Dominican Republic

The Spanish named the island of Quisqueya "Hispaniola," and the Taíno natives were the predominant population on the land at the time of Spanish arrival, just as they were on several other islands in the region, including Cuba and Borinquén (aka Puerto Rico). Taíno music, while not extensively documented, was primarily vocal with simple accompaniment, and native instruments included maracas, bone and clay flutes as well as the mayohuacán, a hollowed log drum that is reminiscent of the Aztec teponatzli. As African slaves were brought to the island, there was some racial mixing between the Africans and the remaining Taínos who had not succumbed to disease, warfare or suicide (a fate faced by the majority of the native populations in the Caribbean).

With the Western portion of the island later ceded to France, the tumultuous history of the land saw it split into two halves—Haïti and the Dominican Republic—and despite the bitter divisions and unsavory political climate, each side produced significant musical contributions to the world. The Eastern (Dominican) half endured dictatorship after dictatorship, and despite this gave rise to two of Latin music's most important styles: merengue and bachata.

Dating back to the 1800s, Dominican merengue is a combination of European and African influences as well as connections to Eastern Cuban music. Merengue was first played on guitar, percussion and Congolese marímbula (box lamellophone). The German-derived button accordion replaced the guitar by the early 20th century and the electric bass guitar supplanted the marímbula by the 1960s. The meringue típico (traditional) genre includes several styles and is characterized as a fast two-step dance, characterized by the close proximity of the dancers. Merengue's humble rural beginnings in the countryside evolved into a more modernized orchestral style, largely due to merengue's status as the national form, established by the dictator Rafael Trujillo in the 1930s. While the earlier traditional forms established the complexities of the rhythm, and the development of the dance, it was the orchestral style (called orquesta merengue or merengue de salon) that saw merengue's rise to stardom by the 1980s, becoming a worthy competitor to salsa. By the 1990s, modernized merengue adopted the sounds of electronic-drum beats and synthesizers, and the widespread success of this new sound was heard out of Puerto Rico and New York City.

Bachata, on the other hand, did not experience the same political or social support. Born in the poorest of Dominican neighborhoods, bachata emerged in the mid-20th century as a slow, romantic style played on the Spanish guitar. The word "bachata" referred to the sometimes rowdy parties in Santo Domingo's poorest communities. Often called "songs of bitterness," bachata tunes were no different than most romantic ballad forms (such as the Cuban bolero), yet they were perceived as low-class; in fact, bachata was not even regarded as a style until the 1960s and was not widely known outside of the Dominican Republic.

But widespread interest (and acceptance) of the style grew largely due to the efforts of musician and composer Juan Luis Guerra, whose 1990 recording Bachata Rosa introduced international audiences to this rich and sentimental form. Already credited with developing a more modern and socially conscious merengue, Guerra nearly single-handedly brought bachata out of obscurity, paving the way for many Dominican artists to share in the spotlight. While merengue would continue to be the more popular style, bachata has witnessed a recent boom, particularly in New York City's Dominican community. —Rebeca Mauleon