2024

My mother sang tango

One of the Latin genres that is currently on the rise is tango, so it is common to find more and more people linked to it. There are even many who have made tango one of the most important passions of their lives, as in the case of Carlos Álvarez Guevara, with whom we have had the fortune to talk exclusively about this and other interesting topics.

Carlos dancing tango — Carlos dancing with his dance partners in tango classes

Childhood with a tango singer mother

Carlos’ contact with tango began during his early childhood thanks to his mother, who was a tango singer and dancer.

Carlos describes his early live in El Salvador and points out that, back then, there were no cassettes or CD players with which to listen to music, so people had to make do with what they heard on the radio. His mother went to a well-known radio station to take part in singing competitions.

It is then that the boy would listen to his mother rehearse for the competitions with old tango songs, which made him memorize them perfectly and be able to sing them in full. The rest is history.

How Carlos sees tango today

Today Carlos is a tango and salsa dancer, a genre that has also been important in his musical journey. However, he sings the songs he dances to at amateur level.

For many years, he left aside music to devote himself to become a mechanic, a job from which he recently retired after more than 40 years of hard work. It was when he turned 45 that he fully resumed his love for tango and enrolled in dance classes to remember everything he had learned with his mother.

This is why Carlos says that he is much more professional in dancing than in singing, since he dedicated much more time and effort to the former to become an expert in the field. Dancing, of course, is accompanied by singing, but it has less hierarchy in terms of the artist’s priorities.

He has reached such a level of excellence in these disciplines that some friends of his put him in touch with Eduardo Guilarte, director of International Salsa Magazine, so that he could talk to us and his talents would become better known.

Carlos was a mechanic during a great part of his life, but tango is his biggest passion

Time dedicated to mechanics and dance

Regarding the time dedicated to his formal work and dancing, Carlos claims he never had any problems, since he knew how to organize very well in this aspect.

He always devotes his time to dance on weekends, days where he frequented, and still frequents, nightclubs with friends with whom he dances and spends very pleasant moments that clear his mind of everyday life.

In addition to that, he also has a karaoke machine at home with which he also sings and practices his repertoire to delight anyone who wants to hear him on any nightclub stage.

What Carlos has learned from tango

Just as Carlos has been dedicated to singing and dancing tango, he has also invested time in learning about its history to give more depth to the knowledge he has about this genre and he wanted to share with us a little of what he has learned.

He told us that one of the things he was most fascinated to learn is that tango has roots from many places and times around the world, although nowadays it is seen as an Argentine genre. Something that many do not know is that it has its origins in the arrival of Africans in the ”New World”, which played a fundamental role in the emergence of tango in Argentina and Uruguay, which were under Spanish rule.

Both countries were transit ports for slave traffic, so the new inhabitants of these places brought with the their music and customs, which were mixed with the local music and customs to give rise to what is known today as tango.

A very interesting detail he told us is that, when European sailors stopped in these countries and went to bars to look for drinks and some company, so the ladys in these places danced tango to seduce and provoke them. At that time, this kind of music was perceived as the lowest level of society to the point that the Catholic Church demanded its parishioners not to dance tango, but it turns out that the genre was pleasing to the people and nothing could be done about it.

In the end, puritans had no choice but to embrace this wonderful dance and, today, people of all social classes, ages and races enjoy it without any complex.

Carlos with his family — Carlos with his mothers, brothers and dog Mozote

The lyrics and references of tango

Since Carlos has very extensive knowledge of everything about the genre and its lyrics, we wanted to know what he has studied about it.

‘‘Tango can be many things at the same time. It can touch on issues related to the moral conduct of the individuals and, like many Latin genres, it also serves to mock and criticize politicians. It can also be an ode to love, spite and regret for having lost the loved one” Carlos shared with us on the subject.

‘‘This genre can deal with many subjects at the same time, but one of the most recurrent is frustration with failed love and I don’t think that will change in a long time” said Carlos.

Regarding the issue of the greatest artists who have inspired him to dance and sing tango, he mentioned Carlos di Sarli, Carlos Gardel, Oswaldo Pugliese and Enrique Rodríguez.

What Carlos feels at singing and dancing tango

Carlos describes listening to any tango song as ”listening to your own national anthem in a foreign country”. For him, listening to any piece sung by his parents in the past is a source of pride and takes him back to the most beautiful moments of his childhood.

Carlos pointed out that ”when you are driven by loving emotions and some thoughts are trapped, you can express them through singing and dancing, which is what I always do”.

The artist pointed out that he loves this world and it is one of the things that fills him the most in life, so he is grateful to be able to talk about it in International Salsa Magazine and express what it makes him feel to the world.

The Bolivian charango with Spanish roots

There are many instruments that have greatly contributed to make Latin music and its great exponents known worldwide, but unfortunately they are not very popular and the general public is unable to identify them. Such is the case of the charango, which we will talk about in this opportunity.

