Film Image
Musica
1985
Color
59 minutes
US
English
Trailer and More

Musica

This film is an odyssey through the eyes, words and music of individuals who pioneered Afro-Cuban music in the United States. The video offers a rich overview of a wide number of musical styles from "Cubop" to Salsa, Big Band to jazz, and of musicians from Chano Ponzo to Tito Puente and Desi Arnaz to Johnny Colon. It examines the significant role of women performers and contains interviews with Mario Bauza and Dizzy Gillespie as they reveal the parallel course of jazz with the "latin sound".
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Higher Education Institutions DSL 3-years License $300.00
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K-12, Public Libraries & Select Groups DVD Sale $80.00
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Reviews
"The documentary includes an effective mix of performance footage, voice-over commentary, interviews with performers, with musicologists and sociologists, and period images from past decades that bring to life the context in which Latin jazz and salsa dance music developed. Musica would be useful in various ways as a classroom aid. For instance, it could facilitate discussion about racism in the mid-century music industry; sexism and the marginalization of female performers in the world of Latin music; generational shifts in the tastes of Latino audiences, especially since the 1960s; inter-influences between North American jazz musicians and others from Cuba, Puerto Rico and elsewhere in Latin America; and the common roots of both black North American and Afro-Caribbean music. I would recommend its use in classroom settings as a supplement to readings on Latino music history, immigration, jazz, and related subjects." - Robin Moore, Caribbean Studies Journal

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TWN is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Color Congress, MOSAIC, New York Community Trust, Peace Development Fund, Ford Foundation, Golden Globe Foundation, Kolibri Foundation and individual donors.