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BOOK
PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION:
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"DUO RITMO" OF COLÓN, BARRETTO AND PALMIERI |
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While I regard the relocation of salsa as the most singular
contribution of Nación y Ritmo, I´d also suggest that
the analysis in that regard might be carried even deeper by exploring the
integral relation between both Latin jazz and salsa and African American
musical styles and practices. Because for the young New York Puerto Rican
musicians of the late 60´s and early 70´s North American language
and culture was not something foreign to the Puerto Rican identity. Musicians like Willie Colón, Ray Barretto and Eddie Palmieri and many others speak often of their bimusical formation. Both ears were filled with music both from Puerto Rico and Cuba, and from the streets of New York. And from the radios and records that were played of American music. So it wasn´t like something extraneous or foreign was added to the Caribbean ritmo. But that there was a duo ritmo that was being developed. Something new was emerging that was not any longer from the Caribbean. And I think that´s the point which I would want to explore further and think about and perhaps discuss. Juan begins his book by citing the lines from El Gran Combo tune Yo no soy médico ni abogado ni tampoco ingeniero pero tengo un swing. The point Juan is making with this book has to do with the contrast between elite and popular cultures, between lettered cultural capital and oral tradition, between letra y ritmo. What goes uncommented in Juan´s elaboration of this motto is that the very word swing for la expresión popular, lo caribeño, is in American English and that it is fully drawn from the African American musical tradition: Yo casi no sé escribir, yo casi no sé leer pero tengo un swing, te digo que yo tengo un swing que muchos quisieran tener. |
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