Cumbia!: Scenes of a Migrant Latin American Music Genre Héctor D.Fernández L'Hoeste and PabloVila, Editors. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013.

Abstract

Cumbia!: Scenes of a Migrant Latin American Music Genre Hector D. Fernandez L'Hoeste and Pablo Vila, Editors. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013.Cumbia is presented simultaneously as a source of social identity construction and a detailed look at the music form itself, including how both have transformed through a journey of transnational adaptation. The essays explore a variety of topics, from instrumentation and rhythmic patterns to gender and identity projects, using multiple approaches by a highly qualified list of authors. Three themes, each of which threads its way through many of the essays, position this book as an important contribution to scholarly understanding of music culture; they are social identity, perceptions of and the relationship between music and the music industry.Cumbia as a root for social identity construction and perception is effective because, although it was born in Colombia, it has developed in different manners throughout several nations. From a social identity perspective, cumbia's adaptation is often accompanied by a similar theme: music of the marginalized and exploited. In many of its adaptations, the genre takes two paths, at least partial acceptance by some members of the higher class and a vehicle for members of the marginalized class living away from home to connect with loved ones. This second point is exemplified in the book when describing a baile, a form of dance that originated in Mexico City using cumbia music: the baile progresses, the sonidero's (deejay) most important and clearly more taxing job is to read into the microphone the personal dedications and salutations that members of the audience and dancers are now giving to him (129); these are later heard on purchased CDs or uploaded videos by the intended recipients of the messages. As a vehicle for social identity, the importance of cumbia becomes one of great depth, as is addressed by the editors who propose the term to articulate rather than to reflect or to construct because it encompasses both possibilities at once (13).The transnational nature of cumbia's progression and adaptation leads to questions of authenticity, a term often written with quotation marks acknowledging by at least some of the authors its subjective nature. The concept of authenticity is one which has received great attention in scholarly circles, and the reader is given opportunity to recognize and problematize its conceptual vagueness. For example, the decision to include a spoken voice segment by genre elder Nicolas Herna'ndez by musician Martin Vejarano is presented with the description (a)s a modern musician, he is interested in maintaining direct links with practitioners of traditional Colombian music and the places from which they derive (53). …