Amanda Ryan: Global music: Electrotango

Leading edge of global music: Shattering the 'World Music' Label. David Sommerstein, Kellas 105, Thursday 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Global Music and Electro Tango by Amanda Ryan

In the Academic Festival, DJ David Sommerstein is going to be giving a presentation on “The Leading Edge of Global Music.” He is going to illustrate all kinds of different music around the world but most importantly a genre called nu cumbia and introduce global hip-hop. Sommerstein has lived in Argentina and was influenced by this kind of music. Not only does he say that it is influencing our culture but other resources are saying this also. Sommerstein was a Spanish teacher in Buffalo but now participates in our local public radio station known as the North Country Public Radio where he plays cumbia music that was played in Argentina (David Sommerstein).

Global music is becoming more popular as people from different countries move to other parts of the world. Even though some people aren’t as open as Sommerstein when sharing the music that he loves, it still spreads through media, and different elements of music are borrowed in our generation of music to come up with new sounds which is creating a fusion. He also has a music show called the Beat Authority and a Facebook page to share the music that he plays. (Beat Authority at: http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/programs/local/beatauthority.html)

Sommerstein will also give a view on these trends. The reason why cumbia is exciting is because it is a genre that is made to make you dance, like pop for instance. With the use of hand drums rather than an actual drum set, it is definitely different and enjoyable, making you want to listen more. (Borrero). Unfortunately, we do not use as much hand drums and brass in our own music because we are involved with technology so much that the computers are making the beats for us rather than creating it with our own hands with the actual instrument.

Cumbia is a type of music that was played in Argentina that had its own rhythms that made it very unique. There’s an interesting emphasis on percussion as well as different instruments that blend together to make cumbia a music genre of its own kind. The blending of the instruments is nothing like the music that we listen to here in the United States and gives a whole new outlook of what other genres there are in the world. This music is also popular in dancing halls which are known as bailes or bailantes (Leaver). David Sommerstein will be showing us cumbia by playing various songs and pieces in his presentation. When listening to it you will find that you will get a better sense of culture of Argentina and how they represent themselves differently through music. One song from the cumbia genre is “Caminando” (meaning walking in Spanish) by Caramelito. You will hear the beautiful sound of energetic trumpets as well as a guitar that blend together in a way that makes it exciting to listen to while getting the sense of culture that is represented. Another artist that uses the same kind of style but only with more percussion and brass is Jimmy Bosch (Leaver). As we can see, they like to use more brass instruments to illustrate the meaning that they are trying to get across to make their music more exciting and intriguing to listen to.

Listening to cumbia that will be illustrated by David Sommerstein is definitely something to look forward to because it will give us a sense of global fusion that is occurring in the world. Not only does cumbia give us a good sense of that fusion, but there is another cool fusion called electro tango, or “tango fusion.” Electronics are a big factor and fuse together with the music genre we all know as tango. Acoustic tango is with guitars and lighter sounds opposed to electro tango that uses that lightness as the melody and the electronic sound as the bass. Three examples of electro tango artists are Tanghetto, Carlos Libedinsky, and Bajofondo (“Tango”). Tanghetto is a band that is in Buenos Aires who adored the ability to fuse electronica and tango. They also developed this sound in 2004 when it was just a side project called “hybrid tango” ("Tanghetto - Electrotango"). Their side project received a Latin Grammy and ever since has been one of the popular fusions. Another band, Bajofondo, is one of the great examples of electro tango.

Bajofondo (listen here at: http://www.youtube.com/artist/bajofondo) is another band that was created with artists from Argentina and Uruguay that had the familiar project of fusion between tango and electronica ("Bajofondo Biography - The Official Bajofondo Site."). They released their remix in 2005 and also were aware that this new piece of music was going to start clichés like others, and stated that this what they wanted to stay away from. Since this electro tango genre received a Grammy of its own, it is definitely an amazing fusion that I haven’t considered.

David Sommerstein is the one who, with North Country Public Radio, introduced the genres of electro tango and nu cumbia to Potsdam listeners. Both styles of music are a fusion of other genres that are blended together to create a sound that is brand new and unique that others would want to listen to it as an alternative to current genres around the world. Since it is unique, it may inspire you to listen to more of this kind of music and become familiar with the culture that is being shown in Argentina and around the world such as Uruguay. David Sommerstein is an expert himself since he lived in Argentina for a year recently and familiarized himself with the music that makes you want to get up and dance. It is becoming popular now as technology is expanding and making music genres blend together and be influenced by one another. Before we know it, there will be more music fusions that will occur in our nation as well because it is happening right now around the world and soon the music that we listen will become influenced by their unique style.



Works Cited

“Bajofondo Biography” The Official Bajofondo Site. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

David Sommerstein. “The Beat Authority.” North Country Public Radio. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2013

Borrero, S. 2008. “La cumbia: music from the Caribbean coast of columbia.” Percussive Notes, 46, 20-22, 24-27

Leaver, R. “Noches calientes: oasis latino.” The Beat, 23, 42-43, 59

“Tango.” Wikipedia. N.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013

“Tanghetto - Electrotango.” Tanghetto. N.d. Web. 18 Mar 2013