Hi all,
I’ve just released my 21st episode of The Clave Chronicles today! It’s about the OG queen of Latin crossover, Gloria Estefan, who was my gateway into Cuban music when she released her first Spanish-language solo album, Mi Tierra, in 1993. 30 years ago! The thing is, she had already broken barriers with Miami Sound Machine in the 1980s - she was the first Latin crossover star, making it big with her pop hits in English. Gloria walked so Shakira, Ricky Martin, and so many more could run.
I knew I had to record an episode about her career, since Mi Tierra was so formative for me and put me on the eventual path toward researching and writing about Cuban music. So even if you don’t like Gloria’s anti-communist politics—and btw, she and Emilio aren’t just run-of-the-mill conservatives, they have an out lesbian daughter and have been great LGBTQ allies—and think she’s a gusana, I hope you can appreciate how important she and Emilio have been in creating a space for Latin music in the U.S. For example, Emilio helped create the Latin Grammys.
Here’s a soundbite from the episode:
Of course, I really need your downloads, so please go listen to the episode on Apple or your favorite podcast player (Apple is preferred since you can give me a 5-star rating there, or better yet, leave me a nice review!)
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2158804/13673342
Since it’s been awhile, I just wanna let you know about some recent episodes of the show that you might have missed.
Last week’s show featured renowned scholar Frances Aparicio in a conversation about women and feminism in salsa music:
I also recorded a jam-packed two-part episode with the creator of Timba.com, the largest Cuban music website in the world, Kevin Moore. He broke down many of the elements and best proponents of timba, the contemporary Cuban dance music that emerged in the early 1990s.
I recorded a few solo episodes about the long and incredible career of Cuba’s greatest band, Los Van Van
And, I recorded a super fun interview with ethnomusicologist Mike Levine about the current most popular music in Cuba, reparto
I’m proud of the many hours of work I’ve put into making what I think is a very informative and hopefully entertaining podcast about Cuban music over the past 5 months. I want to keep going, but I could really use your support. Maybe Cuban music isn’t your thing but you know someone who would enjoy it - or maybe you could just go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a rating/review, something that would take just a few minutes of your time. I am hoping to eventually be able to earn some income from the podcast, so please let me know if you have any ideas for sponsors or organizations that might be interested in supporting the work I’m doing.
In the meantime, you can always leave me a one-time donation here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clavechronicles
As for my writing, I’m definitely still doing it - it’s just been a more challenging year for that aspect of my professional life, largely because the media industry is in crisis right now. Thanks for supporting my various creative activities!