Hello Webmaster,

Gloria Estefan's "Mi Tierra" is indeed a very danceable CD, which I already possess. In my opinion track 6 "No hay mal..." is a quick cha cha. After the lyrics have been sung - how do you call this repetitive song part typical for salsa-music - the rhythm and instrumentation are very cha cha-ish. If you listen again, you will recognize even a rhythmical phrase (pa -paa pa -paa) which is taken from (Santana's) "Oye como va", which is surely a cha cha, be it a slower one.

Erik

Technically, the second section of this song is really a very slow Salsa. It has all of the elements of Salsa, except for the tempo. The accent you hear on the 4&1 is the conga drum, which is present in Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo, and Salsa.

Still, I wouldn't argue with you that it has a sort of a Cha Cha flavor. Then again, I wouldn't argue with any other interpretation, either... Rumba, Salsa, or Cha Cha. The second section is somewhat ambiguous, and I can see how someone might listen to it and hear any of those three dances (or maybe even Mambo, though it's a bit more of a stretch).

For simplicity's sake, I just used the Rumba interpretation for section two. It's not unreasonable... American style Rumba is alot more rhythmical than its International counterpart. But I do admit that this interpretation doesn't acknowledge the very disctinct rhythmical difference between sections.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Atkinson, webmaster