Another annual tradition has arrived for New Orleans: the Jazz Fest. As people enjoy themselves listening to a variety of music and watching different cultures mix together, Hispanics also join together for another Latin night at the Jazz Festival. This event is one of few times when Hispanics can unite to enjoy their own music, as well as share it with others. Sunday, May 4 will be the night in which Latin artists will perform.
A combination of music from South America, Central America and the Caribbean will be presented as performers dance to Dominican meringue, beats of Puerto Rican salsa and to Cuban rumbas. These performances allow the audience to enjoy a different culture than the everyday American traditions. While Jazz Fest presents different aspects of New Orleans culture, including jazz, zydeco and blues, it also shows a different side that is altogether similar but different. Latin music differs from what modern music is today, but it combines original music with African beats of the past.
Today, Hispanics may be viewed as not fitting in either with black or white cultures. Some believe there is only a black and white picture, not understanding where this culture and race actually is made. Some believe that to be Hispanic is to be from Mexico. When coming to college, I thought this ignorance would be something I would not have to confront, but this was a wrong assumption. Actually, I was asked more questions than before. Meeting people from different places, I realized most do not know anything about being Hispanic or even what it means to be Puerto Rican.
Well, a festival such as the Jazz Fest helps share this culture with those who are interested in knowing about some of it. Some performers this year will be Carlos Vives, Los Hombres Calientes and Los Lobos. Vives is an artist from Colombia whose music is a combination of Andean music and Afro-Colombian cumbia. He will appear with his band, called Los Provincia and Almas, at Latin Night, which Jazz Fest calls La Noche Latina.
Los Hombres Calientes is a Latin jazz band that combines Brazilian and Afro-Cuban rhythms. The band travels with its music that takes aspects of African rhythms to Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti and western Cuba. Los Lobos is the band with the hit “La Bamba.” This original band brings rock, Tex-Mex, country, R&B, blues, Spanish and Mexican music together. In addition, many more Latin artists and musicians will be a part of La Noche Latina.
It is obvious most of this music comes from African beats because Latin heritage is influenced greatly by Africa. When slaves were taken from Africa, not only were they brought to the United States, but also they were brought to places such as Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and many other Spanish-speaking countries. Puerto Ricans are who they are because of the influences of the Africans, the Spanish (from Spain) and the native Indians of Puerto Rico, who were called Tainos. Names such as mulatos emerged, meaning a person who is mixed with European and African backgrounds.
The island of Puerto Rico was called Borinquen when the Tainos populated it in the 1500s. Columbus discovered the island in 1493 and named it San Juan. The capital city became known as San Juan, and island’s name changed to Puerto Rico. In the early 1800s, Africans were brought to the larger plantations, but slavery soon was abolished in 1873. It is obvious these influences of different backgrounds created the culture and the heritage, which includes food, music, dance and other traditional events or customs.
Puerto Ricans and many other Spanish-speaking countries or islands contribute to the Hispanic culture. A mixture of the language, food, dance and music combines to make it a more interesting heritage. The Jazz Festival successfully presents this aspect in Latin music and shows how it can be combined with others to create a setting of its past.