On March 11, 2017, I went to a restaurant located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey called “ Duo Restaurant and Lounge” where Fefita La Grande was going to perform at 9:00 PM. Fefita La Grande is a very famous Dominican Tipico player and singer. She is best known for the incredible job she does when she is playing her accordion and singing at the same time. Merengue tipico is the oldest style of Dominican merengue, and it is still commonly played. This version of merengue originated in the northern part of the Dominican Republic which is called “El Cibao”. As a Dominican, I feel very proud of our merengue and our merengueros. I was born and raised in El Cibao listening and dancing merengue tipico and other music genre from the Dominican Republic such as …show more content…
bachata, and other merengue styles. Definitely, I enjoyed Fefiita’s performance, specially the way she and her band played the instruments. Also, it is important to mention the connection Fefita has with her audience, and the way she makes everyone want to stand up and dance her music. In my opinion the instruments used to play merengue tipico are unique. Merengue tipico is played on three main instruments; guira, accordion and tambora. The guira is a metal scraper that gives a rasping sound when scraped with a stick. Then we have the accordion which is the instrument Fefita La Grande plays while she is singing. I found it very interesting how she manages to sing, dance and play the accordion at the same time. This was one of the things that most amazed me about this concert. Equally important, merengue tipico also has the tambora, which is a double-headed drum played with a stick. All instruments are important in the Dominican music, but Dominicans consider the tambora as the most important instrument. Another additional instrument I noticed in Fefita’s performance was the saxophone, and I realized that it plays a big role in merengue tipico because it creates a nicer rhythm. There was a total of five people playing with Fefita La Grande including her.
Each one of them had their own instruments and everyone did a great job. There was a man playing the guira and another playing the tambora. Also, one person was playing the saxophone, which I found very interesting because it seemed to be an instrument hard to play because they had to put so much effort to play it. Moreover, there was another person playing a second drum that was not the tambora. Lastly, the other person playing an instrument was Fefita, whose instrument was the accordion. I have to admit and mention one more time that she was excellent playing her instrument and singing at the same time.
Fefita La Grande is one of the oldest Tipico players in the Dominican Republic, and everyone in the island know who Fefita is. She is considered the most respected female accordionist in the Dominican Republic and her charisma delights everyone in her audience. When I was in the concert, there was not one person who was sitting down, because everyone was dancing or singing along with Fefita La Grande. To be honest, it was an unique experience to be in that concert sharing with family and friends, and dancing to the music we like the
most. I consider this concert one of the best ones I have attended. I enjoyed the music, instruments, and all the songs played, but another specific reason why I loved the concert was because I was able to dance my favorite music from the Dominican Republic. It is irresistible to listen to some tipico and not wanting to dance. I enjoyed the entire night dancing and singing merengue. Also, this concert transported me emotionally to my roots. It reminded me when I lived in the Dominican Republic and I used to listen to this type of music almost everyday.
On October 23, 2016 I went to a concert type of event that different music groups were performing. This event is what Hispanics call a “Jaripeo Baile,” which is a place that people can see other people bull riding like in the rodeo, but this event was only about music groups performing. One of the music groups that performed was a band called “Josecito Leon y Su Internacional Banda Roja.” While I watched the band’s performance it reminded me of how it relates to the themes that were from our readings and discussions that we had throughout the semester.
Canciones de arargue, or songs of bitterness – was the original name for the creolized form Bachata. Many closely associate Bachata with the other Caribbean styles of the African diaspora such as merengue and son. In Intro to Music Cultures of the World we were tasked with attending a world music concert. I chose to attend a Bachata concert because I already had an interest in Caribbean music. The concert was not as I had expected, but was rather intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. In this report I hope to analyze Bachata’s roots, report on its concert style, and compare it to another piece in the genre.
Thursdays at Cal State L.A. seemed like any other typical day- warm, busy, and tiring. However, on December 2, 2015, something was particularly different; not only was it the last day of class before finals, but there was also a Mariachi concert directed by Cynthia Reifler Flores. As I was walking towards the State Playhouse, I thought about how the music would be composed. The first thing that I expected was the music to have a quick, upbeat tempo, something that would be played at a festival or a party. I walked through the screen door and was given a pamphlet. In it contained detailed information about their programs, musicians, Flores’ biography, and the prodigious mariachi group. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the doors
Den Tandt, Catherine and Richard A. Young. “Tradition and transformation in Latin American music.” The Cambridge Companion to Modern Latin American Culture. Ed. John King. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Music comes in many shapes and forms, and has been a magical element of inspiration and encouragement throughout time. The art of music derives from many different things, such as culture and traditions. One such type of music is mariachi music, deriving from Mexican culture and traditions. Mariachi music is often an upbeat rhythm, consisting of a band of up to six to eight violins, two trumpets and a guitar. Unlike modern music and other music bands alike, mariachi bands lack in numbers when it comes to band size. Though they are small, their music brings great significance and life to the places they perform and the people that they touch with their joyous music. In this paper, I will be comparing the culture and style of mariachi music to twentieth century modern music.
