Smithsonian.com

West Coast East Side Revue, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, Sunday February 21, 1965 Courtesy of Mark Guerrero

When you think of Latin music, the sounds that have typically defined it—mambo, merengue, salsa, cha-cha-cha—naturally, come to mind. But what about music’s influence on more traditional U.S. genres like jazz, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop?

A newly opened exhibit, “American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music,” invites visitors to explore the depth and breadth of Latino music, which, historically, encompasses a sound that is at once distinctive, and all-American.

“In a huge way, what this [exhibition] is about is not just Latino music in a bubble, which, as we know, never exists in a bubble,” says Ranald Woodaman, of the Smithsonian Latino Center. ”It really is a huge story about Latin music, kind of at the heart of America.”

Divided regionally into the five cities best-known to American audiences in terms of Latino music production—New York, Miami, San Antonio, Los Angeles and San Francisco—this interactive exhibition focuses on post-World War II Latino music. While there are parts of the Latino music story that date back to the Great Depression, World War II was the era when many Latino musicians fighting in the war, like Tito Puente and Ray Barretto, were exposed to jazz, says Woodaman. From that exposure, the mambo sound was developed, “a fusion of more traditional Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean rhythms with a U.S. jazz approach.”

Mambo would not be the only new sound created from melding cultures and influences, as the bilingual exhibit explains. From the rebellious Pachuco of the late 1930s, a counterculture created by Mexican-Americans who felt rejected by both societies, which would lay the foundation for Chicano music, to the intersections of Mexican music with that of German and Czech immigrants in Texas and the fusion of Caribbean cultures with urban cultures in Los Angeles and New York, Latino sound can be heard across genres.

With music playing in the background, maps, original records, fliers, promotional posters, videos, films and other ephemera from the era, including: Carlos Santana’s mariachi, Eva Ybarra’s accordion, a Celia Cruz outfit, original records from both independent and commercial music labels, as well as items from Héctor Lavoe, Ruben Bladés and Gloria Estefan, among others, tell the story. Listening booths, a mixing station and a dance floor encourage visitors to be a part of it.

“Learning is important,” says Woodaman, “but this exhibit offers an opportunity to immerse yourself in the music, in the rhythms, and use that as an entry point for learning.”

“I’d like people to come to this exhibit and basically get a sense of how varied, especially by region, Latino music traditions really are,” Woodaman says. “It’s really old, it’s been in the United States for a long time and … at the end of the day, what we call Latin music is part and parcel of the American experience.”

See “American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music” at the S. Dillon Ripley Center’s International Gallery until October 9. Learn more about Latino music and the exhibit at the American Sabor website. Created by the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington with curators from the University of Washington, the 5,000 square-foot exhibition was designed to be accessible to visitors of all ages. The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) also designed a smaller version of the exhibit, intended for libraries and community centers, which is traveling the country simultaneously.

Jazz Appreciation Month is in full swing Around the Mall and Beyond!  Check out a schedule of upcoming events below or download a PDF for additional information.

Tuesday, April 6
CONCERT
An Evening with Jon Hendricks. James Zimmerman, Emcee
7:30 pm, Howard University, Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel

Wednesday, April 7
FILM
Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense Screening, 6:30 pm
Discussion with director Lars Larson and producer John Comerford, 8:00 pm
Jam session with jazz stars/SJMO Musicians, 8:30 pm, Carmichael Auditorium, 1st Floor, National Museum of American History

Thursday, April 8
CONCERT
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
12:45 – 1:45 PM, Howard University, Childers Auditorium
FILM
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench Screening
6:30 pm
Discussion with director Damien Chazelle
8:00 pm
NMAH, Carmichael Auditorium, 1st Floor, National Museum of American History

Friday, April 9
MASTER CLASS
Guitar Workshop with Bucky Pizzarelli
12:00 – 2:00 pm, NMAH, Carmichael Auditorium, 1st Floor, National Museum of American History

Saturday, April 10
FAMILY DAY
Delfeayo Marsalis Band and Curator Susan Ostroff hosted by the National Park Service at Fort Dupont Park, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Music/Jazz History with Delfeayo Marsalis, 1:00 pm
Jazz: music of the Civil War Era: Susan Ostroff, 2:00 pm
Performance, Delfeayo Marsalis Band, 2:30 pm
Fort Dupont Park Activity Center, Fort Dupont Drive, SE
CONCERT
Hub-tones, The Life of Freddie Hubbard
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
7:30 pm, Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History

Sunday, April 11
CONVERSATION
Rhythm Café Basie with WPFW’s Jamal Muhammad
11:00 am, Anacostia Community Museum

More events beyond this weekend after the jump: (More…)

Legends of American Music: Elvis Presley (c. 1992) by Mark Stutzman. This was the image selected to grace a United States postage stamp. Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum.

What comes to mind when you hear the name Elvis? Musician. Icon. Sex. Spandex. Kitsch. Costello (kidding!). You can play the word association game all day long and no matter what your opinion of the man is—good, bad or indifferent—even the most suspicious minds have to admit that he is one of the gods on American pop culture’s Mt. Olympus. This coming Friday, January 8, marks what would have been Presley’s 75th birthday and we here at Around the Mall harbor a hunk-a hunk-a burning love for the guy so, in memoriam, we offer a series of Elvis-themed blogs. In this first installment, we show you how you don’t have to hang around your local 7-11 to catch sight of the King of Rock and Roll. If you’re in the DC area, and if you’re an Elvis fan, you should most definitely check out the following:

National Portrait Gallery

On January 8, 2010 the National Portrait Gallery unveils its exhibit that commemorates the 75th anniversary of Presley’s birth. The show explores representations of Elvis in the visual arts and how those pieces contribute to his mythic status in American popular culture.

American Art Museum

The American Art Museum has a small cache of Elvis-related art worth checking out, notably an Elvis jug that is currently on display and a folk art depiction of Mr. Presley behind the wheel of a pink Cadillac which, unfortunately, is still in the vaults is currently on display in the Echoes of Elvis show.

Postal Museum

The 1993 Elvis stamp stands as the most popular commemorative postage stamp ever issued. (Indeed, there was a bit of a fad where people would improperly address letters bearing the stamp—only to have them returned with “Return to Sender” marked thereon. Cute, yes?) Learn about this icon of mailable art at the Postal Museum’s website, see all the designs that didn’t make the grade and you can also see an enlargement of Mark Stutzman’s winning portrait.

SITES

For those of you who won’t be able to make it out to DC for any of the above shows, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) offers the traveling show Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer. This collection of large-format images presents Presley in his prime. Check the SITES site to see if the show will be coming to a city near you.

National Archives

The National Archives is home to one of the most iconic Elvis images—that of him shaking hands with former president Richard M. Nixon. In an online exhibit, learn about what precipitated the famous 1970 meeting, view letters from Elvis as well as the host of snapshots that didn’t become famous but are still pretty cool just the same.

Newseum

A show opening in 2010 will explore the impact of Elvis on popular culture. Details are few and far between at this time, but be sure to check the Newseum website for updates.

Copyright Office

Check out the National Copyright Office’s website for all the information you need to copyright your latest, greatest Elvis sighting! Long story short: you can’t copyright the sighting itself, but any snapshots you take during your encounter are totally fair game. Happy hunting you savvy little paparazzo-in-training, you!

*SPOILER ALERT*

We will be posting answers to our Sesame Street quiz throughout the week. Did you miss it? Check out our video before we spoil some of the fun.

Have you watched it? Ready to test your Sesame Street-smarts? Let’s go…answers are after the jump.

(More…)

*SPOILER ALERT*

We will be posting answers to our Sesame Street quiz throughout the week. Did you miss it? Check out our video before we spoil some of the fun.

Have you watched it? Ready to test your Sesame Street-smarts? Let’s go…answers are after the jump.

(More…)