Music in the Hispanic Caribbean

Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

Robin Moore

Global Music Series

The Spanish-speaking islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic make up a relatively small region, but their musical and cultural traditions have had a dramatic, sweeping impact on the world. The first brief, stand-alone volume to explore the music of these three islands, Music in the Hispanic Caribbean provides a vibrant introduction to diverse musical styles including salsa, merengue, reggaeton, plena, Latin jazz, and the bolero. Ethnomusicologist Robin Moore employs three themes in his survey of Hispanic Caribbean music: the cultural legacy of the slave trade, the creolization of Caribbean musical styles, and diaspora, migration, and movement. Each theme lends itself to a discussion of the region's traditional musical genres as well as its more contemporary forms. The author draws on his extensive regional fieldwork, offering accounts of local performances, interviews with key performers, and vivid illustrations.

Music in the Hispanic Caribbean

Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

Robin Moore

Global Music Series

Description

** Music in the Hispanic Caribbean is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present. **

The Spanish-speaking islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic make up a relatively small region, but their musical and cultural traditions have had a dramatic, sweeping impact on the world. The first brief, stand-alone volume to explore the music of these three islands, Music in the Hispanic Caribbean provides a vibrant introduction to diverse musical styles including salsa, merengue, reggaeton, plena, Latin jazz, and the bolero.

Ethnomusicologist Robin Moore employs three themes in his survey of Hispanic Caribbean music: the cultural legacy of the slave trade, the creolization of Caribbean musical styles, and diaspora, migration, and movement. Each theme lends itself to a discussion of the region's traditional musical genres as well as its more contemporary forms. The author draws on his extensive regional fieldwork, offering accounts of local performances, interviews with key performers, and vivid illustrations.

A compelling, comprehensive review, Music in the Hispanic Caribbean is ideal for introductory undergraduate courses in world music or ethnomusicology and for upper-level courses on Caribbean and Latin American music and/or culture. Packaged with a 70-minute CD containing musical examples, the text features numerous listening activities that actively engage students with the music. The companion website includes supplementary materials for instructors.

Music in the Hispanic Caribbean

Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

Robin Moore

Global Music Series

Foreword
Preface
CD Track List

Chapter 1: Introduction
Defining the Caribbean
Music and Race in the Caribbean
Creolization and Diaspora

Chapter 2: Music and Spanish Colonization
A Brief History of Colonization
Spanish-Derived Music
Puerto Rican Seis
Cuban Punto
Folk Catholicism and the Dominican Salve

Chapter 3: Cultural Legacies of the Slave Trade
History of the Slave Trade
Afro-Cuban Toques de Güiros
Afro-Dominican Salves
Puerto Rican Bomba

Chapter 4: Creolized Dance Music
Dominican Merengue
Cuban Son
Puerto Rican Plena
New York Salsa

Chapter 5: Transnational Caribbean Musics
The Colonial Contradanza
Bolero and Bachata
Reggaeton

Chapter 6: Political Song
The Rise of Nueva Canción
Struggles for Independence in the Hispanic Caribbean
Puerto Rican Nueva Canción
Dominican Nueva Canción
Cuban Nueva Trova and Rap

Chapter 7: Dialogues with Blackness
Early Representations of Blackness
Creole Heritage and Classical Music
Latin Jazz

Glossary
Resource Guide
References
Index

Music in the Hispanic Caribbean

Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

Robin Moore

Global Music Series

Author Information

Robin Moore is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the editor of the Latin American Music Review and, since 1992, he has conducted research in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Brazil. Dr. Moore is the author of Music and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba (2006) among other works.

Music in the Hispanic Caribbean

Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

Robin Moore

Global Music Series

Reviews and Awards

Winner of a 2010 Hamilton Book Award from The University of Texas at Austin

"I would highly recommend this book for the introductory undergraduate courses in world music or ethnomusicology and the upper-level courses on Caribbean and Latin American music and/or culture for which it is intended. I would also recommend it to anyone (musically-minded or not) who wishes to know more about the fascinating musical cultures of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic."--Eric Bindler, Indiana University, from a review in the Journal of Folklore Research