Latin Music

A Global History

The term “Latin Music” typically refers to a wide gamut of musical styles that originated in Portuguese and Spanish-speaking areas of North and South America and West Africa. Though you may typically think of music from South and Central America like salsa, merengue, samba, and bossa nova, traditional Latin roots styles have sprung up in many areas of the United States, and today Latin music can be heard on every continent.

Each region has its own popular traditional musical style. For example, the fast-paced merengue originated in the Dominican Republic before traveling to the rest of the Americas, and eventually the world. Argentina’s tango was highly influenced by European immigrants, and Brazil is the land of the samba, with roots found in the Congo and Angola. When you dance a Latin American dance, you are dancing its history.