Latin music in the United States

Latin American music has long influenced American popular music, jazz, rhythm and blues, and even country music. This includes music from Spanish, Portuguese, and (sometimes) French-speaking countries and territories of Latin America. Although Latin American music has also been referred to as "Latin music", the American music industry defines "Latin music" as any release with lyrics mostly in Spanish regardless if the artist or music originates from Latin America or not.

For an early example (1914), the bridge to "St. Louis Blues"--"Saint Louie woman, with her diamond rings"—has a habanera beat, prompting Jelly Roll Morton to comment, "You've got to have that Spanish tinge". Many an American band has added a conga player, maracas, or other Latin percussion for just that reason.

The Argentine tango was a worldwide success in the 1930s. Tango dancers and records could be found from Los Angeles to Beijing. In more recent times, artists such as Carmen Miranda, Desi Arnaz, Xavier Cugat, and Pérez Prado ("The Mambo King") were popular with audiences of all cultures. Judy Garland's first hit, as a member of the "Gumm Sisters", was "La Cucaracha."

It was common in dance halls in the 1930s and 1940s for a Latin orchestra, such as that of Vincent López, to alternate with a big band because dancers insisted on it. Latin American music was extremely popular with dancers, not only the samba, pasodoble, rhumba, and mambo, but even the conga (adapted for the ballroom). In the 1950s, Perez Prado made the mambo famous, and the Afro-Cuban jazz of Dizzy Gillespie opened many ears to the harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic possibilities of Latin American music and is still influential in salsa.

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