Bachata,
a form of music and dance that originated
in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods
of Dominican Republic. Its subjects
are often romantic; especially prevalent
are tales of heartbreak and sadness.
In fact, the original term used to name
the genre was "amargue" ("bitterness,"
or "bitter music"), until
the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral)
term bachata became popular. It has
been compared to the blues.
As
popular radio filled the air waves with
merengue and salsa, bachata musicians
and their sponsors were forced to develop
a a grass-roots system of producing
and distributing their music. As with
most styles of Latin American music,
bachata is predominantly performed by
male singers. Some of the important
early bachateros are José Manuel
Calderón, Eladio Romero Santos,
Edilio Paredes, Luis Segura, Ramon Cordero,
and Rafael Encarnación.
The
bachata played today uses electric guitar
and has phrasing which is more rhythmic
and groove-like than in earlier styles.
The evolution to electric has perhaps
helped make bachata more accessible.
Some
associate Juan Luis Guerra's Grammy
winning 1992 release, Bachata Rosa,
with bachata's rise in legitimacy and
international recognition. Others argue
that Guerra had very little to do with
bachata's rise, and that, although he
used the word 'Bachata' in an album
title, he never actually even recorded
a song in a typical bachata style.
At
present 2006, the Dominican group Aventura
is probably the best known bachata group
worldwide, having dominated for a long
time radio play both in Latin America,
US Latino markets, and countries as
distant as Italy and Sweden. While they
are superseded at the international
level by Aventura, for the Dominican
audience, the most popular of the modern
bachateros have been Antony Santos &
Luis Vargas . Other artists of note
include Raulin Rodriguez, Zacarias Ferreira,
Frank Reyes, Monchy y Alexandra, Domenic
Marte, Xtreme, Andy Andy, Elvis Martinez,
Leonardo Paniagua, Los Toros Band,Joe
Veras and Aventura.
|
JANUARY 2010
|
1.
Los Infieles - Aventura
2.
Sin
Perdon– Héctor 'El Torito' Acosta
3.
Mi Corazoncito– Aventura
4.
Te Extrano - Xtreme
5.
Perdidos - Mochy y Alexandra
6. Vete
y Alejate de mi - Anthony Santos
7.
Dos
Locos - Monchy y Alexandra
8.
Mil Cartas– Héctor
'El Torito' Acosta
9.
Bachata Rosa – Juan
Luis Guerra
10.
Héctor
'El Torito' Acosta
|
o
taken from a very good source, which is a
radio station that has people vote on their
favourite songs.
BACHATA
NEWS
Héctor
'El Torito' Acosta brings merengue and bachata
together
 Merengue
and bachata may be battling it out for the
affections of Dominicans and other tropical
music fans, but Héctor (El Torito)
Acosta believes there’s enough love
to go around.
“Both
rhythms are ours, and they go side by side,”
says Acosta in Spanish over the phone from
Santo Domingo. “We can’t put them
in a race. Both are going to win first place.”
Acosta and
new-school bachatero Yoskar Sarante will be
at the Nokia Theater in Times Square tomorrow.
For the Valentine’s Day concert, they
will focus on the love-centric tunes bachata
is known for, but Acosta says he will also
sing some merengue.
Acosta’s
evenhanded commitment to both musical styles
is evident in his latest record, “Mitad
Mitad,” in which the 10 songs are evenly
split between traditional merengue and bachata.
The record
is the second solo effort for Acosta, 40,
better known by the nickname El Torito for
the 15 years he spent as lead singer of the
merengue group Los Toros Band.
Five songs
from his 2006 debut solo release, “Sigo
Siendo Yo,” hit the top of Dominican
music charts at the same time.
“The
past two years have been incredible,”
he says. “It was time for me to try
things out on my own.”
While Aventura-style
R&B-tinged bachata and hard-driving so-called
merengue de calle (street merengue) are the
newest popular variants of the two musical
forms, Acosta says he prefers the more traditional
forms of each.
“I stick
to the sort of songs I’ve always done,
with good lyrics, good arrangements,”
he says. “I like singing about love,
about women, but with a danceable beat.”
Still, he
does not engage in the popular sport of bashing
merengue de calle, which, like reggaetón,
is criticized as being repetitive and unimaginative
and having crude lyrics.
“These
young guys are trying out some new things.
We have to support them, let them find their
way,” he says.
Aventura - Big winners @ Premios Lo Nuestro
 MIAMI
- Aventura, the New York band of Dominican
origin took four awards on Thursday, becoming
the big winner in the 20th Lo Nuestro Prizes,
one of the major and oldest Latin music distinctions.
Aventura took home
four prizes that included Best Tropical Band,
Best Album and Best Song of the Year.
Puerto Rican merengue
star Olga Tañón followed with
three awards: Tropical Merengue Artist of
the year, Female Tropical Artist of the year
and a lifetime achievement award for her 20-year
career.
Mexican groups Maná
and Camila received two awards each, as did
Dominican merengue superstar Juan Luis Guerra
and Puerto Rican reggaetoneros Winsin y Yandel.
Ricky Martin, who was
nominated in three categories, won Best Pop
Album of the year for "Ricky Martin MTV
Unplugged.'' He also received a distinction
for “Maximum Excellence.”
Chayanne won Best Male
Pop Artist of the year. Jennifer Lopez won
for Best Solo Pop Singer, and her husband,
Marc Anthony, received the Salsa Artist of
the year award.
“I don’t
want to cry,” said Tañón
when he received from Guerra an award honoring
her career. “Twenty years ago I was
part of a band and I was here with my back
turned… and now, here I am."
"Premio Lo Nuestro''
annually hands out awards in 32 categories
in five areas of Latin music: pop, tropical,
Mexican regional, rock and urban. It also
awards the Best Video of the year, this year
Daddy Yankee's "Impact."
Winners are chosen
by the public in a vote on Univision Communications
Inc.'s Web site.
The ceremony was broadcast
live from Miami's American Airlines Arena
and hosted by singer and actor Pedro Fernández
and Paty Navidad, a banda singer.
The three-hour show
featured performances by Juanes, Adentura,
Pepe Aguilar, AB Quintanilla III Presents
Kumbia II Allstarz, Elvis Crespo, Gloria Estefan,
Vicente Fernandez, Maná, Ta In Don,
and Martin, among others.
The 2007 awards show
was seen by more than 11 million viewers,
according to the organizers.
Proudly
supporting Australia's Latin Music...
|
|
.