In this search, I went straight to my go-to music resource NPR music, where I found this little intro to Latin Christmas music. After surfing through Catalina Maria Johnson's Navidad playlist, I have to say I'm impressed. She definitely was spot on when stating that a major difference between the music of Central and Latin America, and North American music, is that the former is often written for dancing. And what holiday needs dancing more than Christmas? Besides burning off all those cookies you scarf down at midnight when you think no one can hear you (or is that just me...?), exercise promotes the production of endorphins in your brain. Thanks to biology, that means dancing makes you happy, and is a proven cure against blue Christmases.
I continued on my search...and was slightly annoyed to find that I had no idea what I was doing. A few sites popped up hear and there, and some playlists helped out, but nowhere could I find a definitive answer. So, I did what I should have done in the first place: talked to someone from a Spanish speaking country. A pen pal of mine (also hailing from Puerto Rico), gave me tons of recommendations as the perfect jumping off point for my own explorations into the music. Here are few of my favorites.
1. "Navidad Boricana" by Andrés Jiménez - Translating to "Puerto Rican Christmas", this song just made me plain old happy. Jiménez's music is known under the style of música jíbara, or Puerto Rican folk music, stemming from traditions of native Puerto Rican culture.
2. "Los Peces En El Rio" - This is a very popular villancico, or Christmas carol, whose catchy tune will probably get stuck in your head almost as badly as the twenty fifth rendition of "Frosty The Snowman" you hear on the radio. This song, however, is steeped in a bit more meaning. The lyrics describe the excitement of los peces en el rio, or fishes in the river, as the Virgin Mary awaits the birth of her son (spoiler alert for those who might not know...her son was Jesus.)
3. "Gatatumba" - Another popular villancico, this song has a nice singalong type rhythm, with lyrics dotted with mention of various instrumentos: el bombo, el rabel, la cascabel, y el tamboril.
4. "Farolito" by Gloria Esteban- Cuban born American singer Gloria Estefan sweetly lends her voice for this Christmas tune. Farolitos, or little lanterns, refers to the lanterns made from putting candles inside paper bags found in the Southwestern United States. These lanterns are believed to be a tradition stemming off of the lanterns, known as luminarias, used by Spanish merchants. Luminarias are used in México (primarily), during the customary Christmas celebration of Las Posadas.
5. "Mi Burrito Sabanero" by Juanes - Okay, I suppose now is as good a time as any to confess my preference for the Colombian singer Juanes. As soon as this song popped up in my search, it went right to the list. This song, also known as "Burrito de Belen" or "El Tuqui Tuqui", is a charming Latin American Christmas standard, and Juanes adds a a folksy touch. You just may find yourself sing along, even if you have almost no idea what the words mean, like me.
Hopefully, these songs will liven up your Christmas soundtrack this year, and I urge anyone looking for some variation in their holiday playlists to scan Pandora, Youtube, or Spotify.. In my opinion, we could all use a little Latin flavor to cut through the monotony of hearing "Jingle Bell Rock" sung by twenty different recording artists, right?
Here's wishing you and yours, "¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año!"
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