Pambiche

For the restaurant in Portland, Oregon, see Pambiche Cocina and Repostería Cubana.
Pambiche
Stylistic originsMerengue típico
Cultural originsAmerican occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–1924)
Typical instrumentsAccordion, tambora, güira

Pambiche is a Dominican music genre and dance form derived from merengue típico, the traditional style of merengue. It has a slower tempo than standard merengue and its tambora rhythm is based on the cinquillo.[1]

This style of merengue was originally known as merengue estilo yanqui (yankee-style merengue) or "Palm Beach one step", from which the term pambiche stems (corruption of "Palm Beach"). It is said to have originated from the americanized versions of merengue that the US military personnel performed during the occupation of the Dominican Republic. It is considered one of the most difficult americanized Latin American dances.[citation needed]

Recordings

Dominican accordionist El Prodigio released an album entitled Pambiche Meets Jazz in which he combined traditional merengue rhythms (most of the songs featuring pambiche) with American music styles such as jazz, rock and blues.

Both pambiche and merengue are included in Jean Françaix's suite "Cinq Danses Exotiques".[2]

The Dominican songwriter Juan Luis Guerra has recorded several Pambiches, including the traditional merengue Juana Mecho (Soplando, 1984) and his recent releases Pambiche de novia (Privé, 2020).[3] Other pambiches are the traditional Juan Gomero, Rafael Solano's Dominicanita, Vicente Garcia's Palm Beach, and Luys Bien's Déjame Nacer. [4][5]

References

  1. ^ Torres, George (2013). Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood. pp. 292–293. ISBN 9780313087943.
  2. ^ Villafruela, Miguel (2007). El saxofón en la música docta de América Latina (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Universidad de Chile. p. 41.
  3. ^ Nacional, El. "Juan Luis Guerra presenta un lado más íntimo con "Privé"". El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  4. ^ York, The City College of New (2015-07-03). "Un Siglo de Música Dominicana". The City College of New York. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  5. ^ "Luys Bien presenta pambiche de cuna "Déjame Nacer"". Al Paso de los Famosos. Retrieved 18 December 2021.