In a non-musical context, salsa is Spanish for “sauce”. Not just any sauce, but one that has a tangy and spicy oomph. That is how it is with salsa music. How this genre of Latin music developed is a convoluted story, but its European (mainly Portuguese and Spanish) and Afro-Cuban parentage is not in doubt. These influences shaped Cuban Son and Rumba, early forms of salsa that were popular in the 1930s. Early salsa music then came under the influence of Jazz, morphing into the Mambo and Chachacha craze of the 1950s and 1960s. Today, salsa is not referred to by specific styles but a “salsa spirit”, that vaguely encompasses all Latin music with a unique spicy, and shake-your-hips dance vibe.

There’s no better example of early salsa that captures this spirit than “Oye Como Va” (“Here is how it goes”), a song written by the “King of Mambo”, Tito Peunte (1923 – 2000). Born in New York City to Peurto Rican parents, Peunte studied orchestration and conducting at the Julliard School of Music and soon formed his own band, which helped build his reputation as a gifted musician and conductor. He produced over a hundred albums in his lifetime, often in collaboration with Cuban diva Celia Cruz (1925 – 2003), known as “The Queen of Salsa.”

“Oye Como Va” was first released in 1963, by which time Puente had already released more than 40 albums. The song soon became his signature piece and a seminal work in the history of salsa.

Here is the original 1963 version