New York's: Latin music landsmarks

Soon after Hispanic musicians began to settle in New York at the end of World War I, the city became the capital of Latin music. Artists were drawn to the Big Apple by its recording and entertainment industries. Most of the new immigrants first lived near the port, in an area called Red Hook in Brooklyn. Later on, many of them moved to East Harlem, a section that eventually was called Spanish Harlem or "El Barrio."

LANDMARKS IN "EL BARRIO HISPANO"

As would be expected, the first Latin music landmarks in New York were to be found in Spanish Harlem. The earliest locations were small music and record stores, social clubs, movie theaters and musician hangouts such as pool halls and cafes. These were indeed humble landmarks, but quite significant in the history of Latin music in New York City.

Hispanic musicians first found employment in New York City, by providing music for small parties in private homes. It has been reported that in 1920, Puerto Rican composer and musician Rafael Hernández was perhaps the first to play Latin music in New York when he entertained at an apartment party in Spanish Harlem. These apartment parties provided an escape from the boredom of factory work for the "barrio people." They were usually held on Saturday nights at the apartment of a family who provided room for dancing to the music of a small local group. There was a twenty-five cent admission charge. Since it was the time of Prohibition, the family sold distilled rum and home brewed beer illegally at twenty-five cents per drink. The income provided the family with funds to pay the rent.

As the community grew, social clubs were organized and dances were scheduled in rented reception halls. It has been generally acknowledged that the first bona fide Latin dance was held at the Golden Casino at 111th Street and 5th Avenue. The hall was rented for the night by a Puerto Rican civic association. Another such establishment was the Park Palace Caterer's Hall, located on the corner of 110th Street and 5th Avenue in an area next to Central Park and Frawley Circle. It was predominantly a Jewish catering hall where weddings and other special occasions were celebrated. Mrs. Anna Hersh, proprietress of the Palace Caterers, rented out her premises for Saturday night dances. Eventually, that spot would become the most important Latin music landmark in Spanish Harlem. There were actually two dance halls in that location. The larger one, known as the Park Plaza, was upstairs and below was the Park Palace, a smaller facility. Frequently, different Latin bands would be performing simultaneously in the two halls. In the following years, more dance halls in the neighborhood became available to the Latin community. Dances were regularly scheduled at such places as: the Club Cubanacán-114th Street and Lennox Avenue, (MOP) Mutualista Obrero Puertorriqueño-110th Street and Lexington Avenue, the Sail Juan Club-102nd Street and Madison Avenue, American Legion Hall- East 112th Street and the Oddfellows Temple- 106th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.

Some of the Latino community's music needs were met at first by variety stores owned by non-Hispanic businessmen. Some of them hired Hispanics as sales clerks in their record departments. A Spaniard named Daniel Castellanos claimed to be the first New York Hispanic merchant of Spanish-language records. His first music store located in the South Ferry area of lower Manhattan, was established before 1922. Castellanos later opened two record shops in the Barrio section of East Harlem. Eventually, some Puerto Rican entrepreneurs bought record shops from their non-Hispanic owners. One of the first to do so was Victoria Hernández, who in 1927, bought a shop from its Jewish owners.

Another pioneer in the Latin music business in New York was Puerto Rican Gabriel Oiler. His Tatay's Spanish Music Center was located around the corner from the Park Palace, on 5th Avenue. He sold guitars, sheet music, 78 recordings and piano rolls. Oller's establishment was a gathering place for musicians who came to purchase instrument parts, to engage in small talk and once in a while to make recording masters. Gabriel was a sound engineer and provided a service for artists who wanted to make acetate-recording masters. The artists in turn sold them to big record companies. Oiler named his test record service Dynasonic Records. Years later, he established the very successful independent recording labels Coda and SMC.

The music store founded in 1927 by Victoria Hernández was another Latin music landmark in El Barrio. It was the first Puerto Rican-owned record shop in the community. Victoria was Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández's sister and she gave it the name "Almacenes Hernández." The store was located at 1635 Madison Avenue between 113th and 114th Streets. In 1930, the business was moved to 1724 Madison Avenue. In the room behind the store, Victoria kept a piano with which she gave private lessons and Rafael Hernández used to write some of his compositions. Allegedly, that is where he wrote his famous Lamento Borincano. Sister Victoria tells that Rafael would meet regularly with his fellow musicians and other expatriates in that room to alleviate their nostalgia by drinking rum and singing Puerto Rican songs. In 1927, Victoria Hernández founded Hispano Records in an attempt to provide recording opportunities for her brother's music. Her efforts failed when she could not beat the competition presented by the big recording companies.