African Retentions in Latin Music

A number of African retentions are apparent throughout the vast range of Afro-Latin music, including the antiphonic (call-and-response) song pattern, polyrhythms, improvisation, and syncopation. All of these elements are present in this exemplar recording of 'Mas Que Nada' by Carlos (Patato) Valdez and Eugenio (Totico) Arango from their 1967 classic album, Patato y Totico, which deeply inspired a burgeoning rhumba subculture in late-60s/early-70s New York 

 

Central to the analysis of this blog are the influence of African music, Afro-Latin performers and composers, and the Afro-Latin experience as they relate to the evolution of new forms of sonic expression from the colonial period to the modern day. Here, the historical roots of Afro-Latin music, and how these various musical forms (e.g. Samba and Son) moved from the social spaces of working class neighborhoods into commercial entertainment industries, will be explored. In addition, attention is given to the ways these genres helped create a sense of community through language, performance practices, history, struggle and heritage. While some Afro-Latin musical forms have been appropriated to serve national interests, the immense contributions of Afro-descendants in the history of Latin America have by and large been overlooked, forgotten and ignored. This blog is a modest effort to address this historical marginalization and the social and cultural omissions perpetrated against Afro-Latinos by Eurocentric influences inherited from colonization.