Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

ciso Martínez and Tito Puente, Santana and Eddie Palmieri, La India andSelena, Kid Frost and Latin Empire, so the presence is old, the influencesdeep, and the results ongoing. In tune with the “souls of Black folk,” Latinotraditions and innovations help shape the very history of American musicalstyles and tastes, be they ragtime or bebop, rhythm and blues, or doo-wop,rock, disco, or hip-hop.Rugged campesino hands fine-tune the chord of Latino laments, fingersgnarled from scratching parched soil, nails tattered on conveyor belts,sewing machines, and stubborn mop handles; Latino hands work the stringsand drumskins, roll accordion and piano licks, shake maracas, and scrapegourds; hands clap and fingers snap to the blare of trumpets, trombones,saxes, and the wail of barrio voices. Tied hands and muzzled voices burstfree to tune the chords and set the cadence of Latino music.Through history, Latino music has been many musics, most forcefullythe traditions from Mexico and those from the Caribbean, long flowingas parallel but independent currents from different regions of the “other”Americas. Chicanos and Boricuas each had their own sounds, one resoundingin Texas and Califas, the other in the streets and clubs of los Nuyores.But in our time, with more and more diverse Latino communities comingto live side by side throughout el Norte, nuestras músicas are also converging,intermingling, with new hybrid sounds emerging that would have seemedstrange confections but a generation ago: salsa with conjunto, Tex-Mex in clave,merengue rap, the sounds of “tropical” Los Angeles, Mixteco and QuisqueyaNew Yorkers, Miami Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Columbians, Salvadoransin Washington, D.C., Chicanos-Boricuas in Chicago, cumbia y vallenato fromJackson Heights, Queens. There may never be a single “Latino music,” butby now it is clear that no mix is missing, all styles can harmonize, Latinobeats can reverberate from different drummers.Latinos, too, sing América!263