The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States (Paperback)

by John Storm Roberts (Author) "The music of Latin America is fully as varied as one would expect of an area containing almost thirty countries and encompassing both tropical and..." (more)
Key Phrases: habanera bass, salsa romántica, marimba groups, New York, New Orleans, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
When it comes to 20th-century American pop music, "virtually all of the major popular forms--Tin Pan Alley, stage, and film music, jazz, rhythm and blues, country music, and rock--have been affected throughout their development by the idioms of Brazil, Cuba, or Mexico." So writes eminent musicologist John Storm Roberts of the often-overlooked role that Latin American rhythms, musical forms, and musicians have played in shaping American culture. The Latin Tinge shows how musical trends from Spain and Africa evolved into the Cuban son, bomba y plena in Puerto Rico, Argentinean tango, and the samba in Brazil. Roberts highlights pioneering Latin American performers who popularized Afro-Hispanic music in the United States: Cuba's Pérez Prado and Mario Bauzá, for example, swung New York dancers to the beat of the rumba, mambo, and Latin jazz in the '30s and '40s. Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim combined his native country's samba percussion with jazz structures and European harmonies and launched the bossa nova craze of the mid '60s; Mexican American superstars Carlos Santana and the late songstress Selena blended Afro-Cuban, rock, blues, Tejano, and Tex-Mex folk styles into an upbeat American hybrid. Roberts also details the Puerto Rican contribution to the making of salsa, the pivotal role of Puerto Rican Americans in creating rap, and the fast-growing popularity of merengue from the Dominican Republic. Even an American standard like the theme to I Love Lucy, Roberts reminds us, was shaped by the Latin influence. --Eugene Holley

Review

Praise for the previous edition:
"Roberts cares passionately about Latin music and he is able to describe what he hears in it clearly enough to enable the non-Latin listener to hear it too."--Robert Palmer, New York Times Book Review
"Roberts treats his subject with singular affection and respect only a true fan and student can give."--Nuestro Magazine
"Demonstratess a non-purist, open ear that is rare and welcome...a solid, up-to-date and balanced examination."--Kirkus Reviews
"A provocative study, secure in its data...Roberts virtually has this subject cornered."--Black Perspectives in Music


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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (January 1, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195121015
• ISBN-13: 978-0195121018
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #793,638 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read!, October 23, 1999

By	Joe Hernandez, Int'l Latin Music Hall of Fame (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

John Storm Roberts book "The Latin Tinge", is a superb book on the history of Latin music. The book is well written and clearly takes the reader through a remarkable journey, showing the evolution and the development of Latin music and its impact on the American music scene. Highly recommended!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best ever (in English) book on American Latin music, December 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States (Paperback)

The Latin Tinge stands as one of the best books ever (in English) on the American Latin scene. Roberts traces the music through its earliest moments in America, and does a great job describing all the divergent trends and fads within the field of Latin music, and manages to tie them together in a brilliant way that opens up a lot of stuff that we'd never been able to filter through before. If you've ever been looking for a goodbook on Latin music, this is it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference, March 19, 2008

By	Karin Norgard "www.joy-in-motion.com" (Anchorage, Alaska, USA) - See all my reviews

"The Latin Tinge" is a great reference book for the development of Latin music in the United States. It is packed full of information on Latin music and its influence on music in America in general, and it also provides some history on the development of these music genres in their countries of origin. This book's only drawback is that it does not make for light or recreational reading and therefore may not be the best book for an overview of Latin music in the U.S., especially for those that have not studied much Latin music history. This book is more geared for those that are already somewhat familiar with the different forms of Latin music and dance and are looking to go more in depth. It is also, as I mentioned above, a great reference book for someone doing research on Latin music. It is recommended for those purposes. Beginners might want to look elsewhere.