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"The Latin Tinge" (Book and RR)

mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
edited April 2005 in Strut Central
I had been meaning to read John Storm Roberts' "The Latin Tinge" for a minute but never got around to it until last week. It's all about the influence of Latin music in America (he's very specific about that particular relationship so he's not writing about, say, the development of bachata in the Dominican Republic) and I found it incredibly informative and thorough. I bring it up 1) because I think it's a solid resource for anyone interested in Latin music and 2) it's actually a solid, informal guide to Latin jazz/soul LPs. I mean, Roberts was mad thorough with his, talking about Cortijo and the Time Machine's LP (I need that shit), Bobby Paunetto's two albums on Pathfinder ("Fenway Funk", son!), the Toro album on Coco, "Bitter Acid." It goes far, far, far past just name-checking Barretto's "Acid" and moving on. Recommended read!

  Comments

  • aleitaleit 1,915 Posts
    Agreed, Storm Roberts is a deep deep historian. I hadn't heard about this book... will try to check it out. His series of african recordings are excellent.

    As for Cortijo, I found a copy covered in those little craters from time and heat. Thoroughly unplayable and thoroughly disappointing.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I had been meaning to read John Storm Roberts' "The Latin Tinge" for a minute but never got around to it until last week. It's all about the influence of Latin music in America (he's very specific about that particular relationship so he's not writing about, say, the development of bachata in the Dominican Republic) and I found it incredibly informative and thorough.

    I bring it up 1) because I think it's a solid resource for anyone interested in Latin music and 2) it's actually a solid, informal guide to Latin jazz/soul LPs. I mean, Roberts was mad thorough with his, talking about Cortijo and the Time Machine's LP (I need that shit), Bobby Paunetto's two albums on Pathfinder ("Fenway Funk", son!), the Toro album on Coco, "Bitter Acid." It goes far, far, far past just name-checking Barretto's "Acid" and moving on.

    Recommended read!

    This, and his other book, Latin Jazz are both excellent--they were tremendously useful to me when I was first exploring Latin music. It's kind of a shame that nobody has come with anything comparably good about that music since these books were published in the late 70s, but also testament to how thorough my man is.

    A funny aside: Storm Roberts lauds Willie Colon's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly LP as something like the pinnacle of popular Latin music. If you pick up a copy, you'll see that he wrote the liner notes. Hmmmm.
  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,130 Posts
    I'm not much of a book reader, but I may have to check that out
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    This, and his other book, Latin Jazz are both excellent--they were tremendously useful to me when I was first exploring Latin music. It's kind of a shame that nobody has come with anything comparably good about that music since these books were published in the late 70s, but also testament to how thorough my man is.

    A funny aside: Storm Roberts lauds Willie Colon's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly LP as something like the pinnacle of popular Latin music. If you pick up a copy, you'll see that he wrote the liner notes. Hmmmm.

    Faux-zilla: There's a new edition of Latin Tinge out which was written in the mid'90s. He adds a whole new chapter that updates his work to at least the hiphop era. It's a bit tacked on (literally) but still integrated well into the rest of the book. The only strange thing about it is that he says that Kid Frost's "La Raza" is basically black style done with Spanglish (i.e. that there's nothing very "Latin" about it) though he does note that "the use of a marimba on the song is interesting." It seems that Roberts either didn't listen closely enough or didn't pick up on the fact that "La Raza" is a very obvious interpolation of El Chicano's "Viva Tirado" (a song that Roberts writes about elsewhere). I'm not being nitpicky about it, I just thought it was a weird oversight for such a thorough writer.

    I also read "Cuban Fire", based on a recommendation, but I wasn't feeling it as much. The author more or less skirts by Latin sou/bugalu to get from mambo to salsa. I don't trust that kind...
  • veegeeminusveegeeminus 13 Posts
    now if we could just get him to put his Original Music label back in business! For all his anti-piracy he sure ain't doing much to prevent me from burning Money No Be Sand for interested parties. BTW i hear he's pretty accessible by email...
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    This, and his other book, Latin Jazz are both excellent--they were tremendously useful to me when I was first exploring Latin music. It's kind of a shame that nobody has come with anything comparably good about that music since these books were published in the late 70s, but also testament to how thorough my man is.

