Hangin' with the Legends

Here I am with Totico and Victor Venegas, two of the true legends of this music. For those of you who may not know...Vic was one of the most prolific bassists in the last 40+ years. He was a first call bassist in NYC for years and his credentials run the gamut from Cortijo Y Los Cachimbos to Machito. I first saw him in 1964 at the Schaefer Beer concerts which were held in Central Park's Wollman Ice Skating Rink during the summer months. He was playing with none other than Mongo Santamaria. He recorded many albums with the Mighty Mongo. Vic passed away about 3 years ago and is truly missed by those whose lives he touched. Totico is still active in the folkloric scene in NY con su juego de Aña Fundamento.

Felipe Garcia Villamil

(Felipe, Photo Credit: I forgot, sorry)

One of the lesser known (outside of the NY Rumba/Bata community of course) Cubans to hit NY in the 80's was none other than Matancero, Felipe Garcia Villamil. Felipe not only brought insight into how bata is played in Matanzas (as opposed to Havana which is of the majority in NY) he also taught various people during his time in NY. Felipe was living in the Bronx at the time.

The 2nd generation of his group "Emikeke" (which he started in Cuba) consisted of NY cats the like of Greg Askew, among others. A great piece of literature title, "Drumming For The Gods", by former student Maria Velez cronicled the life and times of Felipe and offered much first hand insight as well.

Felipe who is currently in California boasts long lineage, I posted an article that was written a while back, and another from Afrocubaweb.

For 78-year-old master drum-maker Felipe García Villamil, the drum is the heart and soul of Cuban music. "It's what you feel in your body," the Cuban-born drummer said in Spanish. "It's in the heart." Villamil performed with his Afro-Cuban group Emikeke at Long Beach's Museum of Latin American Art last month as part of a free event called "Canciones del Alma" or "Songs of the Soul." Aside from performing for more than 70 years, Villamil is also a master craftsman who makes his own instruments - a skill that's in his blood. Villamil was born in Matanzas, Cuba, to a family rooted in African traditions. His mother is the granddaughter of drum makers from Oyo, now the country of Nigeria. At age five, Villamil inherited his first set of drums from his Nigerian great-grandfathers. They were bata drums - double-headed and shaped like an hourglass. Villamil says the various styles of Cuban music are largely influenced by Spanish and African traditions. During the flourishing of the sugar industry in the 19 th century, thousands of African slaves flooded the Caribbean country, bringing their drums, music and religious practices. After Cuba abolished slavery in 1886, the African groups maintained their cultural traditions. Popular Cuban styles of music in which an African influence can be heard include bolero, cha-cha-chá, charanga, conga, habanera, mambo, rumba and Son Cubano. "It all comes from Africa," Villamil said. Villamil immigrated to the United States in the 1980 s and now lives in Los Angeles, where he has an ensemble with his sons Ajamu, Miguel and Atoyebi, and daughter Tomasa. In addition to his children in the United States, he has 16 children in Cuba. In 2000, he was honored with the National Heritage Fellowship for master folk and traditional artists, a one-time only award presented by the National Endowment for the Arts. Villamil says he feels lucky to live in the States and share the music of his homeland. He continues to perform live shows, teaches and lectures on the art of Afro-Cuban performance traditions. "I'm married to my music," the artist said.

