Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2025: Reggaeton, Dembow, Latin Pop, Salsa,Bachata, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx

Defining the music broadly here but trying to emphasize Caribbean & the Americas rooted Reggaeton, dembow, Latin pop, Salsa, Bachata, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Merengue, Urbano (more than pop-rock but occasional mentions of that genre are ok too). Hybrid music with Latin trap and Mexican Regional traditional styles combined are ok too

2024 thread here

Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2024: Reggaeton, Dembow, Latin Pop, Salsa,Bachata, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx

I'm in.

:Lapidus is playing tomorrow nearby. Wonder if I will get over there to see.

Hope you do.

Bad Bunny has some nice acoustic instrumentation on his new song “Pitorro de Coco.”

BAD BUNNY All in Puerto Rico. All the salsa songs are made by young kids from escuela Libre de Música. All of them are like 18, 19, 21 years old — young kids with a lot of passion and energy. Because people think, oh, now every young kid today is making reggaeton. No, there’s a lot of great, great musicians — young kids — that are only waiting for the opportunity.

From NY Times interview with Bad Bunny regarding new album

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/05/arts/music/bad-bunny-album-debi-tirar-mas-fotos.html?unlocked_article_code=1.m04.9mOr.iZ9QHh2es2DQ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

BAD BUNNY When you really, really listen to the music from back in the day, it’s the same thing. I know that people say, Nah, music in the old days, it was different. And it’s true in some ways. But when you listen to the lyrics, when you listen to the stories, it’s the same. I’ve been listening to a lot of Chuito el de Bayamón, an artist from Puerto Rico from the ’40s and ’50s — música jíbara, música típica — and all the songs are about things I can relate to. Wait, he’s singing about this — I was living that two weeks ago

A Tribute Concert for Eddie Palmieri Sat Jan. 11 in Miami-

The South Beach Jazz Festival proudly presents a spectacular tribute to Eddie Palmieri, “The Sun of Latin Music.” Personally chosen to perform Palmieri’s legendary music by Eddie himself, this all-star lineup features Louis Fouché on alto saxophone, Luques Curtis on bass, Vicente “Little Johnny” Rivero on congas, Camilo Molina on drums, and special guest Zaccai Curtis on piano. Joining them are GRAMMY-winning trumpeter Brian Lynch and world-renowned trombonist Conrad Herwig, whom Palmieri has praised as “the best trombonist on the planet."

https://miamibeachbandshell.com/event/eddie-palmieri-and-his-latin-jazz-band/

That’s mostly one of his regular bands, with Zaccai on piano instead of Eddie of course

Yep. Eddie rarely has vocals with his bands over last decade or so

Electric cowbell promoter and DJ from dc Jim Thomson who’s buddies with Barbes owner is heading up to NYC this week — Getting ready for APAP and Secret Planet in NYC this week and weekend!
Thurs Jan 9: spinning records at Doris in Bed-Sty with specialty guests NYC Trust E’s E, Olivier Conan, & a few other TBA’s
Friday Jan 10: with Miramar at Barbes
Saturday Jan 11: Electric Cowbell and Barbes presents Secret Planet at Drom
Sunday Jan 12: Secret Planet matinee at Sala de Pepe 🇵🇷
Monday Jan 13: Tropical Vortex with Yeison Landero at Barbes!
Hoping to see many of you soon 💫💥🪇🏋️‍♂️

WPFW dj Jim Byers on his Latin Flavor Classic edition program did a Los Angeles mambo and other old-school LA related sounds special to pay tribute to Los Angeles

He noted on the LFCE Facebook page --

On tonight's LFCE, we'll lean on LA mambo history. From Pachuco pioneer Don Tosti, to Rene Touzet... from Manny Lopez and Poncho Sanchez, to Chico Sesma and Bobby Montez... From Johnny Blas, to Martinez-Cheda Orch, to Eddie Cano... we're go@everyonecus Mambo energy on LA tonight. The Latin Flavor Classic Edition airs Sundays from 6pm till 8pm e.s.t., live streaming on our website (wpfwfm.org) or on the free app, TuneIn radio.

The above Sunday January 12 6 to 8 Eastern time LFCE program is archived for 2 weeks on the wpfw website . Playlist there also
https://wpfwfm.org/radio/

Jazz critics poll top Latin jazz albums 2024-

Miguel Zenón, Golden City (Miel Music) 18
Zaccai Curtis, Cubop Lives! (Truth Revolution Recording Collective) 16
Dafnis Prieto, 3 Sides of the Coin (Dafnison Music) 16
Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding, Milton + Esperanza (Concord) 15
Patricia Brennan Septet, Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic) 14
Amaro Freitas, Y'Y (Psychic Hotline) 13
Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Grande-Terre (1998, Verve) 10
Conrad Herwig, The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner (Savant) 8
Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Hamilton De Holanda, Collab (Sony Music Brazil) 7
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly, MESTIZX (International Anthem) 5
Etienne Charles, Creole Orchestra (Culture Shock) 4
Sergio Pamies, Time to Say (New Trad) 4
Hermeto Pascoal, Pra Você, Ilza (Rocinante) 4
Jonathan Powell, Mambo Jazz Party (Circle 9) 4
Chucho Valdés & Royal Quartet, Cuba and Beyond (InterCat Music Group) 4
Eliane Elias, Time and Again (Candid) 3
Dave Schumacher & Cubeye, Smoke in the Sky (Cellar Music) 3
Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Swing Forever (Ovation) 3
Papo Vázquez Mighty Pirates Troubadours, Songs Del Yucayeke (Picaro) 3
Donald Vega, As I Travel (Imagery/Tiger Turn) 3

