Salsa dancing developed in New York City’s Puerto Rican (“Nuyorican”) nightclubs in the late 1970s as a contemporary advance on Cuban dances like the mambo and cha cha cha, backed by salsa music, which draws much of its inspiration from Cuban son (introduced in the description of “Los Pollitos.”) During that time the United States’ embargo of Cuba was in full force, restricting much musical cross-pollination and requiring Cuban salsa to develop independently of North American salsa. Today Cuban salsa (often called “casino,” referring to the dance halls where salsa dancing has taken place in Cuba since the ’50s) bears as much resemblance to the Cuban son and rumba dances that proceeded it than to the New York version of the dance.
Is the bongo “the most Cuban instrument?”That’s what SalsaBlanca,com argues, and who’s to say they’re not right? The bongos, two small drums attached to one another that a percussionist can use to provide rhythmic accompaniment to most any Cuban music, originated in Cuba and became a staple drum for both changui and son. Watch the bongs in action in Cuba, and see how they fit into Havana son.
COUNTRY: Cuba, Puerto Rico (U.S.)
KEY GENRES: Salsa, Son, Salsa
“Barco chiquitito” is a Spanish song about a boat — a fantastic little boat, in our opinion. There are several versions of this song, but in the most widely sung, there is a little boat that can’t set sail for seven weeks, during which time provisions start to run out. In one translation, crew members get so hungry they eat their boots “with red sauce and a walnut,” get very sick and have to turn back. While our version is still a Spanish song about a boat, we not only let the ship sail, but say that it’s unable to stop sailing, then we also sing about an airplane that can’t stop flying, and, in class, we go through other modes of transport and say they can’t stop going either (a car, a bicycle, a pogo stick….).
Country: (many)
Language: Spanish
Genre on CD: Cuban salsa
Instruments on CD: Bass, Congas, Drum kit, Piano, Timbales, Trombone, TrumpetLYRICS OF ALL AROUND THIS WORLD VERSION
Habia una vez un barco chiquitito
Habia una vez un barco chiquitito
Habia una vez un barco chiquitito
Que no podia, no podia, no podia parar.
Once upon a time there was a little boat
Once upon a time there was a little boat
Once upon a time there was a little boat
And it could, and it could, and it could not stop.
Vocals: Tony Perez
Bass: Rob Hagopian
Piano/Keyboard: John Stengel
Trombone: James Negron
Trumpet: Nelson Miranda
Drums/percussion: Francois Zayas
Percussion: Arturo Stable
Drums, keyboard and bass engineered and co-produced by Mark Wolfe at Audio Mind.
Vocals and horns engineered by Erich Miller
Original is "Un Barco Chiquitito" © Alpha Film Music on behalf of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, translation and arrangement by Jay Sand with permission, Instrumental arrangement by Arturo Stable
Listen to an original version performed by Octavio Corvalan on the Smithsonian Folkways release, "Vamos a Cantar: Let Us Sing: A Collection of Children's Songs in Spanish."