http://current.com/items/89407568_cuban_born_drummer_feels_beat_from_the_heart

Obal Ogun, Tata Nganga, Isu Nekue, Olu Aña , Olu Iyesa, these are some of Felipe Garcia Villamil's titles from Matanzas, Cuba, where he was born into a family deeply rooted in African Cuban traditions. His mother, Tomasa Villamil, is the grand-daughter on both sides of Yoruba drummers/drum-makers from the city-state of Oyo in present-day Nigeria. His father, Benigno Garcia Garcia, was an adept in Palo Monte, a spiritual tradition of Kongo derivation, and also in the Abakua fraternity, a men's society brought to Cuba from the Calabar region along the border between Nigeria and Cameroon.
From his Yoruba great-grandfathers Mr. Garcia Villamil inherited a set of bata drums, and he has been initiated not only as a drummer, but also as caretaker of these ritually prepared drums. He is a master of the Iyesa drumming and drum-making tradition, brought to Cuba from the Yoruba city-state of Ilesha and actively maintained in the Cabildo de San Juan Bautista in Matanzas, Cuba, since the mid-19th century. The Iyesa drums created by Mr. Garcia Villamil are almost certainly the only Iyesa drums in the United States. He has created bembé drums, another instrument of Yoruba derivation rarely seen in the United States, and performs as a master drummer in all the Yoruba-Cuban traditions, including the guiro ensemble.
Mr. Garcia Villamil performs as well the sacred and secular rhythms of Kongo derivation and the rhythms of Abakua. He has been described as completo, a complete percussionist, as he is also a master in the Matanzas style of rumba and comparsa, known for its unique sabor (flavor). Mr. Garcia Villamil is also a master singer in all these traditions, as well as a ritual artist who creates, not only drums, but altars, ceremonial objects and exquisite beadwork.
In Cuba, Mr. Garcia Villamil founded and directed the ensemble, Emikeke in the 1970s. The group performed all over the island as well as internationally, and their recordings have been collected by aficionados of African Cuban music in the United States, Latin America and elsewhere.
Since 1980, Mr. Garcia Villamil has been in the United States. He now lives in Los Angeles where he has established an ensemble with his sons, Ajamu, Miguel and Atoyebi, and his daughter, Tomasa.
Mr. Garcia Villamil teaches, performs, gives lecture - demonstrations, and works as a spiritual leader and ritual artist in the Los Angeles area. Since his arrival in the United States, he has shared with many people his profound knowledge of African Cuban performance traditions which synthesize song, drumming and dance, incorporated into systems of moral and philosophical guidance and healing based in a deep reverence for nature and for those who came before.

http://www.afrocubaweb.com/

Greg "Peache" Jarman

As you know one of the reasons Willie and I started this blogsite was to highlight those drummers that haven't really gotten their due. There are various drummers whose talents exceeds many of the "known" drummers of today but for some reason they have been overlooked. In the East Coast Afro Caribbean drum community there has always existed a very strong African American presence, since the beginning. If it weren't for guys like Gene Golden, Pablo Landrum, Robert Crowder, Don Alias, Chief Bey, Babafemi, etc...where would we be?

This actually made me think of more recent players and singers such as Skip "Brinquito" Burney, Oludara Bernard, Brandon Rosser, Canute Bernard (ibae), Amma McKen, Fela Wiles, Victor Jaraslov, Emory Damon, and others whom are among the community of players that are not necessarily of Spanish descent or even of African American descent for that matter. But why should that make a difference? It didn't back then and it doesn't now. So that said...

Greg "Peache" Jarman

I've talked to Matthew Smith a couple of times about how he got started making congas and bata. One of the guys that helped Matthew in terms of checking and getting the measurements right for the bata he was trying to make was Peache. There has been a Philly drumming scene for quite some time, and various drummers have come out of the area. I found a little biographical information on him at the Folklore Project. Here it is for your reading pleasure.

Greg "Peache" Jarman first learned conga drumming from Robert Crowder and Garvin Masseaux in Philadelphia. He played with many local Latin bands here and went to California during the peak years of African Cuban drum culture, where he studied and played with Mongo Santamaria, Francisco Aquabella, and others. Aquabella was especially known for batá; Santamaria was a famous congero from Cuba who came to the United States in the 1950s, from Cuba, before the Cuban dance and culture craze hit.
Much of the music that became commercially successful was far from roots traditions. Yet many artists continued to school themselves in the more "undiluted" African Cuban sounds and rhythms and this was Mr. Jarman's approach. He returned from California with expertise on batá drums and the religious culture surrounding them and continued to develop the structure of batá drumming here. Mr. Jarman has been involved with African-based percussion for over 35 years and continues to study and play West African, Haitian, and Cuban styles. He performs widely with Latin bands and has played with many well-known artists including Santamaria, Cal Tjader and Willie Bobo.