The charango can be defined as a stringed instrument that is part of the lute family and has its origin in the South American Andean region. It is believed that it began to gain popularity during the Viceroyalty of Peru. It has approximately five pairs of strings, but there are some models that have a greater or lesser number of strings.

Here is more information and interesting facts about the charango and its history.

Federico playing the charango — Peruvian charanguista Federico Tarazona playing the charango

How the charango is created in the first place

Although it was not possible to determine exactly when the charango began to be played, it was found that it existed from the 17th century and was inspired by the Canarian timple (a stringed instrument from the Canary Islands that has five strings).

The Canarian timple was always very present in the so-called ”Spanish charangas”, which were a type of parades or comparsas that took place in the street. This is the origin of the name ”charango” with which it would be called from now on.

How the charango began to become popular

Previously, it was an instrument used exclusively by the more rural classes of the time and was closely related to the indigenous population. However, since the 1950s, this situation began to change and the charango started to be heard in more urban areas, which led residents of such places to participate in concerts and folkloric activities for all audiences.

the one responsible for this was Bolivian-born musician and luthier Mauro Núñez, who in 1944 began to use the charango to disseminate folk music and peduce new charango models in order to popularize it even more. This led many other musicians to find their own musical styles with the instrument, which brought the charango to concert halls and theaters all over Bolivia.

A few years later, the charango arrived in Ecuador, but in the 1960s, it reached Argentina and some European countries. During those same years, several artists from Bolivia, Peru and Argentina began to tour the world and, as a result, ended up taking the charango to the rest of Europe, the United States and Japan.

In 1973, Bolivian charanguista and composer William Ernesto Centellas took the initiative to create la Sociedad Boliviana de Charango with the support of charanguista Abdón Caméo and singer-songwriter Ernesto Cavour Aramayo. This society organizes the Congreso Nacional de Charango and the Encuentro Internacional de Charanguistas every two years.

Nowadays, everyone accepts the idea that the home city of the charango is the city of Potosí and, due to the way its later diffusion went, the town of Aiquile was very important for the instrument to the point that today it is known as the ”Capital of the Charango”.

A Youtuber playing the charango — A Youtuber teaching how to play a charango

How is the charango and how is it played?

The charango is shaped like the guitar, although it tends to be slightly smaller. Likewise, its sound box has a smaller size and the neck is much shorter. Among the most common sizes, we can mention 50cm, 60cm and 75cm. Generally, it has five pairs of strings, but there are some Peruvian models that may have four strings, two at eaither end and a double string in the middle.

The way in which the charango is tuned varies depending on the area and the musician’s preferences, but the most common tuning is natural temple. Just like the guitar, the charango also has the third-order strings octaved between them.

As for the way the charango should be played, the techniques most used by the charanguistas are the rasgueos, the repiques and the tremolo. In talking about the most popular rhythms, we cannot fail to mention the Huayno, the Carnaval, the Cuenca, among others.

Playing the charango can be quite a challenge for beginning musicians, but with enough effort and dedication, incredible results can be achieved even for the most inexperienced.

Willie González supports the Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum

The Salsa Museum always seeks to give exposure to the best of our Latin music and on that occasion, we want to talk about one of the most popular representatives of romantic salsa in recent years. We are talking about the amazingly talented Willie Gonzalez, who has recently been on the Johnny Cruz Show, so we think it is pertinent to do a review of his career and the most important details of his brilliant artistic background.

Willie singing live — Willie González singing some of his biggest hits live

Willie’s beginnings in music

Willie’s formal beginnings in music were when he was just a 15-year-old boy with the dream of becoming an acclaimed artist in the future. It was the Orquesta de Chamaco Rivera that gave him his first opportunity in the musical environment by playing the trombone, but this would not be the artistic area in which he would develop later on. What ended up catching his attention were singing and songwriting.

During the 1980s, he was part of some important groups such as Orquesta Saraguey and Conjunto Chaney, in which Willie and Eddie Santiago were the main voices and began to gain great notoriety among the public.

In 1988, he decided it was time for him to become a soloist in the company of the Orquesta Noche Sensual and the support of the Sanatone record label. Romantic salsa was in style at the time, so Willie followed that same line and named his first album ”Willie González, Original y Único”. Thanks to this material, the artist managed to sell more than 100,000 copies, receive Platinum and won other recognitions.

In the coming years, he continued to release albums that was reaching greater success such as ”Willie González, Sin Comparación”, ”Para Ustedes, El Público” and ”Justo A Tiempo”. All of these have left great hits that are still considered romantic salsa classics to this day.

