Smeets Haiti

Haiti has a rich blend of African and European music; Cuban and Dominican influences also blend to create Haiti's diverse music. The most notable styles are Kompa and méringue. Evolving in Haiti during the 1850s, the Haitian merengue (known as the mereng in Haitiean Creole and méringue in French) is regarded as the oldest surviving form of merengue performed today and is a national symbol. According to Jean Fouchard, mereng evolved from the fusion of slave music genres (such as the chica and calenda) with ballroom forms related to the French contredanse. Mereng's name, he says, derives from the mouringue music of the Bara, a Bantu people of Madagascar. That few Malagasies came to the Americas casts doubt on this etymology, but it is significant because it emphasizes what Fouchard (and most Haitians) consider the African-derived nature of their music and national identity. Dominican merengue, Jean Fouchard suggests, developed directly from Haitian mereng.

Dominicans are not inclined to highlight African and Haitian influences on their culture. As ethno-musicologist Martha Davis points out, many Dominican scholars "have, at the least, ignored African influence in Santo Domingo. At the worst, they have bent over backwards to convince themselves and their readers of the one hundred percent Hispanic content of their culture. This is not an uncommon Latin American reaction to the inferiority complex produced by centuries of Spanish colonial domination"

Merengue Music

Smeets Music - Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar. It is unclear as to why this name became the name of the music; perhaps it can trace its meaning from the movement on the dance floor that could remind one of an egg beater in action.

Merengue was created by Ñico Lora, a Dominican of Spanish descent, in the 1920s. In the Dominican Republic it was promoted by Rafael Trujillo, the dictator from the 1930 to 1961, and became the country's national music and dance style, while in the United States it was popularized by Angel Viloria and his band Conjunto Típico Cibaeño. It was during the Trujillo era that the popular merengue song "Compadre Pedro Juan", by Luis Alberti, became an international hit.

Internationally known merengue singers and groups include Fernando Villalona, Juan Luis Guerra, Eddy Herrera, Toño Rosario & Los Hermanos Rosario, Los Toros Band, Sergio Vargas, Wilfrido Vargas, Johnny Ventura, Bonny Cepeda, Miriam Cruz & Las Chicas Del Can, Joseito Mateo, Luis Ovalles, the aforementioned Angel Viloria, El Cieguito de Nagua, Kinito Mendez, Ravel, Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15, Pochy y su Cocoband, Cuco Valoy, The Freddie Kenton Orquestra, Ramón Orlando, Sandy Reyes, Rasputin, Peter Cruz, Alex Bueno, Aramis Camilo, Jochy Hernández, El Zafiro, Dioni Fernandez, The New York Band, Anibal Bravo, Conjunto Quisqueya, Olga Tañón, Gisselle, and Grupomanía. Milly Quezada is known as the Queen of Merengue. The popularity of Merengue is growing fast in Venezuela. Venezuelan merengueros include Roberto Antonio, Miguel Moly, Natusha, Los Melodicos. Merengue is also popular in the coastal city of Guayaquil in Ecuador. The merengue produced in New York has become very popular among the lovers of this rhythm. Some of the New Yorkers who produce this new merengue sound are Mala Fe, Henry Jimenez, and Aybar,