Buscando Guaguancó

Muchos discuten de rumbaY ni siquiera sabenQue cosa es columbiaO guaguancó(Many argue about rumbaAnd yet they don't even knowWhat columbia isNor guaguancó)—“Oiga mi guaguancó,” Arsenio Rodríguez1In this article, I explore the uses of the term guaguancó as a lexical signifier of Afro-Latin identity in popular dance music styles with roots in the Hispanic Caribbean. I chart how the term “guaguancó” has been used to denote styles, approaches, and meanings that extend far beyond the stylistic rubric of the rumba guaguancó. To this end, I have surveyed the literature on the relationship between genre, nomenclature, and social differentiation, describing the musical and social relationship between popular genres such as son and salsa and the rumba guaguancó. I seek to link the ambiguity and elasticity within the clave structure itself to discourses of changeability in socioracial identity. Further, I analyze how socially charged historical imaginaries employ these elements, whether to describe barrio life in the New York guaguancós of Arsenio Rodríguez or Black consciousness within salsa guaguancó.I argue that the use of guaguancó as a signifier of Black Antillean identity in commercial music styles relates to larger, sometimes contradictory trends within both the US popular music industry and hemispheric Black political consciousness. Composers have long equated guaguancó with Black expression and African cultural inheritance. Record companies first used the guaguancó label to sell exotic images of Black Antillean life to a growing market of North American consumers. However, with the emergence of transnational networks of Black artistic and political consciousness in the mid-twentieth century, racially conscious songwriters and soneros began referencing the guaguancó to articulate a new Afro imaginary that links popular music to both the past (through rumba's implication of roots) and the future (in dialogue with international strands of Afrofuturism). The hundreds of musical examples surveyed in preparation for this study, sixty of which are included in the notes section, span more than a century (1918–2023) of Afro-Latin-influenced popular music in the Americas. I discuss these cases, albeit often briefly, to illustrate how the term has retained relevance and value as a signifier in commercial music far beyond the Cuban barrios where the rumba guaguancó was first danced.What is the guaguancó? According to a few of the compositions that bear its name, it is many things—a “dawning”2 and a “blessing.”3 Its dominion comprises leaders and professionals alike: a king,4 a queen,5 an emperor,6 a doctor,7 and even a prophet.8 Fortunately, the law9 keeps all things in order. Singers who were “born of the rumba” have “inherited flavor from the guaguancó”10—for they are its children.11 The guaguancó is beautiful,12 tasty,13 weird,14 and street-wise15—it has an “essence” that must be listened to.16 While it was “born in Havana,”17 it's now in Puerto Rico,18 in New York,19 and headed for Mexico.20 Colombia and Venezuela have got it too.21Scholars and performers tend to define guaguancó in musicological or socio-geographical terms. In the Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music, Nolan Warden defines it as “the most common form of rumba and often synonymous with the word rumba itself.” The rumba “appeared in Matanzas and Havana, Cuba, during the final decades of the 19th century” and was “played on cajones (box drums), though it is now usually played on tumbadoras” (conga drums).22 According to Vicente Robinson Echeverría, rumba cubana is a “genre complex” including aspects of music, dance, and singing and is “considered a traditional popular genre with African roots and Hispanic influences.”23 Rumba guaguancó has a specific song form (a nonlexical convocation—the diana—used to set the key; verses sung in décima, copla, or tonada form; and a coro-montuno section with improvised soneos), a standard instrumentation (a clave and palito that play core interlocking rhythms, three cajones or conga drums of varying size with distinct rhythmic roles, and a lead sonero with supporting coro), certain aesthetic expectations regarding singing style, approaches to rhythmic improvisation on the smallest drum (the quinta or libre), and social rules that establish who sings when.Rumba might be best considered as both traditional and popular music; while its performance style is historically vernacular and oral, the rumba and its contingent styles (including guaguancó) have been in constant dialogue with commercial genres since the early twentieth century. As terms and practices, rumba and guaguancó are also historically linked to discourses of Blackness and belonging in the Caribbean. The rumba and its socioracial connotations have been a constant thread in the Cuban identity dialogue since at least the “critical decade” of the 1920s and early 1930s, when it featured in writings by Fernando Ortiz and Alejo Carpentier, among others.24 Both Carpentier and Ortiz wrote extensively on themes of music, race, and nationalism, and their work was some of the first to recognize and affirm Black currents within Cuban popular culture, with the latter discussing how “Black curros [sic]” and “group drumming” were interwoven into the fabric of early twentieth-century Afro-Cuban society.25The “guaguancós” described in the section ́s are examples of rumba guaguancó. they to a musical in son a style of popular dance music that in In to rumba's between and son such as the the and the the of the twentieth century, the rhythmic of son to be for of new popular styles, including and salsa many of the that rumba and its contingent be considered rumba cubana in The first with guaguancó in the is a by and by in The genre and its to style of