List keeps going. More on the link

https://hullworks.net/jazzpoll/24/totals-latin.php

Music in NYC: Omar Sosa, Seckou Keita, Gustavo Ovalles, Zankel Hall, Feb. 1, 6 p.m.
Music in NYC: Edmond Dédé's Morgiane (1887). The first complete performance of the first complete opera by a Black United Statesian, a fourth-generation free person of color from New Orleans who triumphed professionally in France. Jazz at Lincoln Center, Feb. 5, 7 p.m.

Music in NYC: Merengue con Amor 3: El Concierto de los Enamorados, with Ramón Orlando (my collaborator in 1997 on "Ghost Riders in the Sky"), Carlos David, Ravel, Aramis Camilo, Peter Cruz, Tony Bravo and Sin Fronteras, Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 15, 8 p.m.
Music in NYC: Kinito Méndez 35th Anniversary Concert. With Rikarena, Pochy Familia, Jandy Ventura, Magic Juan. And another Dominican concert! A co-founder of Cocoband, Kinito in the 90s was the only one to bring into Dominican pop the ubiquitously visible presence of Haiti. Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 22, 8 p.m.

Ned S's highlights

https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-latin-music-albums-2024/manuel-medrano-perfecto-4/

Gonna miss Latin pop/reggaeton act Latin Mafia tonight because I am seeing Mdou Moctar play acoustic. Although both may be cancelled if snow predictions for dc area come true

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2024/the-best-latin-music-of-2024

I don’t think I discussed this yet. Some interesting choices, don’t ya think?

And here’s the Bandcamp Dec 2024/January 2025 post with a bunch of short write ups

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-latin/the-best-latin-music-on-bandcamp-december-2024-january-2025

https://theclarice.umd.edu/events/2025/okan

Canada-based Afro-Cuban band Okan are at a Univ. of MD theatre tonight for $30 ($10 for students). I kinda like their Tiny Desk that is included here on the link . Maybe I will splurge

I went. They were a bit uneven, but kinda by design. They would have an Afro-Cuban son danceable part, then go Afro-folky, then jazzy . Sometimes it worked , sometimes not

So there's Guapongo dancing and huapongo dancing . Guapongo dancing is viral on tik tok

https://www.tiktok.com/@veronicacm502/video/7269596665860967685

old-school genres live in the Queens and the Bronx

Puerto Rican Salsa and freestyle
Brenda K. Starr (“I Still Believe,” 1987) performs live with Chilean DJ Manny Mills spinning the Spanglish Saturdays dance party; at La Boom, the Latin night club in Woodside, Queens; on Saturday, March 15, 2025. 10pm doors. Performances around midnight. From $16. 🇵🇷 🇨🇱

Dominican Bachata
Kiko Rodriguez sings Dominican bachata at Salsa Con Fuego restaurant and lounge, in Fordham Manor, The Bronx; on Friday, March 14, 2025, doors 9pm. Free before midnight, $20 after.

90s era Puerto Rican reggaeton group Trebol Clan is back with some membership changes I think and is called New Trebol Clan. They will be @ Blue Moon DC Lounge tonight and doing other dc area gigs over the next few days

The tickeri website shows Latino gigs all over the us of a

Arturo O'Farrill has a Carla Bley Tribute out. Haven't listened to more than some of the first track to see if there's any noticeable clave on it

https://www.arturoofarrill.com/album/mundoagua-celebrating-carla-bley

so many cumbia bands

Luis R Conriquez Announces Trakas HDSPM

Intersting use of Spanish slang for this guy's tour

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-latin/the-best-latin-music-on-bandcamp-march-2025

Colombian cumbia and chicha allstar out Los Piranas covered here. 1 guy from group is in Meridian Bros

https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/latin-artist-on-the-rise-lomiiel-interview-1235743876/

I heard a song from Dominican rapper Lomiiel that reminded me a bit of quirky-voiced Dominican rapper El Alfa who I like. I need to hear more

Anyone in NYC go to -

Sunday, March 30, 3 pm: Bay Area percussionist John Santos doesn't get here often, but he's going to be giving a talk at the Bronx Music Hall, 438 E. 183rd, titled "Filosofía Caribeña: The Musical Resistance of John Santos."

