Authenticity in Latino Music: Scenes of Place, by music helps membeRs of latino communities make sense of theiR selves and theiR eveRyday life. fouR inteRactionist concepts—the scene, idiocultuRe, place, and authenticity—aRe used to examine tRaditional latino music scenes (conjunto, maRiachi, salsa, and latin jazz) in houston, texas. naRRatives of authenticity validate paRticipation as scene membeRs. it is pRoblematic in scenes invoking potentially conflicting cRiteRia of quality—populated by anglos as well as latinos

doi:10.4324/9781315633374-17

Chapter

Authenticity in Latino Music: Scenes of Place, by music helps membeRs of latino communities make sense of theiR selves and theiR eveRyday life. fouR inteRactionist concepts—the scene, idiocultuRe, place, and authenticity—aRe used to examine tRaditional latino music scenes (conjunto, maRiachi, salsa, and latin jazz) in houston, texas. naRRatives of authenticity validate paRticipation as scene membeRs. it is pRoblematic in scenes invoking potentially conflicting cRiteRia of quality—populated by anglos as well as latinos

Chapter

Authenticity in Latino Music: Scenes of Place, by music helps membeRs of latino communities make sense of theiR selves and theiR eveRyday life. fouR inteRactionist concepts—the scene, idiocultuRe, place, and authenticity—aRe used to examine tRaditional latino music scenes (conjunto, maRiachi, salsa, and latin jazz) in houston, texas. naRRatives of authenticity validate paRticipation as scene membeRs. it is pRoblematic in scenes invoking potentially conflicting cRiteRia of quality—populated by anglos as well as latinos

ABSTRACT

Music is an especially salient feature of Latino culture, informing migration, citizenship, spirituality, and other aspects of the contemporary Latino experience (Natella 2008). In this chapter, we examine conjunto, mariachi, salsa, and Latin jazz. We refer here to these varieties as established music scenes, that is, as having been part of the existing landscape of Latino music for many decades. Established scenes are characterized by more tightly written scripts. These scripts include

fairly specific definitions of authenticity in music. The perception of authenticity in music scenes is an important dimension for all participants, including both the artists and audience members. Authenticity can be conceptualized as something strategically invoked as a marker of status or method of social control. Authenticity is not so much a state of being as it is the objectification of a process of representation, that is, it refers to a set of qualities that people in a particular time and place have come to agree represent an ideal or exemplar (Vannini and Williams 2009, p. 3).