Salsa means "sauce", and I strongly believe that this is because salsa music comes from a lot of Latin American countries--as well as Africa. It first started with the Latin big-band sound known as "mambo" thanks to groups like Perez Prado, Tito Puente and the Latin All-Stars, and even Machito in the 1950s. The added "twist" to that big-band sound that was mambo came from the big band sounds from the United States of the 1930s. The Cuban "son" started to permeate the rhythms of the early mambo as well as later salsas. This is where the "Son Montuno" was formed-- it simply means a vamping of the 3-2 or 2-3 son clave. Ironically, the Escovedo orchestra made a very cool Latin jazz hit called "Son Montuno", in a style of a cha-cha with a little Cuban flair added in. The orchestra also made a brand new twist in Latin jazz in a form called "Latin fusion." Africa's affinity to the mambo was clear. The call-and-response chants from tribes like the Yoruba, and such African drums like the "tumba", permeated the mambo's rhythm, as well as the djembe and bata rhythms (from West Africa) used in the percussion of salsa/mambo bands. This led to Club Tropicana and most of the Cuban mambo bands played there. However, their mambo music there were "rumba-mambos"--usually too fast to dance the mambo because it sounded like a soca or a funky merengue ("Mambo Caliente" from the Mambo Kings soundtrack is an example.). Therefore, slower Cuban dances were brought out; the guaracha or guajira (or cha-cha-cha), followed by the slower rumba and the bolero. But it was the cha-cha that created excitement in the evolving of salsa--and Celia Cruz (now deceased) formed La Sonora Matancera--just before she would be called "La Reina de Salsa". Then, as the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, caused a demise of that Latin music in Cuba, the mambo went to New York. Then, the 1960s was the decade of protest. From Puerto Rico, my guess is that the Boriquens heard the Cuban music and then devised a twist to it. This was how salsa became evident in Puerto Rico. The Dominican Merengue was also evident even in Puerto Rico; Puerto Rico made a twist to the merengue style in the folk forms known as plena and bomba. Plenas were used in Latin protest marches by Puerto Ricans. Later on, Puerto Rican artists like Marc Anthony caused "salsa romantica" to make a resurgence in the 1990s. And then, groups from the late 1960s and 1970s brought guaracha and several types of salsa to the United States. One of them is the "boogaloo" salsa (from ensembles like Pete Rodriguez and even Sonora Carruseles), which is like a descarga--a fast salsa. Ray Barretto came in with his "descargas" that attempted to re-enact the mambo; his "Indestructible" is a great example. The other was the "salsa romantica"--such salsa are usually laid-back versions of the mambo, with focus on the singer and romantic themes in the lyrics. Artists like Rey Ruiz and Group Niche reinforced salsa romantica in the 1980s. Fania Records, the equivalent to Dansan Records (the company that brought out ballroom music in the 1970s/1980s), had finally realized that the various Latin and African rhythms have to have one name--"salsa." Almost at the same time, the Colombians and the Mexicans in the late 1980s started to step on the salsa bandwagon. Examples included "Maria Mercedes" (Thalia) and "Oye, mire, vea" (Orquesta Guayacan). The Colombians at that point had their focus on the dance called "cumbia" (which Thalia really loved, although in Mexico they have their own cumbia). As a result, focus came on the Colombian city of Cali, where the Barranquilleros would do their shine salsa tricks, and as a result, salsa songs with the title "Cali" (e.g., "Me Voy Pa' Cali" of Oscar de Leon) was common. Colombian salsa usually have strong accents on beats "1" and "3". Cumbia groups like Sonora Dinamita were making and/or remixing songs that would be done in cumbia-salsa style (e.g., "A mover la colita", originally a merengue sung by Wilfrido Vargas). Colombia at that point was gripped in a bitter civil war, and that was partially how Celia Cruz made "La vida es un carnaval" a smashing success in later salsa music...although Cuban radio stations would not allow her to sing it. Salsa made a strong resurgence in the 1990s, and Celia Cruz added even more salsa hits to her repertoire in that decade. There is also the rise of the romantic salsa duet; "Vivir lo nuestro" of Marc Anthony and India was very popular then. By the millennium, modern romantic salsa hits (featuring some techno beats) were common, like "A Puro Dolor" of Son By 4, or "Juliana" of DLG. The Afro-Cuban All Stars came out to re-enact their songs mainly in 1950s danzon style.