"Colombia y Venezuela"

In addition to the popularity of the Salsa genre in its mainstream culture, Colombia has also contributed to the umbrella of styles and genres of Afro-Caribbean music with its vallenato and cumbia styles. A country rich in many regional folklore traditions, Colombia has tremendous amount of African influence, primarily on its Atlantic Coast. The genre known as the paseo or son vallenato emerged as a mixture of black and white cultures (with little indigenous influence) in Colombia's Valle de Upar region, commonly referred to as Valledupar. Its primary characteristic is the use of the accordion and trumpet along with a very syncopated, bass accompaniment. The traditional cumbia has little to do with the contemporary, Central American commercial versions, coming instead from the genre of bailes cantados (sung dances), which are mostly comprised of drums, other percussion and vocal ensembles. As the cumbia spread throughout Latin America, it often became diluted or simplified for commercial purposes. But the adaptation of the style into the Salsa genre would often manifest itself as a small component within an arrangement, or as a stylized version performed by an ensemble which incorporated elements of the vallenato style-using trumpet and accordion within a charanga group, for example. This was the case with the popular song "El Caballo Viejo," which was recorded by Roberto Torres in the 1980's. Colombian musicians had also including Cuban styles such as the son into their repertoires, and it is evident that the influence of Cuban music would spawn a number of forms and hybrids which eventually made their way into the Salsa family. Among Colombia's leading exponents of the modern Salsa genre are Grupo Niche and Joe Arroyo.
Another important exponent of modern Salsa has been Venezuela, and although its regional styles such as the joropo didn't necessarily impact modern dance music on a large scale, the country certainly embraced this popular dance music, churning out a number of bands and stars, namely Oscar d'León. At one point during the 70's, Venezuela had surpassed the US and the Caribbean combined in Salsa record sales. In recent years, contemporary groups in Venezuela have combined elements of regional folk traditions with modern Salsa-notably the group Guaco resulting in the further cross-fertilization of Afro-Caribbean music.