Willie in a videoclip — Willie Gonzalez in his videoclip ”Aunque Lo Intente”

1990s and 2000s

In 1994, the company Musical Productions published two compilation albums with Willie’s greatest hits which he called ”Éxitos de Willie González, Volumen 1” and ”Éxitos de Willie González, Volumen II”. The following year the singer demonstrated his talent as a composer with his album ”Willie González, Hacia Un Nuevo Camino” with songs like ”Quiero Recuperarte” or ”Dame Una Oportunidad”.

Once the year 2000 arrived, he continued adding successes to his career with his next album ”Sensualmente A Mi Estilo” from the hand of a Venezuelan company called Trama Records and includes great songs like ”Sensualmente Loco”, ”Tatuaje Eterno”, ”Amor Audaz”, among others.

About six years later, he released ”Reencuentro”. This musical work receives this name from a reunion between Willie and Eddie Santiago, who was his partner in the group Chaney many years ago. Together they recorded the songs ”Por Esta Mujer” and ”Solamente Ella”.

Years later, Willie recorded live from Colombia, testing his skills as a producer along with talented Diego Galé. He also wrote some of the songs ”Juré” and ”Estoy Contigo”.

In 2017, he continued to work in Colombia and released ”Willie González en vivo desde Manizales”. Such musical work contains songs like ”Pequeñas Cosas”, ”Quiero Morir En Tu Piel” and ”Si Tú Fueras mía”.

In 2020, Willie released his album ”Esencia” and continued with the line of sensuality and romance with which he has become known over the past few years. In the case of ”Esencia”, he counted on the collaboration of talented composers such as Jorge Luis Piloto, Kiko Campos, Jandy Feliz, among others.

Willie and Johnny Cruz — Johnny Cruz next to Willie Gonzalez talking about the Salsa Museum

Support to the Salsa Museum

The Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum has been fortunate to be supported by Willie, who was kindly committed to donate some of his most precious objects to the institution so that salsa fans can appreciate them.

In a video uploaded to the social networks of Johnny Cruz, president of the institution, they both talk about the role the museum has played in salsa and Willie said he was happy and proud to be able to support a place where there is a lot of history and items from such great Latin artists.

The Djembe is a percussion instrument belonging to the family of membranophone instruments

It originated in the ancient Mandinga Empire, approximately between the towns of Bamako (Mali) and Kankan (Guinea), from where it later migrated to Senegal, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, forming an integral part of the music and traditions of the area.

It is believed that this migration was due to the Numu, who were (and still are) blacksmiths [[professionals considered guardians of certain powers.

They were in charge of making the Komo masks, performing circumcision and ablation of adolescents to mark their passage to adulthood, as well as sculpting and playing the yembes.

As a result of differences in shape, wood density, internal engravings and skin, there is a wide range of tones that can be emitted by the yembe.

Striking the skin near the center produces lower notes, striking it near the edge.

It is struck with the fingers together and stretched, but without leaving them glued to the drumhead, so that the sound comes out.

On the other hand, to produce the highest pitched sound, the slap is used.

The palm of the hand is slightly curved and the membrane is hit with the fingertips.

It is estimated that the djembe was invented approximately 3000 years ago by the African Maninka tribe, who used it as a ceremonial instrument.

The Djembe originated in the former Mandinga Empire, approximately between the towns of Bamako (Mali) and Kankan (Guinea).

The word yembé comes from the Bambara language and means together in peace.

Membranophones are musical instruments that produce sound through the vibration of a taut membrane or drumhead.

The membranes can be made of animal skin or synthetic material and the instruments can be mounted on wooden cylinders, ceramic vessels or gourds.

Membranophones can be played by percussion or rubbing and can have one or two membranes, closed or open bottoms.

Some examples of membranophones are:

– Bombo: A direct hit membranophone whose sound is extracted by striking it with a wooden striker.

– Snare: A membranophone instrument

– Drum: A percussion instrument with a resonance box, which is usually cylindrical, and a membrane called a drumhead that covers the opening of the box.

– Zambomba: A friction drum.

– Cuica: A friction drum

– Juque: A Costa Rican instrument that is a friction drum

– Mirlitón: A blown membranophone instrument.

Membranophone Africa This percussion instrument is of African origin, but its antecedents are Asian (Japan and China) places where it is widely spread and is known with the names “Kelontonga” and also known as “Den-Den Daiko”.

Membranophones. The membranophones produce the sound by means of the vibration of a tensed membrane. The vibration of this membrane can be provoked by hitting it, rubbing it or by voice (humming).

The castanets or “palillos” are a percussion instrument created by the Phoenicians three thousand years ago.

The oldest instrument is the flute, invented by Homo habilis in the Paleolithic and made of bird bone and mammoth ivory, this instrument is about 42 000 years old.

