The Latin Tinge

Good overview of the historical development of Latin styles within the United States. The text is organized by decade, and a good deal of it is dedicated to Latin jazz; I found the book particularly effective at filling in some gaps in my knowledge of that style. The library copy I read was the original edition, which concludes with the 1970s. While an update would obviously be appreciated, I can't blame the author for a lack of precognition when writing this edition. To his credit, he even correctly foretold that salsa music would not break into the mainstream market. A certain degree of moralizing is appropriate in this sort of text, and Roberts rightfully comes out swinging against the showtune “Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me),” yet he treats the even more heinous “All Dressed Up, S*** and Spanish” with a disconcertingly neutral tone—was he unaware of the racial slur? Desi Arnaz features prominently in the narrative, yet his family's tumultuous relationship with the music that made him famous goes overlooked. Roberts also makes the glaring error of claiming in both the main text and the glossary that the Cuban tres has nine strings (it has six strings in three courses). The Latin Tinge can be appreciated for what it is, an introduction. More reading is certainly needed to fill in the music's history in Latin America, and the music's history in the United States post-1980.