by jorge » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:05 pm
So back to our regularly scheduled programming, what are we thinking about the decline in popularity of salsa? I also feel Oscar's and others' pain as salsa continues to get displaced by reggaeton, hip hop and other current forms of popular dance music. But I have to agree with Abakua that much of the old school NY Salsa is in a creative rut and has become boring in comparison with some other forms. He is right that Cuban timba has continued to evolve and develop creatively while much salsa follows the old formulas and rarely ventures into new territory. No doubt much of the lack of ongoing commercial success of salsa in the US is due to the economic meltdown and reduced spending money of most working people, but the lack of creativity within salsa is a contributor as well. Much of the popularity of salsa in Japan and Europe is because people there are unfamiliar with the last 40+ year history of salsa and the groups and songs which the current groups' styles reflect. They don't get bored because it is new to them and they have not heard it all before, as many New Yorkers have. Nostalgia can only get you so far.
No one is trying to shove Cuban popular music or rumba down anyone's throats. Cuban popular music (and even more so rumba) is greatly under appreciated in the US, but I think that is more a reflection of politics and lack of exposure in the US than the quality of the music itself. Actually, it seems to me that many of the Cuban musicians are better trained, with a much higher level of overall musicianship and breadth and depth of musical training covering classical, popular, improvisational, and traditional folkloric and religious forms of music, song and dance, than many US salsa musicians. Of course there are excellent musicians among those playing salsa in the US, but I am referring to the overall trend. Also, most US dancers, including hard core salseros, don't know how to dance timba, son, changui, rumba or other currently popular Cuban styles and the popularity of that music will be limited until more people learn to dance it.
All this said, I don't think that the musical quality of salsa vs timba is what is driving the lack of interest in salsa. From my biased perspective, the bad money (reggaeton, hip hop, etc) drives out the good (timba, salsa, rumba, son). The reggaeton and hip hop that can be produced on computers by people of the younger generation with little or no musical training, many of whom don't play any instruments at all, and who also don't really understand the digital electronic technology they are using, has become more popular than forms of music that require real musicians to create and play it. While rapping is certainly an art form, it does lack the melodic and harmony dimensions of singing and is in some ways easier and more accessible to those without musical training. CDs, and now iPods and MP3 players are a lot more accessible than claves, congas, bongos, pianos, saxophones and other musical instruments. Reason, Cubase, huge sample libraries copied onto hard drives, and millions of recorded songs online are a lot more available than newly composed songs or fresh new arrangements of old songs. Although there are other factors, "path of least resistance" explains some of the younger generation's musical taste, people like music they and their friends can play. And don't get me started on bachata, bongo sin clave just rubs me the wrong way.
So I think the question at hand is, moving forward, how do we get out of this rut?
Last edited by
jorge on Fri Nov 11, 2011 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.