Ned Subl&tte did

Ne#d's also excited about movies coming to NYC

The Havana Film Festival in New York celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, April 3-10. They have a music subseries that starts April 4 at 8:15 pm with Fabien Pisani's En La Caliente: Tales of a Reggaetón Warrior. Quad Theater, NYC; Q+A with Pisani after the show. About a Cuban rapper named Candyman

April 5 at 6:45: Maestra Productions' Obsesión: Mi Canción, about the Havana hiphop duo (who appeared at Postmambo's El Rumbazo in Havana in 2017).

April 7 at 3:10 pm: Bruno Bancalari's Los Hijos de la Costa, about Afro-Mexican musicians on Mexico's Costa Chica. And more; check the schedule.

Cali, Colombia band salsa band Las Guaracheras are fans of Alain Perez whose 2021 album won in the traditional tropical category

Alain Perez, Issac Delgado & Orquesta Aragon - Siempre El Cha Cha Cha

I missed this one.

Las Guaracheras are also fans of Grammy nominee Ariacne Trujillo Duran, a Havana Cuba born pianist, arranger and vocalist from the New York area

I missed Las Guaracheras but saw Mabe Fratti the same night.

I see in an email I get that Colombia salsa greats Grupo Niche were just at Carnegie Hall in NY Thursday. Have always wanted to see them, but have missed their dc area gigs

music journalist Andy Beta talks in his substack to critic/author Ben Ratliff about his new book about music and running. While Ratliff notes his book is not about creating playlists for running , he does list off a bunch of musicians he likes hearing when running including :

Any record with Ismael Rivera singing- the Cortijo y su Combo records and any of his solo records after that, like Lo Ultimo en la Avenida.

Billboard paywalls most of their charts but the the top song/album on each of their charts

"Desde Hoy" by Natti Natasha is #1 on tropical

"DTMF" by Bad Bunny is #1 on Hot Latin ( & 16 on global which is not paywalled)

There's a new Natalia Lafourcade album. I heard part of an NPR story about it on my car radio.

Cool.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2158804/episodes/17029952

podcast re Cuban music

While Billboard charts are largely paywalled now, I-Heart Radio one is not --

Lots of Bad Bunny songs

https://www.iheart.com/playlist/latin-top-40-312064750-BQvNeykAvMmJ9uLtcKA3wC/

Brooklyn based Colombian female singing and percussion quartet La Manga did a free show at the Kennedy Center Thursday night, and then did a second free one with guest musicians after at Haydee's in DC.

I saw the Haydee's gig and it was a lot of fun. Here's the Kennedy Center one that was streamed and archived

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlfvVqL_Un8

https://www.lamangamusic.com/

La Manga website

La Manga are good and the gig I saw was fun.

Rauw Alejandro tickets are insanely expensive. I want to go see him Wednesday night at an arena in Baltimore

I didn’t go as when I last looked StubHub was still wanting $200 a ticket for seats near top of arena.

I read that Rauw Alejandro sold out 3 nights in Los Angeles. I like his Latin pop and salsa songs a lot and his reggaeton ones are good enough

So many cumbia bands now .

But the Caliente station on Sirius XM is not interested in Latin hipster stuff cumbia or trad cumbia, they are into Latin pop, salsa, reggaeton & a bit of bachata

https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/latin-artist-on-the-rise-lomiiel-interview-1235743876/

I like Lomiiel

In fact I posted that Billboard interview with Lomiiel earlier

a new, co-named New York City street at the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 86th Street, Larry Harlow Way,

https://www.jta.org/2025/05/06/ny/larry-harlow-salsa-musician-known-as-the-marvelous-jew-honored-on-the-upper-west-side

Also have heard Orchestra Harlow a few times on Caliente station, but haven't found data indicating the band put out a new album after Larry's death.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/magazine/cowbell-latin-music-salsa.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I08.CHCL.f4BUlbqExuhQ&smid=url-share

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
The Rebellious Instrument That Gave Latin Music Its Swing
When life gets loud, let the rhythm get louder.

By Carina del Valle Schorske

I like del Valle Schorske's writing, and this cowbell one is interesting. She penned a good Eddie Palmieri piece for the New Yorker fairly recently

Yes she mentions the Saturday Night Live more cowbell skit

El Gran Combo and Grupo Niche are doing a tour together soon.

Wow

RIP Putumayo founder Dan Storper
https://open.substack.com/pub/cubaonrecord/p/tribute-to-putumayo-founder-dan-storper

https://www.offbeat.com/news/putumayos-dan-storper-has-passed-away/

https://afropop.org/articles/dan-storper-1951-2025

Tbh I always thought their thing was kind of cheesy but that’s actually mentioned in some of the obits so I guess I will have to rethink

Haven’t read the obits yet, but I also considered many of their releases to be cheesy

It’s seemed like the worst cartoon of world music for gringos but apparently people who know more or are more directly connected to that music than me respected what he was doing.

been researching salsa choque. There's no Putumayo comp for it.

