Chicago International Salsa Congress 2013
The Fashion Issue

Well, no, not really, these are actually some very well-dressed (to various degrees) Salsa demonstration and competition dancers from the Chicago International Salsa Congress in February 2013 along with a potpourri of bands, dignitaries etc.   However, this is probably as close as we'll come to doing an actual fashion issue, so enjoy.   

While you're here, we would like to introduce you to both some early and current "Cuban Salsa" and "Timba".  If you are completely unfamiliar with these styles, think of this as Lesson 1, and it won't be all that alien (remember that many of the most important roots of Salsa come from Cuban music in the first place). In a way, it is rather amusing that one of the standard complaints about Timba music from some of its critics is that it is "too fast".   The tempo actually varies if you listen to enough of it, and the problem might be that when people are exposed to it for the first time in the United States, they are sometimes introduced by people who are so in love with the uptempo pieces that they neglect to share some of the slower pieces that are also part of the music.  For example, the very first band formally referred to as a Timba band was NG La Banda  (the NG was shorthand for Nueva Generación).  As you'll see, some of their early tracks were actually pretty laid back even by Salsa standards at the time. In order to help prevent piracy, we have restricted these to excerpts and added a couple of spoilers, but left enough to hopefully whet your appetite for more.
Exhibit A is an excerpt from one of their early songs, La Expresiva: 

Exhibit B is an excerpt from Lo que siento es le lo ley, another early NG song:

At the same time that Timba music was developing, the Soneros updated their style a little bit. You are actually probably already familiar with the work of Adalberto Alvarez because so many bands in the United States do covers of his songs.  (Back in the 70s, everybody was covering Arsenio Rodriguez; now an increasing number of bands are into Adalberto's work). US Salsa bands frequently, but not always, slow the tempo a bit.  For example, here is an excerpt from Agua que cae del cielo, an Adalberto original which a few US bands cover now:

Finally, here is a recent recording from Wil Campa y su Orquesta.  Wil was formerly the lead singer for Maraca, who is known by some US audiences due to tours in several cities during the past few years.   He has been touring North America here and there, and this is a style that some (but not all) Cuban musicians are calling Cuban Salsa nowadays (although the lines between that and Timba are blurry). This is an excerpt from his song Traigo, from his recent CD Todo es posible, and we think most Salseros will find this readily accessible:

Hopefully, we have helped persuade the Salseros among you that Timba does not always go at Warp Factor 12 (sometimes, yes, but not always).  Give it a fair hearing, and we think you'll want to add some of it to your musical diet.  We'll have more samples in our next (and final) installment about the Chicago International Salsa Congress, in the meantime, click on the thumbnails below to enlarge the photos: