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Lambada, the music is most like a fast-paced waltz. Lambada, the dance is, to say the least, vulgar. It is from Brazil. Its life was short.

Salsa is the marriage of Cuban rhythm, American Rock And Roll, and American Progressive Jazz, evidenced by the syncopation and heavy brass. A man by the name of Johnny Pacheco who was born in The Dominican Republic but moved to New York at the age of six is the ‘father’ of the Salsa. When his band first played a Salsa in a New York club, people in the audience asked, “What is that that you are playing”? He hadn’t thought about a ‘name’ for the sound and the first word that popped into his head was “Salsa” because, “it has a little bit of everything in it.” There are many ‘versions’ of the Salsa, Rhumba, Guaguanco, etc, but they are all ‘children’ of the Cuban ‘Son’ which goes back to the Cuba of the 1920s. Cuban rhythms have their roots in Africa, hence the rhythms are generally called, “Afro-Cuban” rhythms. You might hear from Puerto Ricans who say that they started the Salsa. Ditto for Columbians and Venezuelans but the rhythms all originated in Cuba.

The Merengue was ‘born’ in The Dominican Republic in the late 50s/early 60s. It is most like American marching music in that it is simply step-step-step just as a soldier marches. It is very fast-paced. It is a lot of fun to dance the Merengue but in my opinion not to simply listen to it.

I know nothing about the Zouk, which was started in the Caribbean-French islands. Wiki says that it is carnival-type music.