Javier F. Leon and Helena Simonett curate a collection of essential writings from the last twenty-five years of Latin American music studies. Chosen as representative, outstanding, and influential in the field, each article appears in English translation. A detailed new introduction by Leon and Simonett both surveys and contextualizes the history of Latin American ethnomusicology, opening the door for readers energized by the musical forms brought and nurtured by immigrants from throughout Latin America. Contributors include Marina Alonso Bolanos, Gonzalo Camacho Diaz, Jose Jorge de Carvalho, Claudio F. Diaz, Rodrigo Cantos Savelli Gomes, Juan Pablo Gonzalez, Ruben Lopez-Cano, Angela Luhning, Jorge Martinez Ulloa, Maria Ignez Cruz Mello, Julio Mendivil, Carlos Minana Blasco, Raul R. Romero, Inigo Sanchez Fuarros, Carlos Sandroni, Carolina Santamaria-Delgado, Rodrigo Torres Alvarado, and Alejandro Vera.

An invention of the Industrial Revolution, the accordion provided the less affluent with an inexpensive, loud, portable, and durable "one-man-orchestra" capable of producing melody, harmony, and bass all at once. Imported from Europe into the Americas, the accordion with its distinctive sound became a part of the aural landscape for millions of people but proved to be divisive: while the accordion formed an integral part of working-class musical expression, bourgeois commentators often derided it as vulgar and tasteless. This rich collection considers the accordion and its myriad forms, from the concertina, button accordion, and piano accordion familiar in European and North American music to the exotic-sounding South American bandoneon and the sanfoninha. Capturing the instrument's spread and adaptation to many different cultures in North and South America, contributors illuminate how the accordion factored into power struggles over aesthetic values between elites and working-class people who often were members of immigrant and/or marginalized ethnic communities. Specific histories and cultural contexts discussed include the accordion in Brazil, Argentine tango, accordion traditions in Colombia, cross-border accordion culture between Mexico and Texas, Cajun and Creole identity, working-class culture near Lake Superior, the virtuoso Italian-American and Klezmer accordions, Native American dance music, and American avant-garde. Contributors are Maria Susana Azzi, Egberto Bermudez, Mark DeWitt, Joshua Horowitz, Sydney Hutchinson, Marion Jacobson, James P. Leary, Megwen Loveless, Richard March, Cathy Ragland, Helena Simonett, Jared Snyder, Janet L. Sturman, and Christine F. Zinni.

Javier F. Leon and Helena Simonett curate a collection of essential writings from the last twenty-five years of Latin American music studies. Chosen as representative, outstanding, and influential in the field, each article appears in English translation. A detailed new introduction by Leon and Simonett both surveys and contextualizes the history of Latin American ethnomusicology, opening the door for readers energized by the musical forms brought and nurtured by immigrants from throughout Latin America. Contributors include Marina Alonso Bolanos, Gonzalo Camacho Diaz, Jose Jorge de Carvalho, Claudio F. Diaz, Rodrigo Cantos Savelli Gomes, Juan Pablo Gonzalez, Ruben Lopez-Cano, Angela Luhning, Jorge Martinez Ulloa, Maria Ignez Cruz Mello, Julio Mendivil, Carlos Minana Blasco, Raul R. Romero, Inigo Sanchez Fuarros, Carlos Sandroni, Carolina Santamaria-Delgado, Rodrigo Torres Alvarado, and Alejandro Vera.