SPAIN: MUSIC AND DANCE

When people think of Spanish music, typically thoughts of Spanish classical guitar and flamenco probably come to mind. And while you wouldn't be wrong with that, but those styles only scratch the surface of what music Spain has to offer. And as diverse as Spain is, it can certainly vary from region to region, too. You also have to look at its history: every time a different group moved into the area, they introduced instruments and musical styles that stuck to their culture like cat hair on masking tape.

Early on, the music in this area was generally a mix of Roman style (that they borrowed from the Greeks), the Visigoths (a Germanic group who borrowed a lot from the Romans), and the Moors from North Africa. During the Renaissance and the Baroque periods, many Spanish composers traveled abroad to France, Germany, Italy, and other countries to study music and composition and then returned home. Classical guitar method books were also published for the first time.

Zarzuela

Classical music basically had its "laid on the couch all weekend" moment during the 17th and 18th centuries. Very little was done, although a few Italian composers were appointed to write for the Madrid court, including one of my all-time favorites, Domenico Scarlatti. (I can definitely see a Spanish influence in some of his pieces.) However, during the 19th century, Spanish composers took a different focus than composers of other countries. They developed their own type of secular-based opera called zarzuela, and many composers really focused on this as a genre. Generally, Spanish composers moved away from the symphonic ensemble in preference toward chamber groups and solo instrumental music. Guitar music and piano music flourished during this time, and composers like Enrique Granados and Isaac Albéniz were and still are widely popular in classical music. I've always wondered why Spanish classical music never seems to really be included in Western classical music studies, and even James Michener wondered this himself in his book Iberia. 

Yes, those are bagpipes. They're especially used in Galician gaita music.

Acoustic guitars are especially important to traditional Spanish music. However, music styles can vary depending on which region of Spain you’re in. Even at that, the main instruments you’ll probably hear besides guitars and other guitar-like instruments are castanets, tambourines, a variety of flutes, bagpipes (yes, you read that right), other various drums, fiddle, and accordions.

Flamenco

Quite a few dances originate from Spain, and many are tied to regional music styles. Probably one of the most famous dances from Spain is flamenco and has its roots in Andalusia. Aragon is most noted for its dance, the jota, which is a type of stick dance. In the Basque country, not only do you find the jota dance, but the fandango dance (this was mentioned in Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”). Other dances include the rumba and the bolero.

Enrique Granados at the piano

There are so many musicians from Spain that it was hard to give a fair listen, but I did take a quick listen to several. First of all, I took a listen to some classical music. The first one I listened to was some guitar works by Manuel de Falla. I really enjoyed listening to this. I’ve always love classical guitar and wished I could play. I bought a mandolin several years ago and tried to teach myself, but my pianist hands just won’t cooperate. The next one I listened to was Enrique Granados. I have some excerpts from some of his piano stuff. I wouldn’t mind having more of his stuff in sheet music. Isaac Albéniz is another who writes a lot of piano music that I may have to look up, too.

Enrique Iglesias

I listened to Enrique Iglesias, who I really liked in the 1990s/2000s. Man, did some of this music bring me back. (His father is the famous Julio Iglesias.) Lauded as the King of Latin Pop, it’s no wonder that he is still popular after a couple of decades of being on the scene. He’s put out albums in both English and Spanish. Another musician who excelled at the ballad is Alejandro Sanz.

Manu Chao

 And even though Manu Chao is from France, he was originally from Spain and his parents left Spain during Franco’s regime. So for that reason, I’m including him here. I’ve been a huge fan of his music for many years. And what’s impressive is that he sings in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, and a few others languages get thrown in as well.

Amaia Montero

In the pop category, I listened to Amaia Montero. She kind of reminded me a little of Colombia’s Fanny Lu. She uses the acoustic guitar a lot, and I appreciates that when she belts out, it’s not distorted like some singers get. I also listened to Ana Torroja. She was once part of Mecano, one of the most successful bands from Spain during the 1980s and 1990s. Natalia Jiménez is another pop singer I listened to. Her music seems to utilize more of a traditional sound to it.