Valle Schorske posted an IG Story clip on the Loisaida fest from yesterday

Joe Bataan and others were there

https://loisaidafest.nyc/

Just read that Eddie Palmieri is in a scene in Spike Lee's latest film Highest 2 Lowest which is a remake/adaptation of 1963 Kurosawa film High and Low

Natalia Lafourcade album Cancionera that came out in April is beautiful at times with just her voice and an acoustic guitar, but the album is very long without enough tempo changes and such

Another cumbia band in town near me tonight -- Frente Cumbiero. They sound kinda klezmer, ska, and New Orleans at certain times

meanwhile up in the Bronx...but no specific bands listed

https://www.nprdpinc.org/152nd-street-festival

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/05/28/davicito-song-ice-detained/

Venezuelan guy who did dembow song with 2 others, has a video with a guy in a Trump costume .In the lyrics to the dembow rap song "Donaltron" the rappers tell Trump that they came here to work. One of the rappers, Davicito59 from Venezuela, was seized by the feds & accused of being gang-associated. He denies the charges but is being held. Washington Post has an article.

Here's the "Donaltron" video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z3Mu38CUb4

Longtime producer Sergio George now has an album out

https://lamezcla.com/sergio-george-launches-his-first-album-ataca-sergio/

I heard a song from it I think on Sirius XM Caliente -- also they're always playing Bad Bunny, Karol G, Lomiiel, Yandel & Feid collaboration, bachata singer Frank Reyes

Pretty sure based on ilx year end polls that there might be a small number of others here into either Latin pop or salsa ,or rap, but most can’t be bothered to post on this thread. Oh well.

https://www.hearingthings.co/buscabullas-love-actually/?ref=weekly-newsletter

Buscabulla are a Puerto Rican indie-pop duo

music critic Dave Moore has Argentina's Juana Rozas' album Tanya as his second best album of the year so far. It's uptempo post-industrial electro-pop. Not exactly my thing but need to listen to it more.

Colombian cumbia musician Yeison Landero and his band are back touring the US again. Sure his speedy dance music is designed for dancing, but he also has some effective vocal melodies and some bouncy call and response vocal exchanges with his bandmates that sound good. He's got a law degree too btw and his grandfather Andres Landero, the King of Cumbia taught him to play

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weo7EVCMvRQ

the pitchfork review got me to check out the new Juan Wauters album. it's great! he's brand new to me so I'm curious what people who have been following him think

New to me too. Uruguayan folk pop

https://remezcla.com/lists/music/20-new-songs-to-listen-to-this-week-from-marito-ramirez-to-raissa/

a new Manu Chao song on this

https://remezcla.com/lists/music/20-new-songs-to-listen-to-this-week-from-marito-ramirez-to-raissa/

a new Manu Chao song on this

oops oops

I should also listen to - Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (Zoho), but while I like O'Farrill and company live, he sometimes has less clave beat and more jazz improv on his albums in a way that interests me less

Was busy with other stuff this weekend and missed Lido Pimienta at a festival; and Chicha Libre at a little Baltimore place

Tribute to Manny Oquendo and Andy Gonzales on Saturday July 19 at 3 in the Bronx

I bet this will be good

https://www.facebook.com/share/19FUbbD3VM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4CYtiDrCFM

. Sayuri & Sopholov, Fuentas Prod: Secunena
Mexico

Dave Moore likes this Mexican reggaeton-pop track and now I do too

this is fun!!

Yes.

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-latin/the-best-latin-music-on-bandcamp-july-2025?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwMBxpdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp1x8v69NVg8Hl1dO0gydgAU1ipxXW3OA5LsYSIAAEeXZ-sEOykXey-ekW466_aem_dit8NKDBrvULrvhgZBOY2w

Just saw this posted but haven’t listened yet

Or read it either

Don't even know what to say about the passing Eddie Palmieri, too numbed out.

Yep. Palmieri’s death hits me personally as I saw him live a bunch of times with my now late Dad who was a big fan .

I saw in someone’s IG story a tribute to Palmieri as part of Bad Bunny show the other night in Puerto Rico where Bad Bunny is doing a residency

NYC tribute August 9 to another legend

Sat., August 9 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. (Doors open 6 p.m.)
Celia Cruz Celebration: Isaac Delgado / Alain Pérez / Aymee Nuviola / Brenda Navarrete / Melvis Santana
This free celebration of the Cuban "Queen of Salsa" Celia Cruz’s centennial brings together salsa star Isaac Delgado, virtuoso bassist and producer Alain Pérez, GRAMMY‑winning singer and actress Aymee Nuviola, percussionist Brenda Navarrete and vocalist Melvis Santana at Central Park.

https://remezcla.com/lists/music/20-new-songs-to-listen-to-this-week-from-danny-towers-to-greeicy/

Dora La Exploradora
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUrprdtxL9g

Just got sent a promo of an upcoming album with Conrad Herwig on trombone, Eddie Palmieri on piano and Luques Curtis on bass. No percussion.

