The RÃo de la Plata, an estuary on the east coast of South America between Uruguay and Argentina, is a melting pot of cultural influences. A hundred and fifty years ago, as people from different backgrounds and traditions created the music we now know as tango, anotherâand far less well-knownâgenre began surfacing in the coastal outposts of Uruguay, east of the riverâs shores. If tango combined melody and melancholy to tell stories of gangsters and other colorful characters, this new sound was upbeat and exuberant. Developed by Black Uruguayans, the music became known as
candombe, an Uruguayan phenomenon and a national genre that is still performed by groups of drummers every year at carnival.