The Birth of Salsa in New York City

Where did salsa style come from? Ethnomusicologist Robin Moore answers that question by addressing both musical lineages and political changes. In the 1950s, mambo, cha-cha-cha, and the conjunto sound of Arsenio Rodríguez put Cuban music and musicians at the center of New York City nightlife, sparking a flow of influences between the two countries that continued far beyond the 1962 U.S. embargo on Cuba. In this talk inspired by our exhibition Turn the Beat Around, Moore details how Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican musicians in New York created salsa out of these rhythms while taking the music in new directions stylistically, lyrically, and politically.

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