    A funny aside: Storm Roberts lauds Willie Colon's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly LP as something like the pinnacle of popular Latin music. If you pick up a copy, you'll see that he wrote the liner notes. Hmmmm.

    Faux-zilla: There's a new edition of Latin Tinge out which was written in the mid'90s. He adds a whole new chapter that updates his work to at least the hiphop era. It's a bit tacked on (literally) but still integrated well into the rest of the book. The only strange thing about it is that he says that Kid Frost's "La Raza" is basically black style done with Spanglish (i.e. that there's nothing very "Latin" about it) though he does note that "the use of a marimba on the song is interesting." It seems that Roberts either didn't listen closely enough or didn't pick up on the fact that "La Raza" is a very obvious interpolation of El Chicano's "Viva Tirado" (a song that Roberts writes about elsewhere). I'm not being nitpicky about it, I just thought it was a weird oversight for such a thorough writer.

    I also read "Cuban Fire", based on a recommendation, but I wasn't feeling it as much. The author more or less skirts by Latin sou/bugalu to get from mambo to salsa. I don't trust that kind...


    Anyone have "Salsiology: Afro-Cuban Music and the Evolution of Salsa in New York City (Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance)"
    by Vernon W. Boggs

    and is it worth the $80?
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    This, and his other book, Latin Jazz are both excellent--they were tremendously useful to me when I was first exploring Latin music. It's kind of a shame that nobody has come with anything comparably good about that music since these books were published in the late 70s, but also testament to how thorough my man is.



    A funny aside: Storm Roberts lauds Willie Colon's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly LP as something like the pinnacle of popular Latin music. If you pick up a copy, you'll see that he wrote the liner notes. Hmmmm.



    Faux-zilla: There's a new edition of Latin Tinge out which was written in the mid'90s. He adds a whole new chapter that updates his work to at least the hiphop era. It's a bit tacked on (literally) but still integrated well into the rest of the book. The only strange thing about it is that he says that Kid Frost's "La Raza" is basically black style done with Spanglish (i.e. that there's nothing very "Latin" about it) though he does note that "the use of a marimba on the song is interesting." It seems that Roberts either didn't listen closely enough or didn't pick up on the fact that "La Raza" is a very obvious interpolation of El Chicano's "Viva Tirado" (a song that Roberts writes about elsewhere). I'm not being nitpicky about it, I just thought it was a weird oversight for such a thorough writer.



    I also read "Cuban Fire", based on a recommendation, but I wasn't feeling it as much. The author more or less skirts by Latin sou/bugalu to get from mambo to salsa. I don't trust that kind...





    Anyone have "Salsiology: Afro-Cuban Music and the Evolution of Salsa in New York City (Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance)"

    by Vernon W. Boggs



    and is it worth the $80?



    It's really good, but try previewing it at your local academic library before putting down that kind of money. Very frustrating that it's out of print--would love to have a personal copy.
  • djannadjanna 1,543 Posts
    Thanks Oliver, I will be picking this up for sure. My Latin collection is growing but my Latin knowledge is next to nill.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts



    Anyone have "Salsiology: Afro-Cuban Music and the Evolution of Salsa in New York City (Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance)"
    by Vernon W. Boggs

    and is it worth the $80?

    It's really good, but try previewiing it at your local academic library before putting down that kind of money. Very frustrating that it's out of print--would love to have a personal copy.
    I remember about 4 years ago, I saw one and was like "$40?!!? For a used book with no dustjacket?" Til I looked it up that night...Doh! went back...you guessed it...GONE.
  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    Second the "if you can peep it first" on Salsiology. Really great long interview with Johnny Colon.

    Also check "from Bomba to Hip Hop" for it's chapter Cha-cha with a Backbeat, which is one of the more in-depth boogaloo articles around (I think the chapter's available online: here ).

    Centro Journal had a recent issue with loads of good articles, but the writing is post-post-pseudoweaksauceacademiadeconstrutionist. Still, there's a good take on Ismael Rivera's life, and an article comparing Hector Lavoe and La Lupe. NY heads can pick it up at the museo del barrio bookstore.

    jala jala

    deepstank
  • Secret_ChimpSecret_Chimp 915 Posts
    On a related note, be sure to peep this book next month when it comes out:



    I couldn't find a better picture of the cover, but I've seen it and it is DOPE.
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