Merengue music
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 Merengue music facts

• Although the etymology of the name can be disputed there are only a few theories about where the word might have derived from
• The origins of the music are traced to the land of Cibao and Merengue Cibaeño and Merengue Típico are the terms by which most musicians prefer to refer to Classical Merengue
• The word Cibao was a native name for the island, although the Spanish used it in their conquest to refer to a specific part of the island, namely the highest mountainous range
• Literally speaking the term Merengue Cibaeño is therefore partially native and so Merengue might also be a derivation or mistranslation of a native word related to song, music, dance or festival
• Another theory includes Western African words related to dance and music based on the fact that Merengue has African elements in it
• Merengue was first mentioned around the middle of the 19th century and has locally been very popular since then
• The genre was later promoted even more by Rafael Trujillo, the dictator from 1930 to 1961, who turned it into the country's national music and dance style
• In the United States it was first popularized by New York-based groups and bandleaders like Rafael Petiton Guzman, beginning in the 1930s, and Angel Viloria y su Conjunto Típico Cibaeño in the 1950s
• It was during the Trujillo era that the merengue "Compadre Pedro Juan", by Luis Alberti, became an international hit and standardized the 2-part form of the merengue
• Internationally known merengue singers and groups include Fernando Villalona, Juan Luis Guerra, Eddy Herrera, Toño Rosario & Los Hermanos Rosario, Los Toros Band, Sergio Vargas, Wilfrido Vargas, Johnny Ventura, Bonny Cepeda, Grupo Rana, Miriam Cruz & Las Chicas Del Can, Joseito Mateo, Luis Ovalles, the aforementioned Angel Viloria, El Cieguito de Nagua, Kinito Mendez, Ravel, Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15, Pochy y su Cocoband, Cuco Valoy, The Freddy Kenton Orquestra, Ramón Orlando, Sandy Reyes, July Mateo, Rasputin, Peter Cruz, Alex Bueno, Aramis Camilo, Jochy Hernández, El Zafiro, Dioni Fernandez, The New York Band, Anibal Bravo, Conjunto Quisqueya, Olga Tañón, Gisselle, Henry Hierro y La Gran Manzana and Grupomanía