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Manuel "Manolín" González Hernández ("El Médico de la Salsa"), is a Cuban timba and salsa songwriter, singer, and band leader. Manolín was an amateur songwriter, when NG La Banda's leader José Luis "El Tosco" Cortés discovered him at medical school and famously dubbed him "El Médico de la Salsa".
His background as a medical student who turned to music out of dissatisfaction with his life possibilities reflects the frustration of an entire generation of Afro-Cubans. Manolín came out in 1992, and by 1994, there were antigovernment riots in the streets of Los Sitios in Havana, a black neighborhood. In this way, Manolín was “a character perfectly tuned to the new social reality of the special period” (Perna 2005, 67). As the life of ordinary Cubans receded to 4th World levels, the stars of salsa projected a representation of success and sophistication, an image of escapism and self-empowerment, which, in the context of the decline of the economic role of the state, acquired obvious political meanings. In 1996, a doctor earned $15 per month, while Manolín earned $9,200 per month. His success seemed to represent the triumph of materialism and individualism over revolutionary moral values. According to Manolín, “people started associating money with me.” Manolín, Paulito FG, and bands like La Charanga Habanera and Bamboleo became symbols of the new market-adjusted pop artist, articulating into a modern, cosmopolitan image the desires and aspirations of their young black barrio audiences (Vaughan 2012: Kindle 1964).
Manolín's music was as different from Charanga Habanera as Charanga Habanera was from NG La Banda. His creative team included several arrangers, including pianist Luis Bu and Chaka Nápoles. Manolín's rhythm section was one of the most popular in Cuba. Manolín's unprecedented earning power had an seismic impact on the timba scene, causing a level of excitement among musicians that had not been seen since the 1950s, if ever. [1]
"El médico de la Salsa" had many conflicts with the Cuban government, ultimately leading to his famous chorus "El puente," and his subsequent flight from Cuba. [2] He was a legal resident of Miami, Florida for some time. As of 2013, Manolín has moved back to Cuba, and has been touring the island with Pachito Alonso y su Kini-Kini. [ citation needed ]
Salsa music is a style of Latin American music. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montuno, with elements of mambo, Latin jazz, bomba, plena and guaracha. All of these elements are adapted to fit the basic son montuno template when performed within the context of salsa.
Arsenio Rodríguez was a Cuban musician, composer and bandleader. He played the tres, as well as the tumbadora, and he specialized in son, rumba and other Afro-Cuban music styles. In the 1940s and 1950s Rodríguez established the conjunto format and contributed to the development of the son montuno, the basic template of modern-day salsa. He claimed to be the true creator of the mambo and was an important as well as a prolific composer who wrote nearly two hundred songs.
Los Van Van is one of the leading musical groups of post-revolutionary Cuba. It was founded in 1969 by bassist Juan Formell, who directed the band until his death in 2014. Formell and former band members Changuito and Pupy are some of the most important figures in contemporary Cuban music, having contributed to the development of songo and timba, two popular dance music genres.
Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico, and is much loved in Puerto Rico as well. Written in 2
4 time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a charanga or típica ensemble.
Timba is a Cuban genre of music based on Cuban son with salsa, American funk/R&B and the strong influence of Afro-Cuban folkloric music. Timba rhythm sections differ from their salsa counterparts, because timba emphasizes the bass drum, which is not used in salsa bands. Timba and salsa use the same tempo range and they both use the standard conga marcha. Almost all timba bands have a trap drummer. Timbas also often break the basic tenets of arranging the music in-clave. Timba is considered to be a highly aggressive type of music, with rhythm and "swing" taking precedence over melody and lyricism. Associated with timba is a radically sexual and provocative dance style known as despelote. It is a dynamic evolution of salsa, full of improvisation and Afro Cuban heritage, based on son, Rumba and mambo, taking inspiration from Latin jazz, and is highly percussive with complex sections. Timba is more flexible and innovative than salsa, and includes a more diverse range of styles. Timba incorporates heavy percussion and rhythms which originally came from the barrios of Cuba.
Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban jazz emerged in the early 1940s with the Cuban musicians Mario Bauzá and Frank Grillo "Machito" in the band Machito and his Afro-Cubans in New York City. In 1947, the collaborations of bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and percussionist Chano Pozo brought Afro-Cuban rhythms and instruments, such as the tumbadora and the bongo, into the East Coast jazz scene. Early combinations of jazz with Cuban music, such as "Manteca" and "Mangó Mangüé", were commonly referred to as "Cubop" for Cuban bebop.
Songo is a genre of popular Cuban music, created by the group Los Van Van in the early 1970s. Songo incorporated rhythmic elements from folkloric rumba into popular dance music, and was a significant departure from the son montuno/mambo-based structure which had dominated popular music in Cuba since the 1940s. Blas Egües was the first drummer in Los Van Van, but it was the band's second drummer, José Luis Quintana "Changuito", who developed songo into the world-wide phenomenon it is today.
Típica 73 was an American charanga and salsa band in the 1970s and early 1980s, that was formed by musicians from Ray Barretto's band. "Típica" refers to the typical configuration of a Cuban chararanga while "73" refers to the year that group was founded. Tipica 73 was the first American salsa band to record in Cuba and included Adalberto Santiago, Alfredo de la Fé, and José Alberto "El Canario".
Juan Pablo Pacheco Knipping, known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican-American musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer who in the 1970s became one of the leading exponents of salsa as well in the late 1950s called the pachanga, a blend of Cuban rhythms and Dominican merengue, which propelled him to worldwide fame and had an important role in the evolution of Latin music.
NG La Banda is a Cuban musical group founded by flutist José Luis "El Tosco" Cortés. NG stands for nueva generación. NG La Banda are the creators of timba, the most important popular dance and music genre of the past two decades. Prior to founding NG La Banda, Cortés played in the Afro-Cuban jazz-fusion supergroup Irakere, and the seminal songo band Los Van Van.
Eddy-K was a Cubaton/Reggaeton group from Cuba.
Tempo Latino is a festival of salsa music and Latin music in Vic-Fezensac, France.
Issac Delgado is one of the founders of the band NG La Banda and is a popular salsa and timba performer.
A guajeo is a typical Cuban ostinato melody, most often consisting of arpeggiated chords in syncopated patterns. Some musicians only use the term guajeo for ostinato patterns played specifically by a tres, piano, an instrument of the violin family, or saxophones. Piano guajeos are one of the most recognizable elements of modern-day salsa. Piano guajeos are also known as montunos in North America, or tumbaos in the contemporary Cuban dance music timba.
Osmani "La Voz" García González Kats is a Cuban reggaeton (cubatón) rapper and singer.
Paulito FG is one of the original innovators of timba and is a popular salsa and timba performer.
La Charanga Habanera is a timba ensemble from Havana directed by David Calzado. The band has been nominated for awards including the Latin Grammy in 2003 for the album Live in the U.S.A. In 2005 Charanga Habanera was nominated for "Orgullosamente Latino" awards in three categories: best video, best album, and best group. Furthermore, the group has won numerous awards from Cubadiscos and Lucas.
Manolito y su Trabuco is a salsa and timba group out of Camaguey and Havana, Cuba. It is named for founding member, pianist Manolito Simonet. Trabuco literally means a firearm from the times of the Independence War of 1895 and figuratively refers to anything forceful or strong.
Antilliaanse Feesten is a Caribbean music festival that takes place in every second weekend of August in Hoogstraten, Belgium. It had 38,000 attendees in 2016. The festival was first held in 1983, and has been repeated every year except 2000.
Aymée Regla Nuviola Suárez, better known as Aymée Nuviola, is a Cuban singer, pianist, composer and actress, nicknamed "La Sonera del Mundo". She is also known for having played Celia Cruz in the Colombian telenovela Celia.
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