Dr. Jose Obando, former executive director of the Salsa Museum in Spanish Harlem, presents The 350-Year Evolution of Salsa at the Englewood Public Library, on Tuesday, September 20th, at 7 p.m. in the library’s Mackay Room.
The program is scheduled to be simulcast on Zoom. The program is free and open to the public. Registration is requested at bccls.libcal.com/event/9149607
Jose Obando will lead an immersive experience on the development and evolution of Salsa. Taking us back 350 years, Obando will discuss the formation of Spanish-Caribbean cultural and musical identity and how the mixing of European and African elements lead to the creation of Salsa.
The Spanish-Caribbean’s folklores are heavily influenced by various “African cocktails” that include Yoruba, Bantu, Carabali, Fon and other West African cultures and religions brought to America during the slave trade.
These cocktails combine with European cultural and religious influence to create much of the Carribean’spopular music forms.
The lecture will feature live music of popular and folkloric Afro-Latin genres, including Plena, Bomba, Guaracha, Salsa, and more genres essential to understanding Salsa’s development.
This lecture will be extensive and in-depth but also fun and enjoyable.
José Obando is one of the incorporators of the Salsa Museum in Spanish Harlem and its former executive director. Salsa is an American musical genre amalgamated by “Nuyoricans,” especially Puerto Ricans living in Spanish Harlem.
He resigned as executive director to establish Lubona Corporation, an education consultancy. Lubona Corporation presents several museum lectures about the development of Salsa.
His consultancy includes the Department of Musical Instruments of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Julliard School, The Cathedral of St. Patrick, The Riverdale Country School, Grace Church School, Horace Mann School, The Apollo Theater, U.S. Naval Academy, Drew University’s Theological School, etc.
For further information on the September 20th program, please contact the Programming Department at 201-568-2215 x244; e-mail at programming@englewood.bccls.org, or visit the Library’s website at www.englewoodlibrary.org. The Englewood Public Library is located at 31 Engle Street, Englewood, NJ.