X-post - I love El Alfa’s squeaky voice ( although I am sure it may annoy some)

No percussion on Eddie Palmieri final ( maybe ) release! He did move away from dance music long ago, but at least he still has bass.

x-post- I subsequently mentioned the Herwig album with Palmieri and Luques Curtis on the Palmieri thread. I just gave it a quick listen while doing other stuff.

August’s edition features Brazilian bruxaria, Puerto Rican pop, visionary salsa from New York, and more.

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-latin/the-best-latin-music-on-bandcamp-august-2025

love that dj k record

I need to give it a listen

Reading about DJ Gia Fu spinning mambo and salsa records at Sobs on the 13th and there is a live band too

Join us for an all-vinyl Salsa Party with DJ/Selector Gia Fu!

With a full-length DJ set from Gia, and live salsa music by Ricky Campanelli (FIRST TIME IN NYC), Carlitos Padron, & Los Rumberos Del Callejon.

ABOUT GIA FU:

Originally from Hong Kong, Gia Fu combines her Chinese heritage with Latin American influences to bring a modern spin to Salsa. Specializing in Afro-Latin music, particularly Salsa and associated rhythms, Gia is bringing salsa back as a mainstream party genre.

Leading the Canton Mambo 曼波 project and party (@cantonmambo), Gia Fu dedicates herself to bridging cultural divides, embracing diversity through research, cultural & dance events, and music. The party is dedicated to bridging cultural gaps and embracing diversity through Salsa, Afro-Latin music & Asian sounds. Canton Mambo aims to create an inclusive space where cultural blends harmoniously foster unity through music.

N* d S*ble*te says:

Listening: The wonderfully named Newness Cuba is an indispensable resource for keeping track of new Cuban music from everywhere on the globe. Maintained by Rafael G. Escalona, this 50-song playlist updates weekly, so there's always something new. There's an audio-only Spotify version, a YouTube version with videos, and probably more. It's how I found out about Mayito Rivera's soul-stirring new guaguancó, "La Historia de Panga." I just stopped typing to listen to it again. Rafa also has a Substack.

Los Angeles Azules are playing an arena show near me tonight

Los Ángeles Azules are a Mexican musical group that plays the cumbia sonidera genre, which is a cumbia subgenre using the accordion and synthesizers.

And Nidia Gongora, an Afro-Colombian singer is in DC Monday night

Nidia Gongora gig postponed.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO8QR86DbDa/?igsh=MW1kdWs0em10Z2Zndw==

Star Rauw Alejandro dancing to bomba in a small room in San Juan Puerto Rico

"La Salsa Vive " doc @ 5:15 Sunday Sept 28 @ AFI Silver Spring , MD(movie re Colombian salsa scene)

Thinking this could be good

there's a new rauw alejandro album, sounding pretty fantastic so far.

"caribeño" in particular is a titanic banger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP2yeXWgRzE

yes this is great!

Just finally listened to whole new Rauw Alejandro album- "Caribeno" is a good one. Also it ends with a salsa song, has reggaeton, and song "Santa" is afrobeats with guests rvssian and Ayra Starr.

October 16 at Guggenheim Museum in NY
Join an unforgettable Late Shift embracing the power of healing through music. Artist José Parlá will spin a vinyl DJ set, immersing the rotunda in the rhythms of rumba, mambo, and guaguancó; bomba and plena; and reggaeton and Jamaican reggae. While Parla spins, Afro-Cuban percussion group Clave y Cuba will use voice and drums to fill the space with joy and keep tradition alive. We hope you will join us for this truly one-of-a-kind evening of celebration and live music. Organized in partnership with the Center for Black Visual Culture at New York University.

I am listening to 2025 Silvana Estrada album now. Mexican indie-folkie pop that is done well.

https://presentspace.com/the-apocalypse-and-genesis-of-reggaeton/

Overview article on the birth, growth, and future of reggaeton

Fri. Nov 7 th-Charlie Aponte @ Diamond Lounge, Annandale , VA near Washington DC (salsa)

He was a singer in El Gran Combo for decades

for the first time in Grammy Award history, Latin Grammy voting members were invited to join the Recording Academy as part of its 2025 new member class. But will it make a difference in advancing the most popular Latin music artists to general categories?

News of this inclusion follows efforts by the Recording Academy to diversify its electorate. Of the 3,800 professionals and music creators accepted into the new 2025 class, 50% are 39 or younger, 58% are people of color and 35% identify as women...

“Obviously the Latin Grammys exist, in part, because they were critical of the Grammy Awards for not including and recognizing a wide array of Latin genres,” says Petra Rivera-Rideau, associate professor and chair of American studies at Wellesley College. “[But] the Latin Grammys itself has reproduced a lot of exclusions, particularly with genres like reggaeton and música Mexicana, which right now are the two genres really propelling Latin music forward.”

