key: A dorian
mode: A B C D E F# G
melody: D r f s l (vocal melody only)
form: intro–break–verse–break–vamp 1–break–verse–breakdown–vamp 2–break–breakdown–vamp 2a–break
meter: duple
English function names: tonic subdominant
Tagg (modified): home counterpoise (away)
Riemann: t S
Scale degrees: i7 IV7
Chords: Am D
verse/vamp:
Am7 D7 Am7 D7
|:/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / /:| loop
break:
Am7 D7Am7 D7 Am7
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |
breakdown:
D7
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |
There are two iconic recordings of this one: the original and the Santana version (below), the latter of which is actually fairly respectful and almost conservative with regards to the original. What I’m calling a vamp is a polyrhythmic layering of different sections of the big band playing riffs over the tonic-subdominant shuttle that is the meat of the song. The piccolo improvises on top of this, but it’s not quite the main attraction. This is still dance music, after all, not bebop.
Two interludes break the song up and provide some variety, and they couldn’t be more different from one another. The “break” (this is still my terminology, because what else am I going to use?) has these jaunty, uneven hits from the two chords; whereas the “breakdown” builds the counterpoise chord from the bottom up over the length of a phrase, suspending the harmonic action completely for a moment.
Let's talk about the cha-cha.1 There's a bit of confusion, for me at least, around what is cha-cha, what is mambo, what is rumba and so on. Interestingly, it's easier to find dance explanations than music explanations of the changes and development of the style, but we work with what we have. It seems that at first everything from Cuba was simply called "rumba." Then Perez Prado created a couple fast-paced pieces called "mambo" that still featured the Cuban son rhythm patterns. Dancers combined what they knew with some adjustments to accommodate the faster tempo and a whole new style was born, called both mambo and salsa? You see why I'm confused?
Oh, it gets better. So, mambo (or salsa?) is a category and depending on the speed, it is further categorized into Bolero, Son, or Guaracha. The Guaracha involved a triple-step and eventually was renamed Cha-Cha-Cha.2 In other sources, we learn that the cha-cha came about because the band leader Enrique Jorrin noticed people found the mambo too complicated, so he made something simpler. Participatory music, for the win.
From what I can gather, the history goes Son —> Rumba —> Bolero (a mix of the Spanish Bolero and Cuban Rumba) —> Mambo —> Salsa —> Cha-Cha. I've also read that Salsa is actually from New York City, started, of course, by Cuban immigrants (or children thereof). How styles form, coalesce, grow, and develop is a complicated thing.
other recordings:
Celia Cruz, Siempre Viveré, Sony Tropial. G dorian.
Santana, Abraxas, Columbia. A dorian.
Arturo Sandoval, Mambo Nights, Timba/termidor. D?. This is a fascinating one. The melody is the same as Puente's, but the bass is definitely laying down D as a pedal, and the rest of the arrangement is a harmonic reimagination without ever straying from the style at hand.
Why do I suspect this happened because white people couldn't hear/understand/parse the real word so they made something up that was "Oh, close enough! Whatever!" which, of course, means don't shame me. I digress.