Hit that Mambo Beat on the Barrio Streets A Brief History of Spanish Harlem and the Great Music that Originated in El Barrio.

Enlarge

New York City is the melting pot of the United States. People of all ethnic backgrounds migrate here in hopes of a new life and to achieve their aspirations. In the 1940s, an influx of immigrants traveled to New York City. The trend was that those of the same ethnicity moved to the same area. It gave them a sense of community and made them feel at home in a place that was far from being their home. They were displaced in an interstitial area. As defined by Frederic M. Thrasher, a prominent sociologist in the 1920s from the University of Chicago, an interstitial area is a slum, for lack of a euphemistic synonym (Cordasco and Galatioto 1971). These areas are characterized by population shifts, deterioration, and cultural isolation (Cordasco and Galatioto 1971). Every ethnic group wants to keep their culture and one of the ways they do this is by making music. As Stevie Wonder once said, “Music is a world within itself, and a language we all understand.” Music created an outlet for those who felt lonely, or hopeful, or it was an escape from the extreme poverty most immigrants lived in. Musical culture was especially true in Harlem, an interstitial community, where large factions of Hispanic immigrants from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, etc., congregated to live. There were so many Hispanics that the area of Harlem where they resided was renamed Spanish Harlem or El Barrio. This displaced community supported itself through the development of music, more specifically, salsa and Latin Jazz. The development of such music became integral to the culture of the area and essentially became an occupational entry point for many Hispanic Harlemites. Just like music, Spanish Harlem was a world in and of itself.

Enlarge

East Harlem enabled the Latino community to remain untouched by the outside world because it was generally isolated. It was sheltered by the New York City Railroad, Mount Morris Park and the Harlem and East Rivers (Cordasco and Galatioto 1971). As a result, the Latinos were capable of preserving their culture within this space. Spanish Harlem grew to encompass all of East Harlem as the Hispanic community essentially pushed the Italians and Jews up north to the Bronx (Lapp 2010). Italian Harlem quickly decreased in size. However, there are still certain streets, from 114th street to 118th street, clustered around Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, where few Italians still inhabit (Berger 2002). El Barrio was a prime example of cultural isolation. Every street had a bodega or a botánica. And under the Park Avenue Railroad viaduct a street market was established from 111th street to 116th street, named La Marqueta. There were even more Catholic and Evangelical churches popping up around the neighborhood (Lapp 2010). Latin culture thrived with Puerto Rican and Dominican flags garnering the windows. Puerto Ricans were the dominant ethnic group and they made their presence known with the Puerto Rican self-determination and neighborhood empowerment movement in 1969.

The Hispanic culture was also brought forth through music. In the 1920s, jazz was the popular genre. It was developed by African Americans from the south and traveled up north to where it became popular in New York City, until Mario Bauzá and his orchestra took it to a whole other level with Latin Jazz. Bauzá was an immigrant from Cuba, who had come to New York to play with Antonio Mariá Romeu’s seven-piece orchestra, as a pianist (Fletcher 2009). He officially moved to New York City at the age of eighteen, with the hopes of making his own way as a musician (Fletcher 2009). He travelled with the Havana Casino Orchestra (Fletcher 2009). Unfortunately, Bauzá discovered that the prejudice he faced back home was all too real in the states, including New York City (Fletcher 2009). The Latinos faced an entirely different struggle than the African Americans in the city. Hispanics were not black enough to be accepted into the Black community, and were too dark to be accepted into the white community (Fletcher 2009). Physically, they were displaced, but also emotionally because they did not feel like they belonged anywhere, except where music was involved. Latin Jazz was all the rhythm and soul of regular jazz but with Caribbean/Cuban flair. This new genre contributed percussion and Latin rhythms to its predecessor. Frank “Machito” Grillo was Bauzá’s brother-in-law and also an avid musician (Fletcher 2009). Bauzá invited him to the states after Bauzá had gained so much success in his music (Fletcher 2009). The two went on to construct an orchestra that incorporated rhythms from their country and the music they had both grown to love, jazz (Fletcher 2009). Latin Jazz became a real hit with Machito and the Afro-Cubans orchestra, under the musical directorship of Mario Bauzá. Bauzá’s “Tanga” for Machito’s orchestra was considered by the Jazz critics to be the first real sample of Latin Jazz. The band took their pain about being an immigrant in a foreign country and wrote about it. For example, Machito’s Sopa de Pichon was a Puerto Rican joke about being a starving immigrant in New York (Radanovich 2009).

