The indigenous music of the Mayan and South American Andes produced wind and percussion instruments that have come a long way since the days of bone flutes and gourd rasps. Tejano, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Ranchera, Cumbia, Bolero, Reggaeton, fusion genres of rock, pop, alternative, hip-hop…

 

Though there is no shortage of improvisational congas and dried seed maracas, electric guitar riffs, low frequency bass lines and vibrant horns are now commonplace in the many variants of Latino music. From the Estados Unidos, to the southern-most tip of Argentina, Latino music and culture has one of the largest geographic spreads of any culture, taking up the majority of the North American continent.

 

Through Cuban Salsa queen Celia Cruz, Reggetonero Don Omar, or pop stars Shakira and Paulina Rubio, today’s Latin music transcends boundaries of "traditional" indigenous sounds into a multi-faceted  world of  Latino music.