The Dominican Republic is an island nation located in the Caribbean. It occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola and shares a border with Haiti.
Dominican Music
The Dominican Republic is home to a diverse musical culture that derives from Spanish, African and indigenous Taino musical influences. Some of the musical genres include guitar music, traditional merengue, bachata and son. Commercial genres like reggaeton, orchestral merengue, bolero, romantic Latin pop and salsa get wider exposure.
Dominican Musical Genres
Bachata – One of the most popular Dominican musical genres is bachata. It’s a type of music and dance that originated in the countryside and rural marginal neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. It is played with guitars and percussion. The lyrics usually focus on love, treachery, jealousy and desperation. The music is in 4/4.
The Academia de Bachata is a school that provides bachata music education.
Bachata music compilations:
Bachata books:
- Bachata A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music (Temple University Press)
Merengue is considered the national music and dance of the Dominican Republic. In 2016, UNESCO designated merengue as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Merengue’s lyrics talk about everyday life.
The musical instruments indicate the Dominican Republic’s triple uniqueness: the güira scraper comes from the indigenous Taino culture, the tambora drum from Africa, and the accordion from Spain.
This rural music had its golden age during the dictatorship of Rafaelo Trujillo who ruled the Dominican Republic from the 1930s until his assassination in 1961. Trujillo promoted merengue as a form of national expression and as a symbol of the culture of the underclass. The dictator’s efforts provided an opportunity for musicians to meet at dance halls. The music prospered, and larger merengue orchestras with piano and brass sections were established to cater to a growing audience.
Eventually, merengue became synonymous with big bands and dance halls. In the 1960s, influences from North America and the salsa of other Caribbean countries reached the Dominican Republic and changed the sound of merengue. What emerged was a sharp and stuttering quality that the traditional style did not have. Later on, electric guitars, keyboards, and synthesizers replaced the conventional accordion and sampled its sound.
Despite the change in instruments, the rhythm of merengue has changed very little. The merengue craze of the 1960s reached the neighborhoods and clubs of New York, and was later superseded by the immense interest in salsa in the 1980s.
The recession in the Dominican Republic left only a few bands playing live music, making the live music of merengue groups available only in towns and cities visited by tourists.
Some of the best known merengue artists include Joseíto Mateo, Juan Luis Guerra, Johnny Ventura, Milly Quezada, Wilfrido Vargas, Fernando Villalona, Los Hermanos Rosario, and Eddy Herrera.
Merengue books:
- Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity (Temple University Press)
Saranduga – a dance music genre from the southern town of Bani, performed during the San Juan el Bautista (St. John the Baptist) Festival, which is celebrated every June.
Other Dominican musical genres include gagá, palos, salves, congos de Villa Mella, bambulá de Samaná, and guloyas de San Pedro de Macorís.
Dominican Musicians
Chichí Peralta
Fellé Vega
Joaquin Diaz
José Alberto “El Canario”
Michel Camilo
Super Uba (Ubaldo Cabrera)
Yoham Ortiz (interview)
