Musicans and Dancers Need To Reciprocate

It's been discussed ad noseum how dancers need to support the musicians in the face of a changing and increasingly dynamic salsa music scene. Complaints are constant with musicians remembering the good old days when gigs were plentiful and records were bought en masse. To me this is the beginning of a personal Gordian Knot. I don't like much of the music that is put out there today and very little of it do I think is focused on the dancers, but instead it has taken a decidedly commercial turn and one that lacks sabor. Some how I'm guilty of not supporting salsa because I don't give my dollars to the poor musicians who have given the scene "so much." Notice the sarcasm...

Yes, salsa has changed and yes dancers may not be the main audience any more, but it is not the dancing public's fault, particularly at the trained level. A rift has formed in the last decade (more like two decades) and the salsa music industry has managed it quite poorly. Simply put they have no reason or justification to expect trained dancers to pay for drinks, support the clubs or buy the music of musicians who don't play the music they like at venues that underwhelm.

The rift between the general latin music listening public and those who choose to take classes to improve their dancing are two different market segments, and in my eyes, I've been greatly ignored by the music industry. They went to salsa romanitica, forced many of the greatest musicians to take a back seat in the face of more iconic and younger musicians in an effort to drum-up sales. They were largely successful in the 90s and still to this day, commercial salsa radio stations play much of the crap that has evolved from the late 80s and 90s. The more I write this the more I'm almost offended at the idea that somehow I'm guilty of not supporting salsa when salsa isn't worth supporting.

The last modern album I bought, was Grupo Latin Vibe's "All That Vibe."



It's a great album and I highly recommend it. Now I bought this album strictly because of how great the songs are and how as a dancer, I'm able to play with the notes and instruments. Simply put, I can do something with it musically and express it in my dancing. It's a unique album with a unique sound and all too rare in the current musical scene.

To get to the point, if musicians didn't make so much crap I'd buy their albums and go to their concerts. If the music had more accents, more breaks and was pleasant to dance to, then I'd be all over it, but that's rarely found in a "soda pop" salsa world.

That's fine. As a dancer I have a solution. I see New York City as a barometer, foreshadowing of what salsa will become in the US, and to me it's easy to see why popular DJs here, are those who have a very wide range of musical knowledge dating back more than half a century. Dancers not only have become bored with the typical songs played at typical latin clubs, but it's also not challenging from a musicality perspective if you already know the song. The solution is that salsa dancing goes to socials as it has tended to in New York and latin clubs go after the audience that is more likely to listen to the commercial stuff. It's either tha or heal the rift.

In the end, if musicians played songs that were dance oriented, then dancers would buy their albums and go to their shows. That said, I really do need to go and see Grupo Latin Vibe in person.