The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States

"The Latin Tinge" is a great reference book for the development of Latin music in the United States. It is packed full of information on Latin music and its influence on music in America in general, and it also provides some history on the development of these music genres in their countries of origin. This book's only drawback is that it does not make for light or recreational reading and therefore may not be the best book for an overview of Latin music in the U.S., especially for those that have not studied much Latin music history. This book is more geared for those that are already somewhat familiar with the different forms of Latin music and dance and are looking to go more in depth. It is also, as I mentioned above, a great reference book for someone doing research on Latin music. It is recommended for those purposes. Beginners might want to look elsewhere.

John Roberts has written an excellent book which doubles as a good research tool. I checked this out from the library last week and I plan to buy my own copy today. Roberts discusses almost every form of Latin music such as mambo, merengue, son, etc. He also has a glossary in the back of the book so you can look up what you have read. Latin music relies heavily on African elements of melody & rhythm, Roberts downplays this well known fact a little. The marimba is long known to be an west african instrument. Roberts says the name comes from Africa. This is a well known fact that for some reason he tends to avoid. Other than that minor thing, "The Latin Tinge" is very much worth having in your collection.

John Storm Roberts book "The Latin Tinge", is a superb book on the history of Latin music. The book is well written and clearly takes the reader through a remarkable journey, showing the evolution and the development of Latin music and its impact on the American music scene. Highly recommended!

This well-researched work is a revelation for anyone interested in the roots of American popular music, be it rock, jazz or pop. A good complement to this book is "The Brazilian Sound," which covers Brazilian music and has additional information on the influence of Brazilian musicians on American music.

The Latin Tinge stands as one of the best books ever (in English) on the American Latin scene. Roberts traces the music through its earliest moments in America, and does a great job describing all the divergent trends and fads within the field of Latin music, and manages to tie them together in a brilliant way that opens up a lot of stuff that we'd never been able to filter through before. If you've ever been looking for a goodbook on Latin music, this is it!