| Salsa music is a confluence of various rhythms, dance forms and jazz elements from areas including Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Africa, and the United States. In the 1950s salsa music was performed by a fairly standard instrumentation in two types of ensembles, the charanga and the conjunto. In this document, the predominance of the trombone in the instrumentation and performance of salsa music, particularly the conjunto ensembles, from the 1950s through 1998 has been documented. In addition to an overview of the stylistic development of salsa music and its instrumentation, biographical information about some of the most recognized trombonists and band leaders in salsa music is included. A glossary of terms, discography of all-trombone salsa bands, and a discography of salsa trombonists are found in the appendices.;Information for the study was gathered from a variety of sources including books, periodicals, published interviews, recordings, and electronic materials. Unpublished interviews and correspondence with salsa musicians and historians were utilized. Archives and collections including the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin also were examined.;The conjunto ensembles, which traditionally included three trumpets, eventually began to include a single trombone. Subsequently, a trend developed in New York in which trombones were substituted for trumpets as the primary melodic wind instruments in several of the ensembles. In the early 1960s, band leaders Mon Rivera and Eddie Palmieri, trombonist Barry Rogers, and record producer Al Santiago experimented with the traditional instrumentation of the conjunto ensemble and established the widely successful trend toward the trombone instrumentation. The trend in instrumentation continued with influential salsa musicians including Johnny Colon, Willie Colon, Ruben Blades, Dimension Latina, Conjunto Libre, Los Van Van, and Eddie Santiago. The all-trombone sound continues to be a major factor of salsa instrumentation in the 1990s. |
