In praise of Puerto Ricans
Sir: Taki writes that 'there has never been — nor will there ever be — a single positive contribution by a Puerto Rican' to the United States (High life, 14 June).
Someone who spends as much time as Taki in the Big Apple really ought to know better. It is there that Puerto Rican musi- cians have created and nurtured one of the richest and most rhythmically complex styles of dance music in the world — salsa. The salsa singers Ismael Rivera and Hector Lavoe and instrumentalists like trombonist Willie Colon all hail from Puerto Rico, as do two of the best groups in the music, El Grano Combo and La Sonora Poncena.
Taki has written elsewhere of dancing the night away at New York's Studio 54. What a shame he didn't go to the nearby Village Gate or SOBs and hear some real music. Or just twiddle his radio dial. . . .
Alex Webb
55 Vaughan Road, Harrow, Middlesex
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