The oldest instrument is the flute, invented by Homo habilis in the Paleolithic period and made of bird bone and mammoth ivory, this instrument is about 42 000 years old.dor de 42 000 años — The oldest instrument is the flute, invented by Homo habilis in the Paleolithic period and made of bird bone and mammoth ivory, this instrument is about 42 000 years old.

The Divje Babe flute is the oldest instrument in the world and is currently in the National Museum of Slovenia.

Alex Acuna Special Edition Djembe.

The combination of Asian Oak shell, Remo Skyndeep Natural head and premium Gon Bops hardware produces massive bass and impressive volume on Alex Acuna’s Signature 14″ Djembe.

Source: Gon Bops

Also Read: Orestes Vilató es una de las figuras más influyentes en el mundo de la percusión Latina

Nanette Hernández promotes the bomba and plena in New Jersey

We know that the most of our Latin countries have historically become known for genres such as salsa, merengue, bachata and more recently reggaeton and trap. However, the popularity of the aforementioned genres made us leave aside other more local rhythms that also deserve exposure.

On this occasion, we wanted to talk about the bomba and plena, so we resolved to interview Nanette Hernandez, who is one of its main proponents here in the United States, more specifically in New Jersey.

This is Nanette Hernández, who is a great promoter of the bomba and plena

How Nanette became interested in the bomba and the plena

Nanette began by telling us that her interest in music was born thanks to her parents, who are Puerto Rican and moved to the United States, Pennsylvania, during the 1950s to continue their life in this new country. However, his home was built based on Puerto Rican culture and, of course, that included language and music. Her father had an ensemble that played jibaro music and Nanette grew up watching this, so this musical environment was always very familiar to her.

As she grew up, Nanette also became very interested in dancing and discovered that she really liked salsa when she was just a teenager. She remembers listening to Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, El Combo de Puerto Rico and many of the most popular groups and musicians of the time, who also inspired her to keep dancing. She felt that she was encouraged just by dancing, so she continued to do so over the years, but not professionally.

After marrying Juan Cartagena and seeing that she and her husband shared a taste for Latin music, they began to frequent places where Puerto Rican music groups performed. That is how they were in a show of the dance and drum ensemble ”Los Pleneros de la 21”. They were so fascinated by what they saw and heard that both Nanette and Juan began to study the plena and bomba because they wanted to know everything about these rhythms. Their interest was such that they were even in contact and consistently et with the Cepeda family, which is a cultural institution with many years of experience in everything to do with the bomba and plena.

She also mentions that Roberto Cepeda, part of the aforementioned family, was very important in her decision to devote herself to promoting the bomba and plena and feels that he saw something in her that even herself was not able to see, so she decided to search for expert teachers in these genres to become more professional in the dancing and instrumental part in order to be able to teach them to others.

Differences between the bomba and plena

When we asked Nanette about the differences between the bomba and plena, she made it very clear that people often think that they are almost the same, but they are not. They are extremely different and have many differences from each other.

In the case of the bomba, it has re than 400 years of existence and originated in Africa. The genre arrived in America along with the slaves who were brought to the New Continent and the new inhabitants of these lands brought their improvised instruments with them such as the so-called ”barrels”, which have a great resemblance to drums. They are often accompanied by maracas.

In the case of the plena, this rhythm uses the pandero, the güiro and other smaller hand instruments with which they make a completely different sound from the bomba. To complement what Nanette told us, we can also say that the plena is believed to originate in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and its lyrics are very focused on comedy, activism and denunciation. In addition, it is also seen as a very peculiar mix between African and European music.

Another difference between the bomba and plena is that, in the bomba, it is the dancer who leads and guides the musicians, while in plena the opposite happens. These genres are very different from each other, but that does not change the fact that both complement each other perfectly well in any show or class.

Nanette next to her husband Juan Cartagena, Segunda Quimbamba's founder — Nanette next to her husband Juan Cartagena, Segunda Quimbamba’s founder

How Segunda Quimbamba came about

Segunda Quimbamba is a project initiated in 1989 by Juan Cartagena, Nanette’s husband, which was born as a result of the couple’s interest in promoting two of the most important ancestral rhythms from Puerto Rico and preserving the most important musical traditions on the Island of Enchantent, such as the ”parrandas”. A few years later, they began introducing the bomba and plena until they became the center of the project.

In 1997, Nanette and Juan founded the Segunda Quimbamba Folkloric Center, which is a non-profit arts organization that seeks to promote the bomba and plena in New Jersey and the rest of the United States so that those interested can learn more about Puerto Rican music and culture in general. The organization also seeks to offer music and dance workshops at solidarity prices and even for free at times.

Nanette and Juan have been invited to participate in numerous events and have been recognized for the role they have played in promoting Latin music, especially that of Puerto Rico. For example, in 2023, The New Jersey State Council of The Arts recognized the couple with the New Jersey Heritage Fellowship Award in honor of what they have accomplished with this wonderful and ambitious musical project.