La Oreja de Van Gogh

When it came to rock bands, I listened to a few: La Oreja de Van Gogh caught my eye because it means “The ear of Van Gogh,” which I thought was funny. But their music is pretty catchy. It’s more of an indie rock style. Mägo de Oz is a harder rock band, bordering on Celtic metal punk on some songs and folk rock on others. October People is another band that’s more on the indie rock side of things. They remind me a little of 1980s new wave rock. I like their name because I’m an October People (b. Oct. 28). And while definitely rock, Extremoduro seems to blend in a little blues into their rock at times. Despite its name, Warcry is not as hard as their name leads you to think it is. Their music seems like it falls under the rock ballads genre. One band I listened to solely because I think their name came from the Beatles song of the same name: Sexy Sadie. I really like their style, which is more of a 1990s pop rock. And they sing in English.

Mala Rodriguez

I’ve waited years to talk about one of my favorite musicians: Mala Rodiguez. I have a weak spot for female rappers, and Mala does not disappoint. I have three of her albums. Another hip-hop group I listened to was Violadores del Verso. I’d say they tend to be a little more minimalist on the instrumentals (but not always), but it’s still catchy. And I really liked listening to Due Kie. Their music seems to mix EDM, rock, and hip-hop. There’s a lot going on, but I like it.

Up next: the food

PARAGUAY: MUSIC AND DANCE

The folk music of Paraguay is deeply rooted in European musical traditions. One of the styles that has become iconic in Paraguay is the polka. However, what’s different between Paraguayan polka and European-style polka is that European style is based on more binary rhythms and Paraguayan styles combine binary rhythms with ternary rhythms.

Another popular form of folk music is the zarzuela, a Spanish-influenced form that blends operatic lyrical music with dance. The Paraguayan form drew in elements of Paraguayan polka and Guaraní music (and the Guaraní language). 

Many of the instruments commonly used in Paraguayan music were brought over from Europe, like the Spanish guitar and the harp. The harp was one of the first instruments introduced to the native Paraguayans and has been in use since the 1500s. It was far more practical to use in religious services rather than an organ or harpsichord. Typically, it’s made of mahogany or other tropical woods, and the number of strings can vary between 32-46 strings. Although it stands nearly 5’ tall, it is fairly light in construction. The Paraguayan harp is often considered the national instrument. 

I had already mentioned that polka was a popular form of music, so it’s not hard to imagine that the polka dance is also a popular dance form as well. Another dance that is known throughout the country is the bottle dance; it’s signature move is that the performer dances around while balancing a glass bottle on their head. There isn’t a specific musical style associated with this dance, so many different forms can be used to accompany this dance. 

As far as trying to find some bands that were from Paraguay, I had to do a little more digging around than usual. Typically, Wikipedia has been a great resource for listing a bunch of bands or musicians from a country to start with, and I’d go look them up on Spotify. But this one was lacking. However, I did manage to find a few. First of all, I listened to the band Flou. I loved them from first listen. Definitely in the nu metal category, they were loud, but their instrumentals were driving and clean. They kind of reminded me of Disturbed a little bit along with a bunch of other bands. However, they do have a slower, more melodic side to them that I also liked.

Revolber is another hard rock band I listened to. I liked what I heard from them –at times they have almost a punk or ska sound to their music. I think it’s pretty catchy stuff. They remind me a little of Los Rabanes from Panama.

Paiko is a rock-pop band. I listened to several of their songs, and they have quite a range in styles from rock to reggae to almost a country sound. I’m not a fan of the country sound, but the other stuff was decent.

By now, you should know I have a penchant for punk music. Area 69 fell into this category, and I quite enjoyed it. It was more of that pop-punk style, but that didn’t matter. I still thought it was kind of fun.

I also listened to Kchiporros. It’s hard to explain, but it’s very much Latin pop mixed with reggae. I really like it a lot. It’s very danceable. I found myself listening to it longer than some of the others – although I’m not exactly sure how to pronounce it.

It was hard to find any rappers or hip-hop artists from Paraguay. Not too many popped up for me. However, I did come across one called Rapper Soul. I listened to a few of his tracks. He’s got the rap-rock thing down – kind of in the style of Rage Against the Machine (one of my favorite bands). And like Rage or even Red Hot Chili Peppers, they also incorporate elements of funk into their music as well. I seriously wish I could find more of their stuff.

Up next: the food

CUBA: MUSIC AND DANCE

Cuba has a very strong music tradition, influencing other styles all over the world, from the Americas and the Caribbean to African and Mediterranean music. Cuban music not only influenced many different styles, but in and of itself is a merge of several styles and instrumentation from several different cultures. Initially, its main influences were Spanish (and other Europeans to a degree) for obvious reason, but it also borrowed instruments and styles from the Chinese immigrants who were there and that merged with the Caribbean music of the Taíno peoples who were already there. And as Africans arrived, they added a fourth dimension to Cuban music. There are far more genres and subgenres of Cuban music that I’m not going to go into great detail on; I’m just going to touch on the main ones.

