Over the years I have had the privilege of working with many of the great musicians of our time. Surely one of the greatest is alto saxophone/clarinet virtuoso Paquito D'Rivera. Originally from Cuba, Paquito has long been fascinated with Latin American music and is dedicated to the many different folk, jazz and classical musics of the sub-continent. Through Paquito's influence, the influence of my own heritage (my mother is Chilean), and my interest in classical guitar, I too have come to appreciate and love the incredible variety of musical styles that exist throughout South and Central America.

It is disheartening, however, when I come across, again and again, from people who should know better, an incredible ignorance and insensitivity to the richness of music in Latin America. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked, even by some very fine musicians, "Let's play this Latin" or, "Can you give this song a Latin feel?"

If you think about it, those are some pretty stupid questions. I mean, come on, what if I were to ask you, "Can you give this a North American feel?" or how about "Let's play this one American." Do I mean Country & Western, blues, jazz, gospel, 50's rock, 60's rock, 70's rock, 80's rock, or 90's rock? What about funk, or hip-hop, or house, or death metal, thrash metal and rusted metal? What about alternative rock, punk rock, glam rock, western swing, industrial dance, ragtime, Rhythm and Blues, and my favorite, DISCO...

By now you get my point. There are probably even more styles of music from South and Central America than in the U.S. and Canada. I once heard a marvelous group that specializes in folk music of Latin America, "Los folkloristas". Check this out...they had on stage 40 different guitar-like instruments from all over the sub-continent. Count 'em. That's a lot of different axes, and a lot of musical styles to go with them.

There is no way to cover the music of Latin America in this little session, but here are a few tips to keep you at least informed. Very, very generally speaking there are 4 or 5 types of Latin American music that we come in contact with pretty regularly.

Music from the Caribbean Islands: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo to name a few. This is what we "Gringos" sometimes wrongly call "Salsa". Salsa is what you put on your food. The right general name is "Mambo" or "Rhumba". This music is very rhythmic, with many different parts all built off of a simple rhythmic pattern called Clave'.
Clave' goes like this (called "2-3" clave'):
or like this (called "3-2" clave'):
Bass often plays a part like this ("Tumbao" bass):

Usually the piano or guitar plays a part called a Montuno:


Generally speaking this music accents beat 4 and is very 'on top' of the beat. Check out Irakere, Tito Puente, Machito and Paquito D'Rivera to name a few.

Music from Brazil: First off, they do not speak Spanish in Brazil. The national language is Portuguese, though there are many native languages and dialects. Brazilians speak a different language from the Spanish spoken in most South American countries and their music is very different as well. North Americans are most familiar with two styles of Brazilian music: Bossa Nova and Samba. Bossa Nova is felt in 4, with a very laid back feel. A typical Bossa guitar part:

Check out Joao Gilberto, Elis Regina, Nana Caymi.
Samba is not necessarily faster but often is. Originally, Samba is a drum music with accents on beat two. A typical Samba bass-line:
NOT(!!)
Tango is a very sophisticated musical style from Argentina featuring piano, guitar, violins, and the Bandoneon, an Argentine button accordion. Check out Astor Piazzolla if you think accordion is corny. It'll kick your....

Never play montuno in a samba, a samba bass-line in a rhumba, a bossa guitar part in a samba...Oh, and by the way, all of this music is completely different from Spanish music and not at all like one type of Spanish music, Flamenco (not flamingo, that's a big pink bird). I hope this gives you a little nudge to check out these different musics for yourself. You won't be disappointed.