Salsa Cds
$10.00 - Salsa compliations by Salsa Memphis! Don't waste your money buying albums that only have 1-2 hits on them. Buy the hottest Latin mix guaranteed to make you move! Place your order by email or by contacting Alex at 901-619-0061.

$15.00 - Personalized salsamixes by Salsa Memphis! Personalize your cds with pictures and hand pick your favorite music for the cd!

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The roots of salsa music come from traditional cuban music such as el Son, la Rumba, el Guaguanco and el Mambo. Musicians began to mix these music styles into one during the early 1950s. This new style of music traveled to the New York City from Cuba and Puerto Rico as Latinos began to migrate in search of a better life. Upscale nightclubs and dancehalls, such as "The Palladium", started to appear around Spanish Harlem and cater to New York City's Latino immigrants.

In the early 1960s, Fania Records began and commercialized this new style they dubbed "Salsa". Salsa quickly became popular among the dancers and local bands started switching their music styles. The pioneers of this new music immerged during this era such as Eddie and Charlie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco, Ray Barretto, Celia Cruz, and the legendary Tito Puente.

Fania Records peaked in the 1970s by the success of salsa artists such as Cheo Feliciano, Ruben Blades, Hector Lavoe, Joe Cuba, Willie Colon, Frankie Ruiz, and El Gran Combo. During this time, Fania Records set up huge concerts in Madison Square Gardens featuring the best artists.

In the early 1980s, salsa music began to change as top artists swayed from the fast-tempo mambo beat to a slower rhythm. They called this new style, "Salsa Romantica". Artists such as Lalo Rodriguez, Ray de la Paz, "El Canario" Jose Alberto, Eddie Santiago, and Oscar De Leon led this new trend. The mid-1980s marked a dark period for salsa artists. Merengue, with its upbeat rhythm, started to become the norm and clubs began to play more of this music from the Dominican Republic. Local bands turned away from salsa and were forced to play more merengue in order to find work.

The 1990s marked a revival for salsa music. A new record label, RMM, began promoting a new energetic brand of salsa utilizing the elements of the orginal sound based on the mambo. Other artists such as the Buena Vista Social Club, Africando, and the Afro-Cuban All-Stars also started a revival of salsa from the original cuban styles. New artists began to immerge and their innovated styles brought back the passion of salsa to the dancers. Artists such as Marc Anthony, India, Fruko, Los Van Van, Grupo Niche, Jerry Rivera, Victor Manuelle, Michael Stuart, and Dark Latin Groove pushed salsa back to popularity where it is today.