Enlarge

The influence of Machito and the Afro-Cubans spread to other aspiring artists, such as the legendary Tito Puente. An American born Puerto Rican (or Nuyorican, as such are called), Puente became a musician professionally at the tender age of 16, and even apprenticed under Machito’s orchestra (Loza 1999). Puente fostered a genuine passion for the music and Machito was one of his idols (Loza 1999). He grew up in Spanish Harlem and his mother tried her best to get him the best musical education so he could get out of El Barrio (Loza 1999). Puente experimented with all sorts of rhythms and music styles. As a result of this, Puente transformed what was once Mambo into something completely different: Salsa. Salsa music was created in El Barrio, by combining Latin Jazz with Mambo. Initially, Tito Puente was donned the King of Mambo, but perhaps he should be called the Father of Salsa. The idea that salsa was spawned from a combination of Latin jazz and mambo implies that despite the obvious isolation in East Harlem, there was still “outside” cultural influences. This is in reference to the multiple ethnic groups that lived in Harlem, like the Italians, the Jews, the Black community and the Latin Community. Each had their “own” neighborhoods, which is not saying that the areas in which they lived were completely dominated by one ethnic group. Of the four mentioned, the Black community and the Latino community had the most influence on each other. Their influence had much to do with the fact that their neighborhoods were essentially “butting up” against the one another. As a result there was a cultural synergy that produced first, Latin jazz and sequentially, Salsa. The combination of cultural isolation and “outside” cultural influences occurred in other areas of New York, including The Bronx.

The relative cultural isolation contributed to the conversion of Latin music into an ethnic niche within East Harlem. An ethnic niche refers to a development of something (usually involves a business of sorts) through contacts within one’s own ethnic community, but it expands its reach beyond this boundary. An ethnic niche may shift depending on the atmosphere it is interacting with. For example, Korean immigrants (and later Korean Americans) began their business venture with produce stores, clothing stores, restaurants, etc. with a central focus on the Korean community (Foner 2013). A large percentage of this community can be found in Queens District 11 (Oakland Gardens, Bayside, Little Neck and Douglaston) (Foner 2013). The most successful businesses run by Koreans were the produce and the wig industry (Lee 2006). In 1978 there were some 350 produce stores run by Korean immigrants who usually had little to no business experience and very little capital (Lee 2006). By 1995 Korean run produce stores made up about 85% in that industry in the Metropolitan area (Lee 2006). Even now, produce stores are the most visible signs of Korean entrepreneurship in the city (Lee 2006). On the other end of the spectrum, the wig industry was another economic entry point similar to retail produce. Korean immigrants imported Korean made wigs, and quickly became wholesalers of the trade (Lee 2006). Unfortunately, the wig industry has since died out, and although there are still a few people who frequent these business establishments, the industry is not as prominent as it once was (Lee 2006). However, the experience from running these businesses has allowed Korean immigrants to move into other industries and “set up shop.”  Eventually, the Koreans moved into the nail salon business, which was originally occupied by African American women. However, the trend is the same, Koreans are finding the same economic adaptation to their new homes through small business ownership (Lee 2006). Consequently, this could be considered their “ethnic niche” rather than the types of small businesses they run. In lieu of that, an ethnic niche can be a broader spectrum of “occupations” in order to help the immigrant adapt to their surroundings. Despite ethnic niches being singular in their demographics, the customers they serve are not. In order for these businesses to be successful, the owners cannot pick favorites with regard to the ethnicity of their customers. Otherwise, the business would fail. An example of this is the fact that despite the stereotype Black-Korean tension, Korean nail salons serve Black clients in the inner city.

In relation, Latin music is an ethnic niche for the Latino community in East Harlem. The inhabitants of El Barrio took to music as a way to adapt to their new home. The various orchestras, such as Tito Puente’s orchestra and Machito and the Afro-Cubans were signed to a label and were profiting from the music. Becoming a Latin jazz musician or a Salsa musician was characteristic of only the Hispanic community. No one else was able to replicate the beats and rhythms created by Tito Puente and Machito’s Afro-Cubans. As much as jazz became mainstream, Latin jazz and Salsa was unique to Latinos. However, the music didn’t cater to only the Hispanic community. Clubs, like the Palladium, were open to people of all ethnic backgrounds and various Latin bands and orchestras played at these clubs. Hispanic musicians knew, just as any entrepreneur knows, that in order for success to happen, they need to appeal to all cultures and not just their own. The bands played “white-washed” jazz pieces in order to gain a following with the non-Latino crowds. Similar to the trends within Korean entrepreneurship, the popularity with Latin music fluctuates. It began with the Latin jazz era, but the musician Tito Puente was famous for altering his style and technique to keep up with the trends. He augmented Latin jazz to transform it into mambo, which is considered to be one of the greatest Latin music ever created. From mambo, Puente shifted again, combining mambo and Latin jazz to create Salsa, which really encompasses all Latin music and Latin-influenced music, and was the next big trend in the music industry.

Works Cited:

Berger, Joseph. 2002. “Sit in This Chair, Go Back in Time; Barber is Unchanged as Old Neighborhood Vanishes.” The New York Times.

Cordasco, Francesco and Galatioto, Rocco G. 1971. “Ethnic Displacement in the Interstitial Community: The East Harlem (New York City) Experience.” The Journal of Negro Education 40:56-65.

Fletcher, Tony. 2009. All Hopped Up and Ready To Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927-77. New York: W.W. Norton &Company, Inc.

Lapp, Michael. 2010. “East Harlem” in Jackson, Kenneth T.(ed.). The Encyclopedia of New York City (2nd edition). New Haven: Yale University Press pp.390–391

Lee, Eunju. 2006. Gendered processes Korean Immigrant Small Business Ownership. New York: Thesis PhD-University of Albany.

Loza, Stephen Joseph. 1999. Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.

Riis, Jacob. 1914. How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.