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Review Of Raíces: The Roots Of Latin Music In New York City, Antoni Pizà Jan 2002

Review Of Raíces: The Roots Of Latin Music In New York City, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

When I was in school – and that was, obviously, a long time ago – the word Latin, whether as a noun or as an adjective, referred to the world of ancient Rome, its language, culture, and civilization. Needless to say, this definition has now been replaced by another, whose connotations refer to the culture of the countries south of the border of the United States. When a term alters its meaning, it is undoubtedly indicative of larger issues. In recent decades, for example, the popular music of the Spanish-speaking world, not only has attained by appropriation a distinct …

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Improvisation In Latin Dance Music: History And Style, Peter L. Manuel Jan 1998

Improvisation In Latin Dance Music: History And Style, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

Latin dance music constitutes one of the most dynamic and sophisticated urban popular music traditions in the Americas. Improvisation plays an important role in this set of genres, and its styles are sufficiently distinctive, complex, and internally significant as to merit book-length treatment along the lines of Paul Berliner's volume Thinking in Jazz (1994). To date, however, the subject of Latin improvisation has received only marginal and cursory analytical treatment, primarily in recent pedagogical guidebooks and videos. While a single chapter such as this can hardly do justice to the subject, an attempt will be made here to sketch some …

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Representations Of New York City In Latin Music, Peter L. Manuel Jan 1998