Latin music's love children

Latin Beat Magazine, March, 1997 by Frank M. Figueroa

Latin music has drawn into its bosom the most diverse group of loving fans. Through a mutual selection process, the music and its "love children" have developed a strong relationship that resembles the maternal-filial love bond. These ties reach across racial, ethnic and national lines. As all good mothers, Latin music has embraced these children of love with the same devotion as it bestows on those born into it. What is it that draws people of such unrelated backgrounds to this music? In an attempt to find an answer to this question we have compiled the views on this subject of five of Latin music's children of love. This group includes a professor of Spanish literature and music, an African-American musicologist, a radio producer, a record collector, and a musician-arranger. Four of the five persons were mailed a brief questionnaire, the fifth was the recently-departed Vernon W. Boggs. We have taken his comments from his book Salsiology.

Ranked alphabetically, the first "love child" is Theodore S. Beardsley, Jr. He was born into a well-to-do family in St. Louis, Missouri and received a college education in the Midwest. Ted also earned a Ph.D. in Spanish Language and Literature from a prestigious eastern university.

Latin American music first came to him at the age of thirteen. After all these years, it is hard for him to recall the exact title of the first Latin song he heard. He believes it could have been Negro a Rezar by Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra. While completing his studies at Columbia University in New York, Ted had the opportunity of listening to famous Latin orchestras such as: Enric Madriguera, Xavier Cugat and Carlos Molina. As time went by and in association with his studies, he visited Spain and became familiar with the music of the country. A Puerto Rican trumpet player by the name of José Piña helped him to develop his interest in Latin music. Piña, who was known among his peers as "Piñita," played with Xavier Cugat for many years and befriended young Ted in his student years. With his help and by attending the live performances of Latin artists and listening to their records, Beardsley developed a discriminating taste for this music.

His evaluation technique includes a consideration of the musical arrangement, the rhythm and tempo and the performer's mastery of the instrument or voice. His early favorites among Latin instrumentalists were: Enric Madriguera, violin; Ernesto Lecuona and Nilo Menéndez, piano; José Piña, trumpet. From that same era, he enjoyed the singing of Carmen Castillo, Carlos Gardel, Toña la Negra, Miguelito Valdés, Sarita Herrera, Pedro Vargas, Mercedes Simone, and Lola Flores. As we can see, Theodore Beardsley's love for Latin music is all-embracing. It transcends boundaries and crosses the oceans to take in all Hispanic music. His advice to all those who wish to learn to love this music as much as he does: listen, compare, experiment and read reference books and articles in Latin music magazines.

Our next "love child" is Vernon W. Boggs. Unfortunately, he died on September 3, 1994, and we missed the opportunity to interview him. Although he is no longer with us, his love for Latin music has not died. It lives on in his writings and in the memories of those who knew him. Vernon wrote as follows in his book Salsiology:

"When I was about ten years old living in Pleasantville, New Jersey, my aunt, Dorothy Eleanor Boggs, asked me what I wanted for my forthcoming birthday; I said that I wanted a record called Anabacoa. She promised to buy it if I could spell the name. I do not know if I spelled it correctly but I got the record in any event...I reflect upon that early experience for several reasons: (1) I could not speak Spanish at that time; (2) I don't know how I heard about it, since at home, I only heard Gospel music and (3) I don't know why I was attracted to it." (Boggs,1992: 363).

After this first contact, Latin music continued to lure Vernon Boggs. While still a high school student, he heard Latin music in some of the clubs in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Later, he managed to get a copy of Nat "King" Cole's recording Cole Español. Vernon soon memorized the lyrics to El Bodeguero. The next memorable event in his love affair with Latin music was his visit to the Palladium Ballroom in New York City in 1955. This trip to the "Mecca of Latin Music" left an indelible mark on his young African-American. He writes:

"Even though I was too young to go inside [the Palladium], I got in. I remember the lighting and the music 'blew me away.' I was really and truly 'home.' This was it. I had been looking for this music for years and now I had found it! I will never forget that experience." (Boggs, 1992: 364).

Vernon Boggs deepened his knowledge of Latin music and developed his criteria for evaluating the performances of its artists by listening and taping radio programs in New York hosted by Symphony Sid, Dick "Ricardo" Sugar, Max Salazar and others. He also frequented dance halls such as The Palladium, the Cheetah, and the Monday night series at the Village Gate. If we had the privilege of asking Vernon Boggs how he developed his thorough knowledge of Latin music or what he preferred to call Afro-Hispanic music, he would probably say that the secret is exposure. In the closing paragraphs of Salsiology he stated: