A Short playlist of Cuban and Salsa music*
A dear friend of mine recently started teaching beginning Spanish classes at uni again after taking several years off. She asked me to put together a playlist of Spanish language music videos that she could put on before class while students are arriving.
Because of my musical background the playlist ended up consisting of almost entirely Salsa music and music from Cuba. There are a couple of exceptions, but this is just where my heart and ears are. I can’t help it! Anyway, I thought I would share the playlist here in case some of you readers might also enjoy this music as much as I do. Cheers! 🎉💖🎶
Lagrimas Negras — from the documentary film Cuba Feliz about Cuban street musician Miguel Del Morales, known as El Gallo (the Rooster).
Quimbara — by the Fania All Stars featuring Celia Cruz on vocals.
Mi Gente — by the Fania All Stars featuring Héctor Lavoe on vocals.
The Fania All Stars consisted of salsa musicians working for the Fania record label in New York City in the 1960’s and 1970’s. These two videos are from an historic concert they put on in Zaire in 1974. Zaire is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Aguanilé — by Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón.
Che Che Cole — by Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón.
Héctor Lavoe, known as El Cantante and played by Marc Anthony in the 2006 biopic film, and his long time collaborator Willie Colón recorded some of the most popular classic Salsa music from the 1960’s and 1970’s. They were both signed to Fania records.
Ban Ban Quere — by Ray Barretto featuring Rubén Blades on vocals. Ray Barretto, also a Fania musician, was a legendary conga player and salsa musician from New York City.
Un Tabaco para Elegua — by Orquesta Akokán, a contemporary group from Havana playing classic Cuban styles. This song is about the sacramental offering of tobacco smoke to Elegua, the Orisha who is a guardian and the Santería deity of roads or pathways.
Timbalaye — by Los Hacheros.
Bambulaye — by Los Hacheros.
Azucar — by Los Hacheros.
Can you tell I like this band? 😂 Los Hacheros is a contemporary group from Brooklyn that play classic Cuban styles. Their name refers to the axe that Changó carries. Changó is an Orisha and the Santeria deity of Thunder & Lightning, Justice, Dancing and Male Strength.
Grupo Afrocuba de Matanzas Video #1
Grupo Afrocuba de Matanzas Video #2
This music is often simply referred to as Folklórico. And In these videos, the legendary Grupo Afrocuba de Matanzas are performing in the style of Rumba Guaguancó. Neither of these videos are actually in Spanish. This is Lucumí, the liturgical language of Santería derived from Yoruba. I’m including them here because of how totally AWESOME this stuff is. Folklórico is so much a part of Cuban music and culture and I find it beautiful and inspiring.
Hasta la Raíz — by Natalia Lafourcade, a multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy award winning singer-songwriter from Mexico.
Please share links to songs you like below if you feel like it 😃. I will listen to them! It doesn’t have to be Salsa or Cuban music.
