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There are many Latin genres that have managed to find a place in the USA music scene thanks to the constancy of many of its great exponents, salsa being the genre we talk about the most. However, today we want to change the subject a little bit and analyze what is milonga and how popular it has become in recent years.

Definition of milonga

The milonga can be defined as a folkloric musical genre coming from the Rio de la Plata region, which is usually performed with a guitar accompaniment in 6/8 time. Usually, it is divided in two modalities that are the milonga campera (the genre in its purest form) and the city milonga (style subsequent to the milonga campera).

Etymology of ”milonga’’

Although the musical genre is known for being originally from Argentina, Uruguay and certain parts of Brazil, ”milonga” means ”word” in the Quimbundu language (a language of Angolan origin that corresponds in several expressions with Portuguese). It is important to mention that this is the language used by some tribes from Angola, which was a colony of Portugal, and that many of the slave population of those lands was transported to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

According to information received from some scholars, after the defeat suffered by the Argentine founding father Juan Manuel de Rosas in Caseros at the hands of Entre Rios Governor Justo José de Urquiza, the Brazilian soldiers caught the porteños off guard while singing guajiras in mockery, at the same time that the porteños sang milongas.

In the ears of Brazilians, these songs sounded like gibberish they could not understand. In the end, as a result, the term had such an impact that locals began referring to their own creolized guajiras as milongas.

A little history of milonga

Milonga is known for its joy, speed and sensuality at the time of being performed by its dancers. Its binary rhythm is of great simplicity, so it is in stark contrast to the four beats of the guitar that gives the melody to the dance and is usually accompanied by lyrics occasionally.

It has always been closely related to paya and tango. In the case of paya, milonga used some of its elements specifically for the dance, while tango uses some details of the rhythm and the melody in milonga for its own dance. Today, the three genres are considered a very important part of the Rio de La Plata music scene and each of them has their own characteristics that distinguish one from another.

Milonga had much to do with the birth of tango, but at the same time, it evolved and maintained its independence. In fact, there is some sort of mix of the two called tango milonga that is almost extinct, although it is known that many musicians wanted to use it to give the rhythm of the tango more strength and sustainability. 

As for the places where milonga could be danced, the genre used to be found in neighborhood clubs, dance halls, tearooms and boites. The music used was usually recorded, although the venue owners hired small bands occasionally to change the modality. The popularity of these groups was so great that several of their musicians managed to join highly recognized orchestras at the time. 

Couples who went to milonga clubs to dance ballroom tango and outskirts tango. The first only consisted of beat and elegance, while the second had beat, elegance and figure. Among the most famous places to dance milonga that remain active to this today, we can mention El Barracas Central, Unidos en Pompeya, El Sunderland and many others.

Milonga at present

Today, milonga has become a genre of big importance for people eager to learn to dance things other than salsa, bachata or merengue. This genre offers them the opportunity to try something completely different thanks to which they can connect with others in ways they would not have imagined due to its peculiar rhythm and overflowing sensuality.

In addition to that, every day there are more and more events also called milongas, which consist of massive dances where couples show their best moves to the rhythm of various genres, such as milonga, tango, and vals criollo. In general, the scheduling of a milonga is divided into blocks of three, four or five dances that are separated by short pieces of light music. Apart from that, each block contains a sort of rhythm that is grouped by orchestra, singer or composer.

These events were very typical in Argentina, but have been gradually spreading throughout various parts of the world, including the United States. Nowadays, it is fairly common to find restaurants, night clubs and academies that offer this kind of entertainment to their attendees such as Alberto’s Night Club (San Francisco), The Tango Room (Los Angeles), Milonga La Paz Tango Club (San Francisco), Tango De Rey (San Diego), Tango La Nacional (New York), Fairmont Tango Club (Philadelphia), Dance Fire Studio (New York), and many more.

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The character’s story we are going to talk about today is extremely fascinating, since the challenges he has had to endure did not prevent him from becoming the great musician he is now. We are talking about Donald Vega and the inspiration he is for those who believe their dreams and goals impossible to achieve.