Earlier this fall, Rivera-Rideau criticized the Latin Grammys for excluding Bad Bunny’s longtime producers, Tainy and MAG, who did not receive a nomination for producer of the year, despite the Puerto Rican star having the most Latin Grammy nominations this Latin Grammy season for his critically-acclaimed album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.”

https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2025-11-04/latin-grammy-voting-members-join-recording-academy

There’s a retrospective exhibit of artist Wilfrido Lam @ MOMa in NYC and he lived Cuban music as noted in a Substack Cuba on Record by Judy Cantor-Navas

When Lam returned to Havana, he became close friends with the Cuban anthropologist Lydia Cabrera, whose mid-century writings remain essential texts on Afro-Cuban religion, society and sacred music.

Cabera’s mentor Fernando Ortiz brought Afro-Cuban ritual music and instruments onto mainstreams stages in Havana in the late 1930s. He described his work as “dedicated to affirming the positive existence of black musics; different from white musics, but not mere cacaphonies of noise…but extremely original and complex esthetic combinations of noises, tones, rhythms, melodies, harmonies, congs and dances, with universal or universalizable values.”

Ortiz also became a good friend and supporter of Lam.

“I worked under the influence of that wise man,” Lam told music writer Rafael Lam.

Musically, the painter was entranced by his brother’s violin as a child, and as a young man was such a classical music afficionado that he was named honorary vice president of the Havana Chamber Orchestra. He befriended Stravinsky and, no stranger to the arts of chance himself, Lam became acquainted with composer John Cage on a trip to New York in 1946.

But it was Afro-Cuban and Afro-Carribean ritual music and dance that would most profoundly reverberate in his work.

“Picasso told me that I should feel proud of my African blood, from the cradle of civilization. He knew the importance of that race, the power of [its] art.” According to Rafael Lam, the painter woud recall a night when he attended a performance of Cuban rumba with Picasso in Paris’ Montparnasse. Entranced by the drummers, Picasso exclaimed, “Now that’s music!”

“Since my time in Paris I was fixed on the idea of infusing African art into my work,” the Cuban artist later said.

In the 1940s in Havana, Cabrera took Lam to religious ceremonies and introduced him to babalawos; the Afro-Cuban priests.

https://open.substack.com/pub/cubaonrecord/p/afro-cuban-music-and-dance-reverberate?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

There’s a retrospective exhibit of artist Wilfrido Lam @ MOMa in NYC and he lived Cuban music as noted in a Substack Cuba on Record by Judy Cantor-Navas

When Lam returned to Havana, he became close friends with the Cuban anthropologist Lydia Cabrera, whose mid-century writings remain essential texts on Afro-Cuban religion, society and sacred music.

Cabera’s mentor Fernando Ortiz brought Afro-Cuban ritual music and instruments onto mainstreams stages in Havana in the late 1930s. He described his work as “dedicated to affirming the positive existence of black musics; different from white musics, but not mere cacaphonies of noise…but extremely original and complex esthetic combinations of noises, tones, rhythms, melodies, harmonies, congs and dances, with universal or universalizable values.”

Ortiz also became a good friend and supporter of Lam.

“I worked under the influence of that wise man,” Lam told music writer Rafael Lam.

Musically, the painter was entranced by his brother’s violin as a child, and as a young man was such a classical music afficionado that he was named honorary vice president of the Havana Chamber Orchestra. He befriended Stravinsky and, no stranger to the arts of chance himself, Lam became acquainted with composer John Cage on a trip to New York in 1946.

But it was Afro-Cuban and Afro-Carribean ritual music and dance that would most profoundly reverberate in his work.

“Picasso told me that I should feel proud of my African blood, from the cradle of civilization. He knew the importance of that race, the power of [its] art.” According to Rafael Lam, the painter woud recall a night when he attended a performance of Cuban rumba with Picasso in Paris’ Montparnasse. Entranced by the drummers, Picasso exclaimed, “Now that’s music!”

“Since my time in Paris I was fixed on the idea of infusing African art into my work,” the Cuban artist later said.

In the 1940s in Havana, Cabrera took Lam to religious ceremonies and introduced him to babalawos; the Afro-Cuban priests.

https://open.substack.com/pub/cubaonrecord/p/afro-cuban-music-and-dance-reverberate?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny and Argentine hip-hop duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso each won five Latin Grammy awards in Las Vegas on Thursday,

Video clips from Latin Grammys plus Jon Pareles describing them

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/arts/music/latin-grammys-bad-bunny.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1U8.VSbn.gbmswfLJ72P9&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Listening to latest album by Mexican indie-folkie Silvana Estrada . She is doing a North American tour now or shortly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9PoZ0Vcb_s

Listening to her first solo album too-a touch of jazz improv in her vocals but mostly beautiful yet stark Latin American folk & a bit of Natalie Lafourcade pop

Her parents are luthiers who make and repair stringed instruments. She recorded her first El Tiny desk there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S52_XxBwbJg

Will have a listen, thanks.

You mentioned Natalie Lafourcade but left out Mon Laferte.

