Latin-American music - why no guitars?

[JSngry]

But no longer loaded...

[seeline]

But no longer loaded...

It's there... try refreshing the page. If you can't get to it, PM me, OK?

[Adam]

NYC-style salsa and Cuban music. From Cuba, not made by Cuban immigrants to the US.

You really need to check out Gary Stewart's Rumba on the River...

People in Africa get recordings from everywhere. I've been told by a reliable observer that you could get all sorts of rare, o.p. country, jazz, blues etc. records in the market in Bamako, Mali, back in the 70s. (Meaning things that were o.p. in both the US and Western Europe.) I have no doubts that that's true.

Re. salsa, NYC salsa is a lot different than Miami salsa, Puerto Rican salsa (from the island), Colombian salsa, etc. The term ""salsa" is pretty much as broad as the term "jazz."

Tito Puente would always say that "salsa" is something you eat, but not a music. It's a name invented by white publicists in New York. Instead, there are merengue, cha cha cha, and 10,000 more.

[JSngry]

Tito Puente would always say that "salsa" is something you eat, but not a music. It's a name invented by white publicists in New York. Instead, there are merengue, cha cha cha, and 10,000 more.

I've commonly (although not necessarily accurately) heard the appellation credited to Izzy Sanabria.

[seeline]

I think there are others who'd claim that they invented that phrase.

You know that merengue comes from the Dominican Republic, right? (Like bomba and plena come from Puerto Rico.) There's also Haitian-style merengue, but I'm blanking on the correct spelling right now...

Edited January 10, 2009 by seeline

[Hoppy T. Frog]

I have nothing to add to the musical discussion, but I travel Amtrak a couple times a year from DC to NY, and have never paid more than $175 round trip, even at Christmas.

Those are really good collections--I especially like Antonio Bribiesca, he makes the guitar weep--he's just as expressive as a great blues guitarist.

I like trova--in Tower Records in Mexico City, there is a Trova section!

Thanks again... and oh, are you lucky, being so close to Mexico. I'm on the East Coast.

Yes, it's only a two hour flight to Mexico City, whereas it's over three hours to New York.

Flight time's one thing; cost is the other. (I bet that's true for you as well.) it's funny how Amtrak and the airlines seem to jack up prices in an arbitrary way. When I lived in D.C., a round-trip train ticket to NYC cost several hundred dollars. Now I live up in PA< and a round-trip ticket to NYC costs less than 100.00 bucks. (Though I'd have to change in Philly to get the Metroliner or Acela.)

Basically, Amtrak ticket costs are far higher if you're *only* traveling on the NE corridor lines. Book a ticket from a bit further west, and it's so much cheaper, even though you're actually on a NE corridor train. Go figure!

[seeline]

Hmm.... I haven't taken the train from D.C. to NYC since 2002. Maybe fares have come down a bit since then?

And 175 round trip is (I think) price-gouging on Amtrak's part. 75.00-100.00 round trip sounds about right.

Edited December 31, 2008 by seeline