Embracing Your Inner Boogaloo

40 years after its heyday, the boogaloo era remains one of the more controversial pieces of the popular Latin dance music puzzle.  Derided by purists, yet beloved by legions of  aficionados, the genre’s blend of Afro-Cuban rhythmic propulsion and funky R&B horn riffs were not only a bridge between the eras of Mambo and Salsa, but were also, for millions of non-Latinos, an initial portal into the wide world of Latin music.  Upon reflection, most every advance in popular 20^th Century Latin dance music was initially labeled the ‘death of the genre’ as it was then known. 

In the late 1930’s, Orestes and Israel ('Cachao') Lopez’ initial mambo innovations were considered near blasphemy against the hallowed Cuban 3-part structure.  Arsenio Rodriguez’ incorporation of the conga drum into popular Cuban music was to many a cultural revolution not unlike the Africanization of North American pop by r&b some 15 years later.  So controversial were Damaso Perez Prado’s jazz-infused arrangements for Cuba’s popular Orquesta Casino De La Playa that the pianist had to relocate to Mexico City.  There, with an audience more impressed by his swinging innovations rather than with dogged adherence to accepted Cuban musical structure, Prado became a superstar.  In segregated 1947 New York, the unprecedented interracial appeal of Afro-Cuban jazz pioneers such as Machito and his Afro-Cubans was such that riot police were sent to the barrier-breaking ‘Tico Tico’ dances at Manhattan Center, anticipating that the multi-racial crowd of 5,000 would certainly break into a riot (the only ‘riot’ was on the dance floor)!  Lo and behold, “La Musica” has survived all of these perceived ‘calamities’.

Occasionally, I'll hear my younger African-American brothers and sisters dismiss the venerable ‘standards’ mid 20^th Century American pop as “white music" (expressing a perception that such music has and/or had  little to do with them or their history).  But this view, skewed from our contemporary vantage point, is to totally discount the profound early influence of black music on U.S. pop culture.  After all, the ubiquitous Foxtrot was a staple of  black popular dance for a decade before the likes of ballroom dancers Vernon and Irene Castle made it ‘acceptable’ to the majority culture.  George Gershwin would be the first to admit that he borrowed liberally from the black vernacular to create his finest and most respected works.  Indeed, the foundation of U.S. popular music from the Roaring 20's through the Swing era was fueled and informed by African-American gospel, ragtime, jazz and blues.

Similarly, largely through the broad impact of boogaloo, Latin percussion became firmly a part of the American popular music landscape to such an extent that today, one is hard-pressed to find a rhythm section for any popular style – from rock and roll to country and western – that doesn’t incorporate congas, and/or shekere, and/or a cowbell.  To ‘reject’ mass popular off-shoots out-of-hand, is also to squander the Latino community’s claim to the sweeping impact of the genre on wider popular culture.  Given to the world willingly, it is nonetheless a gift that we should acknowledge giving.  Here's the legendary JOE CUBA SEXTET featuring Cheo Feliciano performing the 1965 classic, "Bang Bang"!