Donald Vega and his interesting story

Donald Vega is a composer and jazz pianist born in Masaya, Nicaragua, whose family has had musicians for several generations. His grandfather, Don Alberto Gutiérrez Laguna was a composer and multi-instrumentalist and had a love for music that was passed down through his children as they grew older. This was the case of his uncle, Tránsito Gutiérrez, who was honored in 2022 at the Rubén Dario National Theater for his great artistic career.

Tránsito was one of the great inspirations for his nephew to become interested in music and play the piano at the tender age of three, guided only by his ear. His grandfather Alberto, seeing this, wanted to teach his grandson Donald to read music and prepare him as well as possible for the future. As part of this preparation, he attended the conservatory to study the greatest exponents of classical music such as Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart. 

Unfortunately, his parents quickly understood that the country was not safe for their son to pursue his dreams. 

Challenges of adolescence 

At that time, 15- and 16-year-olds were forced to join the Nicaraguan army, so his mother left the Central American country to find a way to get him and his siblings out of there and give them a better future far from armed conflict. Something that struck him at that time was that there were many wakes in his neighborhood where the body was not even present, but some parts of the military uniform such as the helmet or boots. This led his mother to want to get her son out of the country, so she got him a visa to go to Mexico so he could cross the land border into the United States with his godmother. 

His first stop was Los Angeles, where he joined his mother and applied for political asylum. At that moment, he did not have any resources to buy instruments, but he received a scholarship at a conservatory where he got much support to train properly despite the want of money.

While in school, a music teacher heard him play the piano and invited him to participate in a national music competition in Los Angeles where he won first place and was given 5000 dollars and a piano as a gift. It can be said that this was his official start in the world of music, so he is very grateful to have participated in the competition.

Sometime later, he received a scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Juilliard School of Music, of which he is now a music teacher.

Golden Striker Trio

The opportunity to belong to the Golden Striker Trio is described by Donald as incredible, since it has been a fascinating experience with an interesting beginning.

It all started when a Ron Carter’s student at Juilliard, with whom Donald made a recording together in New Orleans to be shown to Professor Carter to determine what aspects needed to be improved. Carter was so fascinated with Donald that he asked to meet him and talk with him to learn more about his work.

When they met, the professor proposed the artist to watch him live in one of his performances. After that, he had him come to his home to tell him that he was giving him the opportunity to participate in his Golden Striker Trio as a pianist, since the previous one wanted to dedicate more time to his own group. Donald has been working with Carter and his group for more than 15 years and is very grateful for what he has achieved and learned. 

Backcountry Jazz   

Backcountry Jazz is a non-profit organization that seeks to support talented youngsters with limited resources to achieve their dreams in the music industry. Donald has become part of this noble initiative motivated by the teachings of his parents, who have always told him to be generous and give of his time to others. It is for this same reason that he also teaches at the Juilliard School of Music, since sharing his time and knowledge with others gives him an incredible satisfaction.

Due to the situation he himself experienced with lack of money and instruments in order to get ahead in his passion, he understands perfectly how children and young people who do not have the resources to be successful with music feel, so he seeks to give them a hand through this organization and his mentoring.

Grammy Nomination for As I Travel

Donald talks about ”As I Travel” as a description of the path he had to pass to become the musician he is today. He was also inspired by his journey across more than 44 countries he has visited with different musicians including, of course, Ron Carter.

The whole album is inspired by his experiences. An example of that is ”Baila! Dance Like No One’s Watching”, which is inspired by the happiness of those around him, especially his son, his biggest inspiration for writing the song. It is a celebration of life, family and his countrymen in Nicaragua.

Another example worthy of mention is ”I Know I can Fly”, which was inspired by the host of challenges he faced upon arrival to the United States and the whole process of adapting to the country, its lifestyle, its climate and its language. It was also inspired by his determination to succeed despite all the challenges he faced along the way. 

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