rumba guaguancó or is a popular dance music with roots in Cuban are a clave distinct from the son and rumba in and are to be many cases, of of traditional music styles of the vernacular the most of writings on Black Cuban musical expression all of rumba whether commercial or that a by and be considered the first of rumba to its song even though the a and the of the first commercial of rumba” in the by which in New York were to the of a style of dance music that from Afro-Cuban which musical relevance to its the to the rumba” In a with a and at the rumba that in on I some of the compositions I for this to which are at they they have how to play guaguancó. of that music is for it is an of the son and argue that they are when they about rumba guaguancó they are to the the and the which are in they play and I on to about Arsenio the Afro-Cuban in the son into with international popular styles and their mi even this with an that of argue about and yet they don't even columbia or guaguancó the was a son also sometimes as even though it's that they are or As to dialogue about the of the “the guaguancó African Rodríguez to of guaguancó while in musical with the son style for which was most According to guaguancó to its rumba in its musical in its themes and the identity to bear in its guaguancós the for and at In New Arsenio the Cuban the genre, the of and the in such as and between and to as guaguancó de son or New York to as the between rumba and New salsa salsa guaguancós from at least of the three that as to an referencing a a played on or the and life in the salsa guaguancó compositions their relationship to rumba even by including the traditional rumba guaguancó as an into the the of a to the label of guaguancó in its traditional many salsa the use of the term in or its roots in a with to and the of the salsa In a thread by a few they to salsa salsa by few is Rumba with some specific Arsenio a specific and the the or the the which in Rumba The song has a in the and the the sings is also a I it's to a Arsenio in the core for the salsa guaguancó. The a between rumba guaguancó and the described also uses the term to the structure and in the musical a musical between guaguancó as rumba and as to the thread to argue the of salsa guaguancó. notes that than a rumba and at in the song the term to be used to describe salsa the New York guaguancó by which the rumba guaguancó are some salsa guaguancós that or the they are as As of the New salsa a a music of salsa on the for the and all to this and the is with and son when I to I is and of music genres to set of which in are linked to social As a genre on a that it from approaches to musical the itself with the and of the social with the music genres often as a to social and cultural and the of new genres often social than musical the emergence of in the was as a to and musical was in the early and of the in the in the to be synonymous with the and of of in in the The of these genres are social than musical with and connotations of and consciousness beyond the musical they As I discuss in this article, the genre label of salsa as a commercial and social to cultural of musical and dance, in the and of son to an new aesthetic of political in the of a and approaches to music The a on the of a cultural The a and the of genre in a social In cases, the social that certain music genres might genres with the of a identity and to of the including or or between the rumba guaguancó and the that popular and guaguancó in from a between who guaguancó from a (a and is the guaguancó with artistic for the it a certain set of identity of guaguancó are of are of is the also in the and of of who certain that are in to musical and and the in which they are and how music styles are between of for or international performance that such an of genre for an of even musical a on to traditional it to a of guaguancó in form and the and how guaguancó a term in popular styles of Latin dance music, from to salsa guaguancó and of popular music that rumba guaguancó might bear to the vernacular genre they rumba's the dance of the Latin Caribbean. According to the of the guaguancó was the most as its more son and have and retained its structure and most of its The an and of which are have long been with and the popular music styles on and performance In Rodríguez the of or “genre to and the and musical According to Cuban vernacular music be into and comprises many distinct genres that and social and musical this of rumba guaguancó to the rumba while the of Arsenio Rodríguez and the salsa guaguancós to within the son However, the of for styles of popular New York salsa and Cuban which extensively from rumba how rumba is in the commercial of it is to a salsa or that at some in the into an of on to that in commercial salsa is to have the play the of its use The it in a genre to the imaginary of a Black also guaguancó in its as both a style of rumba and as a that has with popular styles, such as notes how guaguancó has been as a rhythmic and socioracial in salsa a to Black The guaguancó has often been as a distinct from or even considered to salsa (a more with and that it a style of guaguancó is of many salsa as the as a of musical by of However, salsa as a dance in its rhythms, the that with their as a of and to the and the that to the of dance a of style that links the of rumba to styles of the twentieth century and As by as a is best as both specific of music and dance styles and with their and on this how rumba has been and to some in Cuban popular musical such as and to the of these to rumba in of a Cuban that to rumba in commercial song of the early twentieth century by or while they as an term among by referencing of traditional expression from the commercial musical the who to Black music in 1920s and as and as cultural in Afro-Cuban while vernacular from the Black performers within the popular music and within the of a Blackness in the and to of and also among racially conscious performers of dance styles including and even Both on a common of the African with though they from from the while the from is to its as the style has cultural as an Black a common of in that Cuban identity is on the of as is a to the of its with it within on in the Hispanic rhythmic with African in and for the in which “the of and has historically been used for and a core in of cultural while the the of have been for within such a of to has been to in the and how has been in the as as of and and as and the of guaguancó as a of by Black performers that is a political between a to a and such to explore these of and to the of and its Rodríguez was of the with and the and early a in the in New York The the of this musical and cultural and was for its dance of Puerto and also African and In on their US a of for Latin American and music in I with in of es and even and The of the a on the of a long To three with and in a and a distinct to the a in a is in a to the a in is on while in the a in a and at the the of the three are the and of the song musical genres from to to with guaguancó in their and is by in which music the the for a of and In and the of and as to international life is the on and is in the at and of the the of the rumba is by in of a In a a in a that the In a a a it Rodríguez is of musical is of the dance of Latin has long to a dance is and of these and of Latin uses to a of and The is that of the who is as by the of and as by the who dance and the to the though a in a the The word is this describing the of to Cuban Rodríguez for long and for and of though is far as Rodríguez is a The a Puerto who played music in a that might that is from and to exotic and new life with new In the span of three were by a of the salsa of the three are distinct from in the social consciousness and aesthetic that they which to the that a in the improvised that are sung between are a common of both rumba cubana and with salsa most the While of the word “guaguancó” in rhythmic the singing yet that on socioracial guaguancó is for the and for the in while in singing it for In from from a on by and most of the featured on the is of a new with of salsa and the Latin of the a of Black consciousness in salsa to be “the and a in are in political the that the to and a the performance in social a from the guaguancó of the from which salsa to of a of the of guaguancó and rumba to socioracial of a and conscious Black uses the term salsa to define this that that and an on of the historical and of the in New York and final and most charged of these by in that to to the and to a guaguancó dance with a guaguancó and to the song of Black and de and the from a of international and the of the the of the into a for and Black is with been by the Puerto label its to how discourses of the salsa industry by such as and While have the of in in music such as dance music, and the of such within the salsa of the has been as a label of dance music or a salsa from a a of and in and cultural currents that are with the of salsa this of referencing in and from the and from salsa imaginaries in In the guaguancó is used as a term to sell an exotic imaginary to a as more than a which a most to a US who was life and In the the is as a new of the of the while in many on the that a of the Black ambiguity is in the elasticity of the of the musical with African that has been to popular music styles by of In as as in Cuban popular and vernacular styles, the clave an of structure and distinct from the common within musical The is a rhythmic and is by performers as a three on and on the be played with on of these to varying musical In and its of musical styles from of clave the son clave (the rhythmic core for most dance and the rumba clave (the of rumba The son and rumba are with the an of the in the standard in its examples and of has to regarding the the clave to be In in salsa in New York I have many Cuban and that the rumba the first as the be to as even though it is that the son is this from the that the in the rumba clave more as a into the uses a to illustrate the that many Cuban performers the an rhythmic the In Puerto and (including tend to the of the rumba clave as for who have with ambiguity of the rumba clave a of to performers within of rhythmic its use in Afro-Cuban that the rumba clave is on of its as far as ambiguity rhythmic more popular music in the century, as as in styles such as rumba and in many as argue that the ambiguity of the rumba clave a to a more of guaguancó be to how the use of the label is the term used and and it is in terms of the with which it is used and in terms of its this to the on a describing the genre label as to as a while the son to an racially Cuban the rumba a of Black cultural as a of son and regarding in and its performance styles also the use of guaguancó with an of and rhythmic with the traditional the the emergence of to guaguancó in in from the early by such as Arsenio and these compositions to of an exotic and In the of the twentieth century, that as of Antillean popular music began to the identity of their verses with a of as might guaguancó. be to the of of the to within Black expression and political from beyond the Caribbean. trends the artistic and cultural with the Black and in the also in in both and in and the of the in and a of cultural that African and to the In as Cuban music a to and notes that a of African and Cuban music was to be both and of a musical to the dance as it a and social that to the African hundreds of of African on Cuban music, the musical styles styles of African dance music, of which to be as as a of music in the and dance music in the a of in the and In this the and of to be as salsa with by the of Rodríguez also with the most cultural the as Latin or from the musical by both of these musical while certain of social from the of the the of in and a from of and the of the salsa to the by the of North American and the clave as is to that salsa with their who played and To the many of and most including Cuba, and of at the of the was also the when conga to salsa decades of work with including and The and a more a both in consciousness among Antillean and in US popular at that a of as and to and link their musical to of the Black Caribbean. Afro-Cuban Black and Afro-Latin of musical While Latin and salsa and into with Afro-Cuban it was this with Black American that to the for roots to be in a of in the though they or social themes or the term “guaguancó” in their were also by an within the salsa music its roots as a artistic expression by and salsa music has historically a of popular has been to its and social a popular music, the and sometimes among has in the of of the the label for the genre label was to the connotations between and In the by of the at with historical and from and in the the from a of salsa performance to a of African they are the traditional of the Latin or a more Latin that of the drum is the of the the drum is and were in that linked socioracial identity to the and a of and and with and salsa to salsa the by in the and and that often themes of barrio and and identity. In salsa to a that by US music and and and themes that the with and as a to the of the salsa in the early it has been by many salsa such as salsa salsa salsa de or salsa for its of social consciousness and musical the of common within salsa the use of the term to by a linked to Black barrio identity. In of the of a salsa guaguancó that is now is the in this and to with its of the featured on this of the most songwriters in the socially conscious salsa of the to in de from is sung with the guaguancó is from the on also to on this with of the term as used in in to the traditional Afro-Cuban which has been by is that in the in the term began to be used as to describe that were and in the salsa a salsa song is as it to be and to with rumba they the of the lead and salsa dialogue with to the of Black in the of As in a got in the and of I have African and I with this of Black and identity within social it is the of a to the Afro-Cuban be by in the in which Afro-Cuban to establish a link between a style and a both in and in musical how in the and dance to salsa music to or even explore new and in the of of an African in salsa to a also to an future in which of Black identity or even that is most in music a of its have the of both historical of and of the of the the within an cultural the that the in African American popular music of the of the twentieth century in trends among the musical of the Caribbean. Afro-Latin traditional within and compositions by these are in a of or form of that to the of in the while also for that The guaguancó is as of many to the of it is is the guaguancó is also the within the writings of and this of a Black imaginary by performers who as Black is of a of identity According to such are linked to the of and as such a of and a of social or a of The of these far beyond the Latin Caribbean. the musical of Black from which Latin of its and and with of Blackness by the As by new of and the to the and of consciousness from the of the and the of in the guaguancó has many Its has been to and of twentieth-century music that both and from The of within the of salsa early style for its and in the it to the for its for of this and of the described by be in the verses of es guaguancó,” which the guaguancó as than a of and or “the that and as from the to the that the guaguancó the of a to a by es on The also a is the a song the of a at the of While es is its a to the of the Both the of and the of the political and to a to song as a is and an of and are the for to their historical the that “the of in a of as by “the the rhythms, and that salsa the of and identity with The of with the of a Black the for such with the of salsa compositions link performers to a long of soneros and for these of popular music of the African in is and de in the with the of drums the of a to As the de a guaguancó or guaguancó,” to an The sung a of a might played on the Cuban in a de the with an to historically by and of the Black and as a to a the most a all or this is the word is most used to a social the word in to describe where and are the within discourses of Black musical rumba cubana a of and salsa culture, itself an of of culture, is linked to in the and in the where salsa has new constant and dialogue with hemispheric styles, such as and such as the genre both and certain musical with rumba by a use of rhythmic such as the and and such cultural the guaguancó into an with and is the guaguancó? it is for and is also for the in the is for the and for the be or genres son and the as it has its of to or to and are by the at the of the the guaguancó for an and of the and historical that have the emergence of salsa the of and meanings that a genre to as a genre as a the roots of salsa in Afro-Cuban and Black identity. how the of guaguancó has from its roots in rumba into a and within popular dance the of this a within salsa music to and African even as these far from their traditional term guaguancó has been used in of popular dance music to to the Black Hispanic whether as a form of from the or as an expression of and In of consciousness to of popular expression in Latin that to salsa the of Blackness in as it in cultural in Latin In the of the ambiguity of the guaguancó the clave and for and commercial to and its for and even

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