Faces of Salsa: A Spoken History of the Music

Faces of Salsa brings together a series of interviews with the founding/developing musicians of what we call "salsa" in the United States. I put salsa in quotation marks because the raging debate about the name itself is one of the themes covered in these interviews. Other themes include the balance between commercial success and meaningful music, the origins of salsa and its relationship to son, and the role of the barrio in shaping salsa's urban identity. The synopsis above is actually misleading, because included in this book are interviews with non-Cuban musicians, including three merengueros. Fuentes writes an excellent introduction with his thesis that the founding musicians of the genre were attempting to create a "salsa of consciousness." The author also adds some commentary throughout the interviews, keeping his voice and creating unity throughout the various interviews. This book is an excellent read for understanding the history and the culture of salsa as well as the universal struggles that musicians face. The only drawback is that the author does not provide a background or introductory bio on each interviewee, so the assumption is that you are somewhat familiar with these figures. If you are not, you may want to do a little research to better inform your reading. Great book!