What Have We Done So Far
The Washington Post
The Smithsonian Explores Latin Jazz: The Perfect Combination
There is a 1910 poster for a masquerade ball given by The Orleans Athletic Club at the Economy Hall in New Orleans, admission 25 cents, featuring the “popular favorite” Imperial Band, led by Manuel Perez. A few steps away hangs a dignified photo of Pedro Stacholy’s Cuban Jazzband, taken in Havana, circa 1920.
What Globalization? All Music is Local
Globalization has long subverted notions of what is local in popular culture.
More to the point, communications and the increasing reach of the entertainment industry have challenged the idea of roots music while shining a light on intriguing connections. What once was thought as a local invention often has turned out to have its origins a world away -- and have collected echoes from other cultures along the way. Authentic popular culture is, after all, an oxymoron.
Ken Burns' One-Note 'Jazz' Goes Flat Without A Latin Beat
Popular music offers a window into the society that creates it. But in "Jazz," the 10-part, 19-hour documentary that winds up its PBS run next week, filmmaker Ken Burns peered at life in the United States through a narrow window.
He has construed jazz -- and the society that created it -- almost completely in terms of black and white. In the United States of "Jazz," the Latin music and musicians who were so important to the development of this art form -- and Latinos and their culture in general -- barely merit a footnote.
