Salsa music

Salsa is a dance-music genre combining Cuban and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms with jazz and popular music. It developed largely in New York City during the 1960s and 1970s.

Clave (rhythm): A repeating rhythmic pattern that organizes much Afro-Cuban music. The clave pattern provides a rhythmic framework for many salsa arrangements.
Afro-Cuban music: Music shaped by the interaction of African-derived traditions and Cuban cultural forms. Its rhythms and performance practices underpin many salsa styles.
Johnny Pacheco: A Dominican-born flautist, bandleader, composer, and record producer associated with Fania Records. He co-founded Fania and helped define the label’s salsa sound.
Salsa dancing: A partner dance performed to salsa music, with styles shaped by timing, footwork, and regional practice. The music’s pulse and breaks structure partner movement and improvised turns.
Nuyorican: A cultural identity associated with people of Puerto Rican descent in New York City and their communities. Salsa became a prominent expression of Nuyorican urban identity and experience.
Son cubano: A Cuban music and dance tradition blending Spanish song forms with African-derived rhythms. Its song structure and rhythmic patterns are foundational to salsa.
Cuban rumba: A Cuban secular music and dance tradition rooted in Afro-Cuban communities. Rumba contributed percussion practices and expressive styles to salsa.
Celia Cruz: A Cuban singer celebrated for her performances of Cuban and salsa music. Her powerful voice and repertoire made her one of salsa’s defining stars.
Salsa dura: A forceful salsa style emphasizing brass, percussion, and extended instrumental passages. It exemplifies the hard-driving ensemble sound associated with classic New York salsa.
Puerto Rican music: The musical traditions and popular styles developed in Puerto Rico and its diaspora. Puerto Rican musicians and traditions were central to salsa’s New York formation.

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