"Origen del Merengue" |
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The small island comprising the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic has produced some large sounds over the centuries. In the Afro-Caribbean dance music vein, the style known as merengue has played a major role. Like the Cuban contradanza and danzón, the merengue emerged in the Dominican Republic as a descendent of the European contredanse during the mid-1980s, and went on to absorb more African and Creole elements. However, as a dance, merengue is considerably simpler than its Cuban cousins, consisting of a basic two-step. Its history is filled with many social and political trials and tribulations-better left for further research- but its development as a popular genre is crucial to Afro-Caribbean music's evolution. As with many folkloric genres, merengue varied regionally, but did develop a standard style around the 1920's known as merengue típico from the Cibao region. The instrumentation consisted of güira, tambora, marimba -and the German-derived button accordion. It is the accordion which has set the standard of merengue-playing for the piano -just as the Cuban tres did for the son.
The average traditional merengue featured quite rapid and virtuostic playing witn staccato figures, mostly consisting of eighth and sixteenth notes. This is still the case with more contemporary styles, as this way of playing the accordion trasnslated to the saxophone (incorporated later), and to the woodwind section of larger ensembles as well as the piano. Author and historian Peter Manuel describes the typical structure of most early style merengues, in his book Caribbean Currents (Temple University Press, 1995) Most merengues would start out with a short, march-like paseo, leading to a "song" -like section, itself called "merengue," with a topical text; like the Cuban rumba and son, the piece would then segue to an extended call-and-response section called jaleo.By the 1930s, merengue was recognized as a national symbol and musical form, and through its modernization, eventually impacted the Latin music scene with wide-spread popularity. From the big band "salon" merengue to the more folkloric perico ripiao, it is clear that a synthesis of these diverse styles lead to a standardized form which merged with appropriate influences of merengue's main competitor: Salsa. Leading figures in the merengue evolution iclude Johnny Ventura, whose highly stylized group featured flashy costumes and choreography, a steady, discostyle bass drum (playing a "four-on-the-flour" type pattern), and a massive marketing campaign which -as Manuel indicates- "managed to refashion the merengue as a music that combined the best of the local and the international, the traditional and the modern. The merengue boom of the 80s finally brought the style to the height of popularity in its homeland, "dominating the TV music programs and the playlists of the country's more than two hundred radio stations," and was spearheaded by artists includind Wilfrido Vargas. A subgenre of merengue also developed in this modern period called the pambiche, wich -like most variations- affected the percussion section more than the other ensemble instruments.Although many still qualify merengue as a separate genre from Salsa, its is important to reiterate that Salsa is not a rhythm, and that many Salsa groups often incorporate merengue into their repertoire. Therefore, it could be argued that Salsa could be viewed as a large umbrella term under which merengu is also included. Regardless, merengue has become a leading force int he Latin entertainment and recordin industry, and experienced a tremendous boom in the 1980s and 90s, crossing over into extremely commercial, almost pop status.
