Roots of Rhythm |  | Directors: Gene Rosow, Howard Dratch
Actors: Desi Arnaz, Harry Belafonte, Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz, Xavier Cugat
Studio: New Video Group
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $10.04
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Seller: mediathrill
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 38855
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 150 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: NVGD9476D
ISBN: 0767034783
UPC: 767685947630
EAN: 9780767034784
ASIN: B00005ABEP
Theatrical Release Date: 1994
Release Date: April 24, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Latin music has always been a fixture in American popular culture, but its history reflects centuries of change and complexity from diverse sources. Roots of Rhythm, an incredible three-hour film originally shown on PBS in 1997, traces the development of this exciting musical genre, going back 500 years across three continents. Hosted by the famed Caribbean American entertainer Harry Belafonte, the film begins in West Africa, in the villages that ring with the ancestral anthems of sacred Yoruba beats and bata drums. The focus shifts to Spain, where modern-day troubadours sing their haunting, Moorish-tinged ballads and Gypsies dance their heated flamenco dances. Those musical influences are brought together by the transatlantic slave trade in the island of Cuba, where enslaved Africans and Spanish immigrants mixed and melded each others' music into a myriad of new, hybrid creations like the rumba, tumba francesa, danzon, and mambo. Belafonte quotes a poet who said, "Cuban music is a love affair between the African drum and the Spanish guitar." In America, this love affair bloomed in New York, where Cuban and African American jazz musicians like Machito, Mario Bauza, and Dizzy Gillespie melded mambo rhythms to bebop, creating Latin jazz. Belafonte then brings us to the dazzling timbales master Tito Puente and vocalist Celia Cruz, who reigned as the king and queen of salsa, the stateside version of Cuban dance music that emerged in the '60s. The film offers revealing interviews and music clips with many Latin music stars, including Gloria Estefan of Miami Sound Machine and Panamanian Rubén Blades. The rare archival footage features Dizzy Gillespie's 1948 number "Manteca," bandleader Xavier Cugat's "Gypsy Mambo," and a cartoon clip of Donald Duck doing "Tico Tico." After watching this engaging and encyclopedic film, you'll never dance to Latin music the same way again. --Eugene Holley Jr.
Product Description
Studio: New Video Group Release Date: 05/29/2001 Rating: Nr
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
So Glad it's on DVD! November 18, 2004
AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is one of my all time favorites, and Harry Belafonte is the perfect host. He's delightfully informal and shares personal insights along the way, such as how his contract was cancelled by the mob who ran the Copacabana because he'd married interracially.
One of the aspects I particularly enjoyed was the look at everyday life in Cuba, and the discussion of the U.S. role in that country's history. Without hammering away at the fact, Belafonte discusses our government's unwillingness to recognize Cuba's sovereignty, and expresses his hope that music will break down the barriers. But politics aside, this video series is a must-see for any student of African American music, and Spanish American heritage.
Roots of Rhythm March 20, 2006
Oswald Placeres (Netherlands)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
If you want to know the roots of Cuban music you must see this DVD. Mr. Harry Belafonte takes you on a tour through Africa, Spain, Cuba and finally to the United States. On this DVD he made a thorough investigation and explains how the Afro-Cuban music evolved from the African/Spanish ancestors and spread to other regions including Argentina. Also he shows how the U.S borrowed the Cuban beat to make songs Like "little Darling" by the Diamonds among other hits in America where the lyrics are in English with the Cuban influence sound. He interviews Gloria Estefan, Celia Cruz, Dizzy Gillespie and many others, you will see a rare clip of the great trumpet player a young Louis Armstrong singing "El Manisero"(a traditional Cuban song) in one of his early recordings. Many people have asked me to borrow this DVD because it covers an extraordinary amount of information that most people are not aware, not only is the African sound involved, also the Gypsies and the Spanish Flamenco are traced. It's amazing how much information is available to anyone who is serious in learning the roots of what some are calling Salsa (Afro-Cuban) today. To all musicians this is a must for your collection. Three hours of music to educate the true musicians who want to expand their knowledge in the Afro-Cuban or the Afro-Latin roots.
 Best English language history of Latin Music. August 2, 2000
Salsavideoreviews.org (Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand)
21 out of 26 found this review helpful
This 3 video collection is a must have for all interested in Latin music history from Africa to Cuba to New York. Has some amazing music clips of Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, etc.
Roots Of Rhythm March 21, 2005
V. R. Aquino (San Francisco)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Wow! I don't even know where to begin...it's a great documentary on the history of Cuba, music, roots, rhythm, culture and the people. It was beautifully edited! Belafonte did a wonderful job in explaining the history of cuba's music. You will want to stand up and begin to dance. Why sit down?
Get it! I am!
Azucar!
Very good overview of history of cuban music December 26, 2008
korman (Europe)
This documentary follows the roots of Cuban music, explores its fundamental genres such as son, and traces development of this music for much of the 20th century, to a point when it began to be called latin music or salsa. It's not an encyclopaedia, of course, but gives very good overview of the music.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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