Salsa Hues: Any Color, …as long as it’s Red (Hot)!

On their first North American tour in a decade, Sierra Maestra, the masters of contemporary Cuban Son, positively dazzled me during their July 19^th appearance at Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia.  It wasn’t so much for the virtuosity of their playing, apparent though it was.   Rather, it was the stunning array of musical ‘color’ and hue encompassed in their performance, and the way in which it inspired the dancers to truly let-loose.  It highlighted for me how ‘monochromatic’ mainstream contemporary Latin music has become.

Not unlike Henry Ford’s famous joke about the Model T Ford, the first mass-produced automobile, it seems that today, you can get Salsa in any ‘color’ – as long as it’s “Red”.  Hot.  Scorching.  Break-neck fast red.