Tex-Mex is a fusion of Northern Mexico and Southern Texas culture that initiated some time after the Spanish-American war when Texas was originally a part of Mexico. Tex-Mex can be used to talk about food as well as music, a culture in its own community. Tejano music dates far back into the mid-part of the 19th century, starting with a “more pop-oriented urban form relying on keyboards and synthesizer in place of the accordion.” (Broughton, 2000) It is said that this genre of music initiated when German, Polish, and Czech immigrants introduced the accordion, and from then on, evolved into three subgenres of Tejano music. Something that stands out about Tejano music is its instrumentation and orchestration as seen in conjunto, Banda, and grupo, the three subgenres that emerged throughout the spread of time with the influences of many artists
The traditions my parents instilled in me at a young age are important to me. They are part of my Latin culture and identity. One of the most important traditions that I value the most is our devotion to “La Virgen de Guadalupe” (The Virgin of Guadalupe), and although I don't go to church or share a specific a religion, I believe in La Virgen as a protector and a guardian figure and maintain her presence in my daily life.
The majority of the pieces featured a rather slow steady beat, provided by the drum and the piano, while the other instruments (mainly the brass section) were used to play the main motif along with some minor ornamentations. The third song they played, one of my favorites, was simply a steady 4/4 tempo kept by the drum, with some minor variations. The saxophone and trumpets took turns drifting in and out to carry the melody. The saxophone player delivered an entertained solo which consisted of very light and amusing trills, this created a very soothing and relaxing
Moving on to listen to bands such as La Mafia, Intenso, and Intocable; singing "Vida" by La Mafia was one of my favorite past times. Even though I could not speak Spanish well, I could always sing it well. I knew that they were regional bands and probably the only kind you could find in the Rio Grande Valley to play for a wedding, quincenera, or party.
I counted nineteen total performers with occasionally two others and a vocalist. Each performer was dressed in black pants and a black shirt except one who showed up late. He was wearing blue jeans and a sports coat and he definitely stood out from all the others. The performers related very well with the audience. Each acknowledged the audience after applauses and there was a narrator between pieces. There was a lot of humor among the performers and they seemed ...
The world music phenomenon has been shaped and has evolved overtime. Its distribution has affected much of today’s music. Nueva Canción is one genre that has a deep historical story, of which gives us understanding of how the people and events of history influenced the way music is today by globalisation, migration and commodification and their political and social struggles of which they endured and found hope through their music. Many people worked together to get through this upheaval, and even when some were persecuted for what they stood for, they persevered. The music that came from this revolution is a testimony for their memorable work, making this genre of world music significant and worthy of recognition and respect.
Tilman Fertitta is an American television personality and the billionaire businessman. He is the chairman, CEO, and sole owner of Landry’s, Inc which is one of the largest restaurant corporations in the U.S. He is also the owner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Houston Rockets. His birth name is Tilman Joseph Fertitta. Fertitta is of American nationality and belongs to white ethnicity.
Some talents included violinists, pianists, gymnasts, artists, dancers, artists, and much more. We can all agree that the performances were awesome, and that we have a bunch of talented people in our camp.
Based on this, it has become hard to conceptualize Mayan music nowadays without the influences of post Encounter. The Mayan music of present day uses marimba as the most popular instrument. This instrument is believed to have originated from Central Africa in the 16th century and arrived in Guatemala in the 17th century (Oxford Music Online, 2012). One of the most outstanding examples of hybrid in pre and post Encounter is the notion that in some Mayan tribes the marimba is used both as an instrument of music and communicating device (Pellicer, 2005). The marimba gives a revelation of indirect contact existing between Africa and Europe. The quality of hybrid in Mayan music is exhibited in the selections of songs from Olsen and Sheehy (2008). The influence of Mayan musical tradition has been seen in ‘Los Novios. ' The instrumentation involved mirrors the effect of African contact from an indirect perspective while the subject matter of the work mirrors the influence of Roman Catholic. Looking at ‘Los Trece’ there is an integration of the subject matter into sones that Latino musicians have developed from various traditions of pre and post-Encounter. In ‘Amilahani’ however, the traditional Mayan impacts the performance and music in general. Dances are more vivid without any trace of influence from post
The Latin American music scene is an amazingly diverse, engaging and entertaining music culture. Thomas (2011) explains, “…Latin American music has engaged in ongoing dialogue and cultural exchange that has profoundly affected music making in Europe and the United States and, more recently, in Africa and Asia as well”. This paper will be describing different aspects of the music culture from its musical features, to the historical aspect of this interesting music culture. Also, I will discuss a personal experience with Latin American music. After researching the music culture, I attended a concert performed by Boogat, an Emmy award nominated Latin American musician from Quebec who has toured all over North America.