Movie: The Black Roots of Salsa

A documentary film by Christian Liebich, The Black Roots of Salsa, despite what the title may suggest, is a documentary mostly about Afrocuban rumba.  The film features interviews with various rumberos and salseros. including names like Juan Formell, Cesar ‘Pupy’ Pedroso and Mayito Rivera.

The film  aims to tell the story of Cuban rumba and other forms of Afrocuban folkloric music and dance. It touches a bit on the influence that these music and dance forms had on subsequent developments such as son, salsa, timba and casino. It also delves a bit into the santeria religion and the Abakuá secret society.

In addition to interviews, there’s also footage of rumba dancing, drumming and casino dancing footage.

To be honest, this movie wasn’t quite as narrative as I had hoped, leaving one to piece together a bit of narrative via various personal accounts. That said, this is worth a watch.

Featured Move

Echeverria

• June 20-24 10th International Afro-Cuban Guaguancó Festival - Lloret de Mar Spain
• June 24-July 1- Croatian Summer Salsa Festival - 5 days of workshops, parties, concerts, cruises and more - big names in music and dance such as Alexander Abreu, Jimmy Bosch, Maykel Fonts, etc
• July 5-8 - Mamboland festival in Montreal, Quebec
• Sep 13-16 - Calle de Timberos in Wroclaw, Poland – impressive looking event with a concert by Barbaro Fines y su Mayimbe and lots of great teachers and workshops

• The Asocosalsa group from Venezuela is organizing concerts June 28-30 featuring Van Van, Pedrito Calvo, Manolito Simonent, Isaac Delgado , Maykel Blanco, Klimax, Mayito Rivera, Haila, Alexander Abreu, and more
• The First International Timba Festival August 2-4 in Havana featuring a stellar lineup including Azucar Negra, El Nino y la Verdad, Bamboleo, Pachito Alonso y sus Kini Kini, Klimax, Havana de Primera, Adalberto Alvarez, Issac Delgado, Pupy y Los que son son, NG La Banda, Manolito Simonent, Maykel Blanco, Van Van and more
• The second Varadero Josone Jazz & Son Festival is coming to Varadero from August 22-25 featuring big names like Van Van, Adalberto Alvarez, Pupy y Los Que Son Son, Paul FG, Manolito Simonent, Havana de Primera, Alain Perez, Halia, Buena Fe, El Chacal, and more

• Wed June 5 - Son Latino at Obladee
• Thu June 6 - 1313 Hollis DJ Al – 1313 has a mixed dance night Thursdays from 9-11pm featuring a blend of bachata, kizomba, cha cha, salsa, Afro-Cuban jazz, the occasional timba track and other assorted music selections from various DJs - $3
• Thu June 13 - 1313 Hollis - "All DJ Party" - 1313 has a mixed dance night Thursdays from 9-11pm featuring a blend of bachata, kizomba, cha cha, salsa, Afro-Cuban jazz, the occasional timba track and other assorted music selections from various DJs - $3
• Sat June 15 - Baila! 2 – Son Latino is doing another edition of the phenomenal Baila! party that they did last year, this time at the Seahorse Tavern in Halifax. $10 at the door, 9:30pm-1am with DJ Junior
• Sat July 13 - Pedrito Martinez at Halifax Jazz Fest – not to be missed – this Cuba-via-New York conguero, singer and bandleader should be spectacular
• Tue Aug 13 - Alain Pérez is playing La Tulipe in Montreal - they also have dates at festivals in Chicoutimi and Gaspé – direct from Havana Cuba, this is an artist worth traveling for!