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salsa
A couple salsa dancing.
salsa
music
- Key People:
- Rubén Blades
- Celia Cruz
- Eddie Palmieri
- Willie Colón
- Related Topics:
- jazz
- swing
- claves
- bongo drums
- mambo
salsa, hybrid musical form based on Afro-Cuban music but incorporating elements from other Latin American styles. It developed largely in New York City beginning in the 1940s and ’50s, though it was not labeled salsa until the 1960s; it peaked in popularity in the 1970s in conjunction with the spread of Hispanic cultural identity. The term salsa also refers to a dance that is associated with the music. The roots of salsa (Spanish: “sauce”) are in the son. Combining elements of the Spanish guitar-playing tradition with the rhythmic complexity and call-and-response vocal tradition of African musical sources, the son originated ...(100 of 331 words)