Favourite/recommended salsa music/video selection

1. Salsa music (CDs)

Some good compilations (CDs) for dancing are:

Salsa Fresca Various artists (15 tracks)
Salsa Fever Various artists (22 tracks)
The Best Grupo Niche (14 tracks)

Here is a list of Salsa songs which are particularly suited for dancing:

Africando Yay Boy

Beny Moré y Perez Prado Orchestra Babarabatiri

Celia Cruz Bembelequa

Celia Cruz y Johnny Pacheco Quiembara

Eddie Palmieri Muneca

Eddie Palmieri Palo Pa Rumba

Eddie Palmieri Vamonos Pal Monte

El Gran Combo El Menu

Fania All Stars Aqui El Que Baila Gana

Grupo Niche Etnia

Hector Lavoe El Cantante

Isidro Infante Asi Se Goza

Isidro Infante Santo Militar y Montuno

Ismael Rivera y Cortijo Maquina Landera

Joe Arroyo La Rebelión

Johnny Pacheco Aqua De Clavelito

Johnny Pacheco El Escencia Del Guaguancó

Johnny Polanco y Conjunto Amistad La Receta

Jose Alberto "El Canario" Tributo Al Bravo

Jose Alberto "El Canario" La Paella

La Sonora Poncena Prende El Fogon

Larry Harlow Arsenio

Los Adolescentes Persona Ideal

Los Van Van Azucar

Machito Como Quiera

Mario Bauzá Tanga

Melcochita Tributo Al Jeffe

Oscar D’Leon Lloraras

Oscar D’Leon Que Bueno Baila Usted

Ray Baretto Bandolera

Rey Ruiz No Me Acostumbro

Tito Puente Dejame Sonar

Tito Puente Hong Kong Mambo

Tito Puente Ran Kan Kan

Tito Puente Timbalero

Tony Vega Esa Mujer

Vicentico Valdez with Tito Puente Cao Cao Mani Picao

Willie Chirino Medias Negras

Willie Colón Idilio

Willie Villegas Descarga

My favourites for listening are:

La India

Marc Antony (e.g. The Concert from Madison Square Garden, also on DVD)

Ibrahim Ferrer & Ruben Gonzales (Buena Vista Social Club and Compay Segundo, Omara Portuondo)

A good resource for salsa music are online shops like Amazon - which I can honestly recommend (you can also listen to some tracks there). However, you may be lucky and find a good CD in the World music section of your local store.

Type salsa to search for salsa CDs in the popular music sections or copy and paste the group names or titles from the list above to find good CDs.

I recommend to sort the results after "rating" and to read a few reviews. Both branches of Amazon do international shipping for a small charge.

Amazon USA ships worldwide!

Search:
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There are numerous salsa CDs available on the market. However, I have seen very few CDs that contain more than one or two tracks that are both danceable and great to listen to - particular for a beginner/intermediate dancer. My personal criteria for "danceablity" are the following three:

tempo (speed): Most tracks that are played in Salsa clubs have between 180 and 220 beats/minute. In SalsaPassion classes we play music with 145-180 beats/minute in the beginners/improvers classes and 165-220 beats/minute in intermediate/advanced classes.

clear beat: Many beginners and even more advanced dancers have problems to hear the beats - in particular to identify the first beat - in the 8 beat pattern of salsa music. This is because the salsa rhythm is usually created by a complex blend of different rhythm instruments such as the congas (hand drums), the cowbell and the claves (wooden sticks).

The congas usually dominate and can occur on any beat (or even in between beats) while the cowbell occurs on beats 1,3,5,7 which is what the majority of people all over the world dance to. Only by dancing "Mambo on two" it is possible to dance to the clave sounds which occur on 1,2.5,4,6,7 - if they occur at all. Hence, in order to hear clear beats it is desirable to get tracks with lots of cowbell (or something equivalent) in it - like many listed above.

sound: Obviously it is more fun and easier to dance to music that sounds great. This is usually up beat music with good clear voices and a colourful rhythm & melody. However, great sound is something very subjective - so there is no guarantee in that department...

Our advice for dancers is: Listen to the tracks while you are doing the basic step before yo buy a unknown CD. That way you avoid buying tons of music that sounds good but often quite hard to dance to (look out for the cowbell). If you find more than 3 tracks that pass this test - get the CD and let me know about it...

Faster music tends to sound better but for practising new moves you might prefer slower tracks - which are even harder to find.

2. Salsa videos

Most videos listed here can be ordered at Amazon - use the search box above. You may also want to check if you can download one onto your computer by clicking here.

Dance with me (Starring: Vanessa L. Williams, Chayanne)
You get to see some great Cuban salsa dancing including la rueda - the Cuban "wheel" where partners are swopt in a circle. The storyline resembles the one of "Dirty dancing" or "Flashdance". It is a very enjoyable film for everybody who loves salsa music/dance. Although there could have been more dance scenes, it is the best entertainment video featuring salsa dancing I have seen so far. Soundtrack available on CD.

Buena Vista Social Club - Video (Starring: Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzales, Compay Segundo)
If you love Cuba and authentic Cuban salsa and son music you will love this film. It is an excellent documentary about a group of forgotten Cuban musicians (aged between 40 and 90) who were assembled by Ry Cooder to what became known as (the now world famous) Buena Vista Social Club, named after a 50’s musician’s haunt in Havana. The success of the CD was followed by the creation of this amazing film directed by Wim Wenders. Great music and images of Cuba but virtually no dancing. Also available on DVD.

Compay Segundo - Live At L'Olympia - Video (Starring: Compay Segundo, Omara Portundo)
Filmed at the Olympia in Paris in 1998, this concert features the 92-year-old master of Cuba's hottest export - the rhythm of 'son' music. Compay Segundo is the amazing guitarist of the Buena Vista Social Club. Not quite as impressive as with the original Buena Vista Social Club crew but still a pleasure to watch and listen to. To keep the guitar dominating there is not much conga playing - which I found pretty surprising but it works. There is even some lovely son/salsa dancing - very Cuban..

Born Romantic - Video (Starring: Paddy Considine, Kenneth Cranham, Craig Ferguson, Ian Hart)
The hypnotic beat of salsa provides the backdrop to this urban drama about a group of lonely Londoners trying to find love and each other. I didn't get a chance to see this film yet but I know some of the Salsa dancers featured in the film (who are among the best in the UK) - so you should get to see some impressive London/New York style salsa. The film was released in March 2001.

Salsa Videos - DVDs for learning can also be ordered from Sydney, Australia by clicking on the picture below.

Salsa Videos - Free videos can be found at http://www.youtube.com. Here is an example of what improvised Salsa can look like.