Yep, Estrada, Laferte, and Lafourcade did a song together “My One and only Love”

Estrada also once toured on a bill with Julieta Venegas , who has since praised Estrada’s poetic lyrics

Friday night in dc area - El Gran Combo w/ Grupo Niche @ Eaglebank Arena; La India @ Capital One Hall Tyson’s ;

And Silvana Estrada at 9:30 Club

2 salsa gigs and a Latin folk one all near the same time

I'm listening to the album Machete by Colombian band Bejuco. Good music to sway and dance to, it's not overloaded and relies on a few instruments (marimba, bass, electronic piano, percussion) and vocals. It still has some raw edge, it is tasty, and is very slightly hypnotic. Recommended for people into Bomba Estéreo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHeZxdM6Qyw

Toto la Momposina for another reference I can muster

One more because the below is very nice (vocals version also great)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6_H19u5yZo
Bejuco - Tolita (Cerrero dub)

this is very cool

I really Dominican dembow rapper El Alfa's squeaky voice but ugh missed his late night gig in DC last night.

x-post- but I like that Bejuco from Colombia too

Mexico’s Silvana Estrada opened her short North American tour in dc at the 930 Club last night. Great show mixing some of the powerful, more minimal cuts from her 2022 album that exhibited her vocal strength, and the more Natalie Lafourcade inspired Latin pop on her latest. Great band with cello, guitar, horns, and a keyboardist who played & added some programmed strings. Estrada was repeatedly touched by audience enthusiasm as she touched her heart and thanked the crowd mostly in Spanish but occasionally in English.

Looks like from Estrada's IG she had Friday night in NYC free, and got in to see Patti Smith Horses 50th aniv. show .

Also On IG, I saw some great choreographed dancing and salsa sounds from Grupo Niche who in VA near DC Friday night w/ the legendary El Gran Combo

Oh, at that should above I really like Dominican dembow rapper El Alfa's squeaky voice

https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2025-11-19-u1-e208574-s27061-nid315163-fallece-julio-norona-musico-fundador-van-van

Julio Norona of Los Van Van has died

The label putting out Bejuco (that's their second album) is on Bandcamp and seems to be on a mission; their self-description translates to "We seek the guardians of tradition, the renegades of currulao, the Afro-futurist marimba excursions, the project translating the science of bunde and juga into the language of machines, and the poet writing the lyrics for the next anthems that will speak to the world from this region."

http://discospacifico.bandcamp.com/music

Ned Subl*tte has noted elsewhere that Cuban balladeer, acoustic guitar trovador Pedro Luis Ferrer will be at Terraza 7 in NYC Tuesday night

there is no dancehall thread this year so this might be the place to mention that Skeng's album (13Th Street Tape) is pretty good!

Cool.

x-post- re Bejuco and DiscoPacifico being on a mission. That's great. Between the little amount of music from the Afro-Pacific regions of Colombia that I have discovered on my own, to reading about a cool fest there, to my interview with then - DC based Ethiopian musician/ethnomusicologist Kumera Zekarias who went there and recorded a record and has posted informative IG posts about that region, I am eager to hear more (and would love to go there to visit and check out the fest).

Ned Subl*tte has noted elsewhere that Cuban balladeer, acoustic guitar trovador Pedro Luis Ferrer will be at Terraza 7 in NYC Tuesday night

https://remezcla.com/features/music/50-best-songs-of-2025/

Remezcla slowing rolling out their top songs

Karol G, Fuerza Regida, and a few others from this thread made Complex mag website top album list

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/07/nx-s1-5636704/rafael-ithier-salsa-music-puerto-rico-gran-combo

RIP at 99 Rafael Ithier , founder, pianist , leader of El Gran Combo. Puerto Rican salsa university of a band. By the time I saw them Ithier was touring with the band and sometimes conducting but not playing piano anymore.

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón has decreed Sunday, Dec. 14 and Monday, Dec. 15 as days of mourning for the death of Rafael Ithier Natal, founder of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.

https://www.sanjuandailystar.com/post/governor-decrees-2-days-of-mourning-for-el-maestro-of-salsa-rafael-ithier

Myke Towers publicist says he had a good year-

Myke was the only artist with three songs simultaneously in the Top 20 of the Latin Rhythm Airplay Songs Year-End Chart:

#6 – “Degenere” (ft. Benny Blanco)

#9 – “Soleao” (with Quevedo)

#16 – “Otra Noche” (ft. Darell)

#2 Latin Pop Airplay Song of the Year: “Soleao”

Top 10 Latin Rhythm Airplay Artists Chart (#4)

Top 10 Latin Pop Airplay Artists Chart (#9)

“Tengo Celos” ranked #40 on the Latin Airplay Songs Year-End Chart

https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2025/the-best-latin-music-of-2025

Bandcamp best Latin list of 2025

NPR alt Latino Popcast discussed these faves of hosts Felix and Ana -

- Bad Bunny, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS

- Rosalía, LUX

- Queralt Lahoz, 9:30 PM

- Roxana Amed, Todos los Fuegos

- Arath Herce, Musas en Mi

- Mon Laferte, Femme Fatal

- rusowsky, DAISY

- Lido Pimienta, La Belleza

Picked hanging out at Barbes tonight in Brooklyn not far from our hotel over seeing Miguel Zenon in Manhattan. Cumbia dj tonight and a Colombian band here at Barbes. We were in Manhattan earlier with Peace Corps pals of my wife. We saw Yo La Tengo Chanukah show last night

