Notable songs
The recordings that shaped the music you dance to: where each style began, the instruments to listen for, and the parts of a song you can dance to on purpose.
0 of 19 listened
Where a style was born
Recordings that started something: son going worldwide, mambo, Afro-Cuban jazz, pachanga, boogaloo and salsa romántica.
- El ManiseroDon Azpiazú and His Havana Casino Orchestra · 1930The first Cuban record to sell a million copies in the US: it started a craze for Cuban music that lasted twenty years.
- son
- MantecaDizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra · 1947A bebop trumpeter and a Cuban conga player write a tune together, and Afro-Cuban jazz is born.
- Latin jazz
- congas
- trumpet
- clave
- Qué Rico el MamboPérez Prado and His Orchestra · 1956The hit that made mambo a worldwide craze, from the bandleader who turned it into big-band music: Pérez Prado, the King of the Mambo.
- mambo
- trumpet
- El Güiro de MacorinaJohnny Pacheco y Su Charanga · 1961Flute, violins and a dance craze: the charanga sound that got New York dancing to pachanga, from the man who went on to found Fania.
- pachanga
- flute and violins
- Bang BangJoe Cuba Sextet · 1966A party in a song: the boogaloo hit that mixed Latin rhythm with R&B and crossed over to the US pop and R&B charts.
- boogaloo
- congas
- I Like It Like ThatPete Rodríguez · 1967The boogaloo everyone knows, even if they don't know it: a 1967 party anthem that Cardi B sampled fifty years later.
- boogaloo
- piano
- Tú Con ÉlFrankie Ruiz · 1985Salsa romántica's breakthrough hit: love-song lyrics, a smooth groove, and the singer they still call the father of salsa.
- salsa romántica
- coro and soneo
Instrument showcases
One instrument out front. Learn to pick it out here, and you'll hear it in every other song.
- Dame un Cachito pa' HueléArsenio Rodríguez y Su Conjunto · 1946The tres player who built the band salsa still uses: trumpets, piano, conga and bongó, all locked to the clave.
- tres
- clave
- bass
- montuno
- El BodegueroOrquesta Aragón · 1956Cha-cha-chá by the great Cuban charanga, written by its flutist: the flute and violins at their best.
- flute and violins
- cha-cha-chá
- Descarga CubanaCachao y Su Ritmo Caliente · 1957The jam session that gave salsa the descarga, led by the bassist who helped invent the mambo.
- bass
- descarga
- Watermelon ManMongo Santamaría · 1963A jazz tune, a conga player, and a Top 10 hit: the record that's sometimes called the beginning of boogaloo.
- congas
- boogaloo
- Latin jazz
- cha-cha-chá
- Ran Kan KanTito Puente · 1963A mambo by the King of the Timbales, built for his own instrument: learn what the timbales sound like here.
- timbales
- mambo
- El MaloWillie Colón · 1967A teenage trombonist from the Bronx, a young Héctor Lavoe, and the rough trombone sound of New York salsa.
- trombone
- Sonido BestialRichie Ray & Bobby Cruz · 1971A Juilliard-trained pianist turns a Chopin étude into salsa: the piano as the star of the band.
- piano
- montuno
What dancers listen for
The parts of a song you can dance to on purpose: the montuno, the coro and the soneo, the descarga, the drum break.
- Oye Cómo VaTito Puente and His Orchestra · 1962Before Santana made it a rock hit, it was Tito Puente's cha-cha-chá, built on a piano riff you'll recognize in a second.
- cha-cha-chá
- piano
- AzúcarEddie Palmieri · 1965Eight minutes of piano montuno and trombones: a New York classic, and a favorite of mambo (On2) dancers.
- piano
- montuno
- trombone
- descarga
- Quítate TúFania All-Stars · 1971Sixteen minutes, live, with every star singer of Fania taking turns: the night in 1971 that launched the salsa boom.
- coro and soneo
- descarga
- QuimbaraCelia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco · 1974Celia Cruz's signature hit: a tribute to rumba, with congas and bongó out front and a drum break made for a shine.
- congas
- bongó
- breaks
- coro and soneo
- El CantanteHéctor Lavoe · 1978Ten minutes of the singer of singers: a long montuno where Héctor Lavoe answers the coro with a new line every time.
- coro and soneo
- montuno