2013. <http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Salsa_music.html>.
"The History of Salsa Music | Rumba Y Cache." Rumba Y Cache | L.A. STYLE SALSA. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2013. <http://rumbaycache.com/?q=node/164>.
