We travel back to the golden age of Danzón in Mexico City with DJ, journalist and musician Carlos “Tropicaza” Icaza, who shares how this Cuban dance craze dominated dance clubs from the 1940s to the '60s. While Danzón may have faded from popularity, the music’s understated elegance holds great energetic potential. Tropicaza has devoted himself to peeling back history through sonic excavation in order to turn on new generations to historic Latin American musical forms. His band La ReDaDa is the vital manifestation of Danzón’s rhythmic revival. On this episode of Open End, Tropicaza revives the spirits of the long-gone Smyrna Nightclub through an imagined soundtrack of Danzónes. The episode also features tunes from Colombia, Niger, Japan, Benin and beyond, including a world premiere from Analog Africa’s forthcoming _African Scream Contest 2_.