Oh you are in NYC? You should come to Terraza tomorrow

Some time need to make it to La Tereza in Queens

But we are heading home tomorrow

Seeing at Barbes tonight:

ELVIRA y la TriEtnia"
Colombian Caribbean Folk & POP-Roc
Elvira y la TriEtnia" infuses Latin poprand Rock with diverse elements from Colombian folklore. Drawing primarily from indigenous rhythms of the Caribbean coast, such as sones de negros, cumbia, bullerengue, chandé, gaita, fandango, porro, and merecumbé among other popular Caribbean sounds. In doing so, it represents the tri-ethnicity that defines her as a global woman

Oh, tell them I said hello.

Elvira doesn't speak English though

There’s also a dj here and he organizes bringing Latino bands here at Barbes on Monday nights ( although sometimes maybe he just djs)

Michael Noonan?

I know him too, but not quite as well.

Ask him to play Iggy Pop.

Often they all show up back here after gigs.

Maybe one of our other friends is there in the audience, Rene.

I think he said his name was Michael. He calls Monday nights at Barbes “Tropical Vortex” night.

Yeah, that's him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/arts/music/romeo-santos-prince-royce-interview-popcast.html?unlocked_article_code=1._U8.UEz1.5DcZYJeHkCem&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Romeo Santos and Prince Royce talk bachata, Which Latin music crosses over and doesn’t, and their plans to record together

Excerpts-

Romeo Santos - I’m a New Yorker. This dude is a New Yorker. Why haven’t we been invited just to perform on “Saturday Night Live”? I did sell out two Yankee Stadiums. I did do five sold-out M.S.G.s with Aventura. I did MetLife with 80,000-plus. These are the type of things that when I speak to my publicists and my label and my team, I’m like, hey, could we at least get that platform?

SANTOS Am I doing something wrong? Because my mission is always the same mission: Taking this genre, bachata, that comes from el campo, de las humildes provincias de República Dominicana — this is bigger than Royce and Romeo.

Where’s Anthony Santos’s Grammy? Where’s Luis Vargas’s Grammy? Where’s Raulin’s Grammy? To me, Teodoro [Reyes] would be equivalent, as far as the craft, to a Ray Charles. Anthony Santos is probably my Bob Marley. If you would maybe nominate these guys or maybe have invited them to some of these major platforms, I could not be here talking [expletive]. But they give me the leverage.

I don’t wanna play victim, but we get [expletive] on with the genre. And all I’m asking is just educate yourself on what bachata is.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/arts/music/romeo-santos-prince-royce-interview-popcast.html?unlocked_article_code=1._U8.UEz1.5DcZYJeHkCem&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Romeo Santos and Prince Royce talk bachata, Which Latin music crosses over and doesn’t, and their plans to record together

Excerpts-

Romeo Santos - I’m a New Yorker. This dude is a New Yorker. Why haven’t we been invited just to perform on “Saturday Night Live”? I did sell out two Yankee Stadiums. I did do five sold-out M.S.G.s with Aventura. I did MetLife with 80,000-plus. These are the type of things that when I speak to my publicists and my label and my team, I’m like, hey, could we at least get that platform?

SANTOS Am I doing something wrong? Because my mission is always the same mission: Taking this genre, bachata, that comes from el campo, de las humildes provincias de República Dominicana — this is bigger than Royce and Romeo.

Where’s Anthony Santos’s Grammy? Where’s Luis Vargas’s Grammy? Where’s Raulin’s Grammy? To me, Teodoro [Reyes] would be equivalent, as far as the craft, to a Ray Charles. Anthony Santos is probably my Bob Marley. If you would maybe nominate these guys or maybe have invited them to some of these major platforms, I could not be here talking [expletive]. But they give me the leverage.

I don’t wanna play victim, but we get [expletive] on with the genre. And all I’m asking is just educate yourself on what bachata is.

Yesterday came across an interesting act from Chile called Catalina y Las Bordonas de Oro.

Led by Catalina Plaza y Martín Silva. Boleros plus some other folkoric stuff.

Sounds a lot like a living breathing version of Eydie Gorme y Los Panchos, which is a very good thing.

Interesting !

Liking this Mon Laferte jazzy Latin throwback ballads album Femme Fatale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqZ_myq8z-Q

Closing song Vida Normal on the Laferte album is a bit too old-school melodramatic show biz for me, but I like when she's more subtle elsewhere on the album

Heh, was just thinking about listening to some Mon Laferte.

Found another potentially interesting young singer, half-Spanish/half-Dutch.

2026 thread here -

Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2026: Reggaeton, Dembow, Latin Pop, Salsa,Bachata, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx