About this Book

Salsa fans love to feel like genuine music experts?they learn to dance, they live the clave beat, they go from concert to concert listening to their favorite artists. Salsa Talks is a celebration of salsa music and it tells the story of salsa music in the words of the musicians themselves: the artists, promoters, arrangers, bandleaders and singers who have determined the course of salsa?s history talk about the music from their own unique perspective. Animated with over 300 original photos, Mary Kent has taken the whole world of salsa and has distilled it into an entertaining, riveting, lively discourse whose impact is comparable to the live music experience.Each page recounts personal stories of triumph, with portraits and performance photos, explanations of musical terms, anecdotes and highlights of moments in history. They all paint a fascinating landscape of salsa?s musical heritage. The artists bare their souls and reveal their strengths, their weaknesses, their fears, their aspirations, their disappointing moments, their musical feats. The vast variety of artists who present their stories guarantees an in-depth understanding of this popular musical genre.With a contents page that reads like a Who?s Who in salsa music, you can skip from young Celia Cruz?s first singing contests to her difficulty being accepted by the fans as the new singer with the Sonora Matancera; India?s transition from dance-hip hop music to her first encounter with cigar-smoking salsa legend Eddie Palmieri. You can flip to Joe Cuba?s memories of the Palladium days and how Cheo Feliciano?s voice opened up under his leadership. You?ll cry when Cheo relives his most difficult moments battling drug demons and rejoice when his fans embraced him again after rehab. You?ll learn how the Fania All Stars were formed and why this seminal group has played such an important role in salsa history. You?ll hear about royalties, or lack of payment of same. Where the term salsa came from. What is the clave. The real story behind the Buena Vista Social Club. Music and religion. The seedy side of the business. What it takes to be a musician. New York?s contribution to salsa music. Marc Anthony?s stage fright. The panorama stretches from New York to Cuba, to Puerto Rico, to Colombia and Venezuela. When and where they were born, their musical influences, their successes, their failures. As actor Andy Garcia said in his endorsement, this book is ?A treasure trove.?