Panama
is a country known for its
multicultural and international ethnicity.
There you can find people from all walks of
life and countries of the world. Spanish,
African, Caribbean, European and American
rithms influence the type of music the ethnic
groups listen too as they crossover into one
another to form very popular music themes.
Salsa, Merengue, bachata, Pop, Rock en Español,
US hits, tipico folkloric music, reggae, reggaeton,
cumbia, vallenato, samba, jazz, and classical
music are all widely listened to by the population.
View "El Punto"
and professional dancers at the Festival de
la camisilla at Chiriqui Mall.
Folkloric
music has always been a favorite
of the country which has had its roots come
back into wide acceptance by all social levels
because it is from Panama and the population
has experienced a reinnassance in the way of
patriotism. Tipico folkloric music is famous
for having drums, an accordion, drums and a
singer commonly known as "cantalante"(singing
in front of the group). You can find this music
on radio stations in Panama city and in the
central provinces of Coclé,
Herrera,
Los
Santos and Veraguas.
Empollerada
shows mejorana guitar.
Panama
Tipico dance at Las Tinajas Restaurant
From
left to right Ulpiano Vergara, Dorindo
Cárdenas, Osvaldo Ayala y Victorio
Vergara Batista(r.i.p.)
Pindín
has also since a reinnassance spread
by the now most popular
Sammy and Sandra Sandoval. They have
mixed in merengue, reggae and a little
bachata into pindín to increase
the popularity of the genre. Worth
mentioning are othe incredibly known
singers and players such as Ulpiano
Vergara, Dorindo Cárdenas,
Victorio Vergara, Roberto "Papi"
Brandao, Nenito Vargas, Yin Carrizo,
Nina Campines, Abdiel Núñez,
Manuel de Jesús Abrego, and
Samy y Sandra Sandoval, just to name
a few.
I have an american friend who has
been to Panama and he fell in love
with pindín. Every week he
sends me pindín videos from
youtube to my email.
The word típico is different from
música típica, in that the former
is the general name of the native dance styles
of the central provinces.
Tamborito,
is a different type of music that makes up
the national dance of the country. It is generally
performed by dancers that are the montuno(man)
and empollerada(woman) in groups of 6 or more
or somethings as a couple. Groups such as
Ballet
Folklorico de Panama "Petita Escobar",
Ritmos
y Raices Panameñas Ballet Folklorico,
and Ballet
Folklórico Panameño de Elisa
de Céspedes. Closely related to
its more well-known Colombian cousin, Panamanian
cumbia, especially amanojá; and atravesao
styles, are domestically popular. Another
important music is punto and the salon dances
like pasillo, danza and contradanza.
Gorgeous Panamanian Pollera
Reina Bonita : Tonada de Calle Arriba de Las Tablas, Carnaval 2010
Ruben Blades Salsa Legend
Ruben Blades,
born July 16, 1948, is notably the most
reknown musician that has Panama has
ever had. He achieved international
stardom, after collaborating with other
musicians like Willie Colon, Celia Cruz,
Pete el Conde, Santos Colon, Anibal
Vasquez, Cheo Feliciano, Juansito Torres,
Pete Rodriguez, and Ray Barreto. Ruben
was part of the Fania Stars and was
also extremely popular during the 1970's,
1980's, 1990's with audiences from Europe,
South, Central and North America, Asia
and even Africa attending concerts.
His hit "Patria" has probably
been the song that has touched the nationalism
of all panamanians and people of all
nationalities. If you wish to visit
his website you can go to his site clicking
here
.
Ruben Blades con Fania
All Stars in Colon sings: "La Palabra
Adios"
Panama has a long
history in jazz: by the 1940s the port city
of Colón boasted at least ten local jazz
orchestras. Legends of Jazz in Panama included pianist
and composer Victor Boa, Bassist Clarence Martin,
Singer Barbara Wilson and French Horn player John
"Rubberlegs" McKindo. This Jazz legacy
was recently reinvigorated when the US-based Panamanian
pianist Danilo Perez organized the first Jazz Festival
in January 2005.
Watch "Te Quiero" and
"Dime si te vas con el" by DJ Flex Winner
of Multiple Latin Grammys in 2009.
Panama also boasts a vibrant
history of Calypso and Mento music sung
by nationally well-known musicians such as Lord
Panama, Delicious, Two-Gun Smokey, Lady Trixie,
Lord Kitty, and Lord Cobra and the Pana-Afro sounds.
By the 1960s, local doo-wop groups
were evolving into what became known as the Combos
Nacionales, five to ten musician groups using electric
instruments and incorporating the diverse sounds
of jazz, calypso, salsa, vallenato, doo wop, soul
and funk. Famous Combos Nacionales included the
Silvertones, the Exciters, the Fabulous Festivals,
the Soul Fantastics, Los Mozambiques, the Goombays,
Roberto y su Zafra and Bush y sus Magnificos. By
1970, the dynamic Combos Nacionales sound dominated
Panamanian popular music, only winding down toward
the late 1970s.
Spanish Reggae performed
by rappers is also very popular among youth,
and spawned the Spanish language reggae-rap style
known as Reggaeton, which originated with such artists
as El General, Aldo Ranks and Kafu Banton, before
becoming popular in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic
and eventually amongst youth in the United States.
The most reknown reggaetonero these
days is DJ Flex, also known as NIGGA, locally. In
2009 he was the recipient of 8 prizes at the Premios
Billboard de la Música Latina 2009,, including
Hot Latin Song of the Year (Canción del Año),
Ringmaster Latino del Año, and Hot Latin
Song of the Year, male artist, beating Enrique Iglesias.