The 600 Latin American Records: A Tribute to Latin America through Music

The year was 2020, still in the maelstrom caused by the COVID-19 virus. The period of cloistering to which we were summoned, as the only lifesaving option, became tedious and prolonged. However, it became a time of reflection that gave free rein to the imagination and motivation of many artists, researchers, etc., who found in the exercise of creation the perfect consolation to mitigate the anxiety of the moment. Thus arose the idea of The 600 records of Latin America., a project that was launched with the aspiration of paying tribute to the Latin identity through the compilation of the most representative records of its music in the 20th century.

Jorge Cárcamo and Christopher Rodríguez, two Chilean friends, scholars and defenders of culture, were the promoters. The former, an enthusiastic music lover, and the latter, author of the book The 200 albums of Chilean rock. The proposal they both had in hand consisted of launching an open call for proposals. on-lineThe project was launched on the X platform (formerly Twitter), through which they would compile the different opinions and, based on this, would compile a list of the most important record productions of the Latin American music scene. 

The main motivation of this initiative is to celebrate the Latin through music. It is important to show the world the true richness of the Latin American music scene, which, although it is listed in selections or playlists The results of international media reports - almost always from countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom - are not very inclusive and do not do justice to its true dimension and diversity.

Therefore, there was a marked intention to influence the elimination of certain prejudices and provide the opportunity to learn more about and promote the musical identity of the region, always seeking to highlight certain important movements and discographies, where you can find very well known works and others very little explored or disseminated. In addition, they sought to alternate contemporary music, pop, rock and other genres such as Cuban son, Andean music, which has such a wealth of genres and subgenres; as well as to rescue the sounds that have been forgotten over time and take them out of the bubble that "geographical fatality" sometimes imposes.

Under these premises, the arduous work began. Enthusiastic people joined the call made through X. Initially, a list was compiled, which totaled a hundred discs. A discussion group was then opened on WhatsApp. Technology was essential in the process, taking into account the situation at the time, when physical contact was not an option. Thus, the project began to take shape as of April 2021. Its purpose was ambitious and complex; it was necessary to create a database that was far from simple. The divergence of perspectives in the exchange group, together with the in-depth study, analysis and classification of the information, among other factors, led to the final result three years later. 

The community character, acquired organically, stands out as a distinctive element in the structuring of the project. Although it began through the interaction of the two fundamental leaders, in reality the way in which it was elaborated, thought and designed was given by a series of collective decisions and experiments. It is worth noting that from the beginning there was a stable group of people around the leaders who formed the community, made up of José Juan Zapara (Mexican journalist living in Argentina), Felipe Figueroa (El Salvador) and José Luis Mercado (Peru, leader of the Rock in the Americas project, who kindly agreed to be interviewed on behalf of the group for this text). In general, all journalists or music lovers. 

Throughout these years, many people supported and participated in the conception and organization of the project and, above all, in the selection of the final result. The plurality of opinions was felt. The fact that they all came from different geographies was an important element in reaching a consensus. The visions on the musical heritage of Latin America were numerous and unequal. Initially, they planned to work with a figure of 500 records representing the best of Latin music, and the period selected was from 1920 to the year 2022. In the end, however, the number grew to 600.

In this decisive process, it is worth mentioning the presence of Mercedes Sanz (Venezuela), Juan Francisco Jaramillo (Colombia), Julián Jiménez (Mexico, resident in the United States), Zoila Benito (Peru), Eduardo Rodríguez (Mexico), Margus Lozanoff (Brazil), and Yoeli Díaz (Dominican Republic). 

The oldest records that were included date from the 1950s, when long-player formats began to appear. You can also find collections of some artists who recorded in the 20's, 30's and 40's; such is the case of Memories of Cuba, of the cuban orchestra Casino de la Playa. The initial database totaled 2500 records and the final decision was reached through an internal vote. 

It was not like "drinking a glass of water". When deciding which albums would remain, the team in charge of the selection assumed the impossibility of including all of them, given the number and complexity of most of the genres. On the other hand, the fundamental idea was not to make an encyclopedic list, or to generate a narrowly intellectual vision. Instead, it was based on balancing knowledge with trends and reaching the widest possible audience, which often knows one part of Latin American music, but is curious to explore others. In general terms, popular genres such as salsa, cumbia, bolero, tango, bossa nova, and even some of Anglo origin that have also been played in Latin America since ancient times, were compiled.

The compilation has been titled by several media and listed on the platforms of streaming as Records of all timewhere past and present are well represented. In addition to the countries that make up Latin America, it was decided to include the United States, taking into account its unquestionable contribution and interaction with Latin music. 

Since July 16, the collection of albums has been published in its entirety. Of these, 58 are by Cuban artists. The work team acknowledged the hard test it represented for them to carry out the selection process in the case of Cuba and Brazil, two countries with a vast diversity of musical genres. For this, they counted on the support and advice of Mr. Julián Jiménez, a Cuban music scholar and collector of Mexican descent living in California. His contribution was essential and some of his reviews appear in the list. They also noted that they were very open to include artists of Cuban descent, such as Ibeyior others who reside outside the island.

In the discography of the patio, were included characters of the stature of Sindo GarayLa Sonora Matancera, Benny MoréCelia Cruz, Olga GuillotArsenio Rodríguez, Los Zafiros, Irakere, Los Aldeanos, just to mention a few. With a touch of mystery, keeping with suspicion the titles of the albums that are still waiting to see the light, we are waiting to know the other names of our geography that make up the list.

This project has not yet had the opportunity to be presented in physical spaces or important events, although many have expressed their interest in it. After learning about the Encuentro de Melómanos y Coleccionistas de Cuba, sponsored by the record company Egrem, the leaders of the project were willing to promote a rapprochement and consider the possibility of presenting it in Cuba. 

The work team confessed to have among its future projections the possibility of crossing borders and leaving the virtual space which, although it has been useful, is not exclusive in order to disseminate the project in other regions, generate debates, etc. In addition, it would be satisfactory for its creators and it is among their pretensions to listen, exchange and acquire knowledge and opinions after the publication of their compilation.

The complete list can be found at here.