If the guitar is the cornerstone of Cuban music, then percussion is the foundation. The Spanish brought over the guitar with them, as well as musical notation.  Other instruments that were used were the clarinet, the violin, and the vihuela (a guitar-like instrument with six doubled strings found on the Iberian and Italian Peninsulas during the Renaissance period. On the percussive side, bongos, congos, and batá drums (a double-headed hourglass-shaped drum used a lot in santería) were often used. There were times when drums were actually banned, and instead musicians used the claves (basically two blocks/sticks beat against each other). Piano is also a very important instrument in Cuban music.  Many students start out learning piano from an early age, and it’s used in everything from classical music to traditional folk music.

In the early days – the 18^th and 19^th century centuries –Baroque music was predominantly the style of composition in Cuba with composers such as Esteban Salas y Castroand Ignacio Cervantes studied and worked with. Laureano Fuentes wrote the first opera called La hija de Jefté. The 20^th century brought changes in the classical world as well, with composers and musicians such as Amadeo Roldán, Alejandro García Caturla (who was second chair violin with the Symphonic Orchestra of Havana at the age of 16, later to become a lawyer and judge to support his family, was murdered at the age 34 by a gambler he was getting ready to sentence a few hours later), Gonzalo Roig, Ernesto Lecuona, José Ardévol, among many other accomplished musicians and composers. 

There are a lot of different styles of music in Cuba, several of which are stemmed from the theatre.  Zarzuela is a form of a light opera or operetta. It generally has developed into a social commentary about Cuban life and problems.  Bufo is a theatrical style mostly dealing in satire and comedy.  A guaracha is a quick-tempo song that sings about people and events in the new in a comedic sort of way, but using a lot of slang and generally performed in the brothels of Havana.  Trova is a style of guitar music played by troubadours traveling around the island singing and playing music. Many times they performed in groups of twos and threes, but sometimes more. Several styles of music are African in origin, such as the rumba and comparsa (or also called Conga). Cuban music was a source of a lot of jazz musicians, and more or less formed its own genre of Latin jazz. Ray Barretto and Tito Puente were key figures of merging Cuban music with jazz and presenting arrangements to the American and European ear. Chachachá was also invented during the 1950s with musicians such as Perez Prada, who gave us the famous song “Mambo No. 5.” (I'm pretty sure the costumer was inspired by a chicken when they made these jackets.)

Probably the most important genre of music coming from Cuba is the son. Definitely using the guitar and the bongo, son typically also uses claves, the double bass, the trumpet (or cornet), and the piano.  Today, son has many variations and styles of its own, but the most key part of it is the syncopated bass line (also utilizing the anticipated bass as well).  Somehow, a lot of these styles all got lumped under the same category that ended up being called salsa. Cubans themselves don’t necessarily agree with this term, but to many Americans and Europeans, salsa music incorporates a lot of Cuban music styles, especially Cuban dance music. 

Dance is also important to Cubans, and a number of dances have become quite popular, not only in Cuba but throughout the Americas. Some of the more popular ones include son, danzón, danzonete, chacha, salsa, mambo, among others. Every time I hear the word mambo, I think of the great mambo dance scene from West Side Story.  I don’t know how true of a Cuban mambo dance it is (even though the characters were from Puerto Rico, which does share some similarities in culture), but I had the entire libretto memorized when I was in high school.

When I took a look at my Spotify playlist for Cuba, it was a mix of new and old. Among the new stuff, I mostly had some Cuban hip-hip (like Orishas: I found the album El Kilo at the library and really like it) and Cubatón (Cuba’s form of reggaeton, like Osmani Garcia, Eddy K, and Gente de Zona). Of the slightly older music that I equally liked (and probably listened to more), I came across Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Compay Segundo, NG la Banda, Carlos Varela, and of course one of my favorites, Celia Cruz. Some artists such as Celia Cruz and Gloria Estefan (one of the most successful Cuban musicians, much less Latin musicians, ever) who fled Cuba after the Revolution are considered “unpersons” by the Cuban government and their records aren’t even allowed to be sold in the country. 

Up next: the food!