Linda Bell Viera Caballero, better known as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for the Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel album.
La India performing at the Festival de la Salsa in Nicaragua in 2008.
Salsa music is a style of Latin American music, combining elements of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and American influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montuno and son cubano, with elements of guaracha, cha-cha-chá, danzón, descarga, bolero, guajira, rumba, mambo, jazz, funk, R&B, rock, bomba, and plena. All of these elements are adapted to fit the basic Son montuno template when performed within the context of salsa.
Tumbadoras (conga drums), one of the basic instruments of salsa music
Graciela on claves and her brother Machito on maracas; Machito said that salsa was much like what he had been playing from the 1940s.
Bongos.
Roger Dawson hosted a very popular Las Vegas radio show featuring salsa.