Spanish Tinge & Foundations

Before salsa had a name, two currents were already in motion. In eastern Cuba's Oriente, across the late nineteenth century, Spanish string-song met African...

Before salsa had a name, two currents were already in motion. In eastern Cuba's Oriente, across the late nineteenth century, Spanish string-song met African rhythm and call-and-response to form the son — a clave-keyed dance music that travelled west toward Havana. Separately, the habanera and its tresillo cell had long circulated through Atlantic popular music; steamship traffic carried musicians and sheet music between Havana and New Orleans, and that Latin lilt surfaced in early jazz — the quality Jelly Roll Morton, looking back in 1938, called the "Spanish tinge." These are interacting histories, not one rhythmic cell that produced both. This chapter is the prologue beneath everything that follows.

Years

1900-1920

In the app

Timeline