Mr. Jarman has been a member of Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble since about 1969. He was an original member of Philadelphia's Traditional African American Drummers Society, a group dedicated to the preservation and continuation of African hand drumming in the city. Since about 1995, he has been part of the Spoken Hand Society, a group consisting of four percussion ensembles: Brazilian (led by Tom Lowery), West African (led by Daryl "Kwasi" Burgee), North Indian (led by Lenny Seidman), and Afro-Cuban (which Mr. Jarman himself leads). The Spoken Hand received a 1998 Rockefeller grant to pursue cross-tradition compositions, and they were featured at Atlanta's National Black Arts Festival in July 1998.Mr. Jarman is deeply involved in the spiritual dimensions of the drum. He is also a gifted teacher and has been giving lecture-demonstrations and classes at churches of various denominations, schools, youth programs, and penitentiaries for over 25 years. Sometimes, along with other drummers, he plays on street corners where all can hear. He has been teaching in the Folklore Project's artist in residence program, and has performed, with Kulu Mele, at "Philly Dance Africa." In June 2000, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

More info to come...

Los Rumbero All Stars - Rocky's Bday

Here is a rare video, courtesy of Felix Sanabria. Unfortunately Rocky (ibae) was to pass away not too long after this recording. Los Rumbero All Stars, arguably one of the most important and influential early rumba groups in the city, never got their due. Their influence will live on in the minds and memories of those rumberos that happened to be in the right time and place and witnessed them play in person. This particular clip shows the rumberos playing for Rocky's birthday up in Peeskill. It seems that Juan Vega "Bamboo" was not in attendance for this particular jam, but they had more than enough players needed to get the party jumpin'. Enjoy.

Gene Golden - Part 1

A couple of years ago, while in NY, I made it a point to check out Chico Alvarez's band "Palo Monte". They were playing every so often at Sob's, so I decided to head out there one Friday after work. While the band was cookin' I admit I really only went for one reason, Gene Golden.

I had followed Gene ever since getting into the music, but had still not had the opportunity to see him play live. It really was a real treat watching this seasoned pro play the tumbas with the energy of a 20 year old. At this particular gig I had approached Gene about doing a little interview, he politely obliged and we went downstairs.

Unfortunately time did not permit a proper interview but I did get some information that I will share in the meantime.

RD: Gene how did you get started playing congas?

GG: Well, my mother would run me out of the kitchen because I used to like to play on the pots and pans. Alot of drummers started out that way. When I was about 8 years old my godfather would come to the house and my mother would talk to him about m my interest in playing the drums, so one day he bought me a conga drum. So I started playing, I was playing in the streets, in the parks. I would stay with my grandmother alot of the time and she lived on 107th between 5th and Madison Aves. She was from St Croix and she spoke Spanish. Alot of people in the neighborhood were Latino, so there was that influence. Then I moved back to 150th between Convent and St. Nicholas, thats when I really started to get into it. I was a little older then and was starting to play in little local bands.

(Quinto Mayor- Gene on tres golpe, Pedrito Martinez on tumba, Roman Diaz on quinto, Barry Cox and Max on coro, Joe Gonzalez on guagua, ? on guiro, Video Credit:Jicamocubano)

GG: I met a guy named Joe, who used to play with alot of Bebop bands. He was trying to put conga drums in bebop music. I used to like his drums because they were all painted pretty, I was like, "where'd you get a drum like that?", he said, "c'mon I'll take you..." So he took me down to 116th st off of Lenox Ave. The place was a bakery, this guy used to make drums there so I got one from there.

Then another friend took me to a place on 125th st called "Club Cubano", where Arsenio Rodriguez played every saturday. It was more of a social club type place. Arsenio's band would play nice stuff earlier but after 8pm I noticed that the mothers would take children home. I would then see the mothers come back looking sharp, and the bands would get more serious.

Quique (Arsenio's brother) was the one that taught me how to play congas. I didn't play with them, but Quique would show me different techniques on the drum.

RD: What kind of player was Quique?

GG: Quique was very strong, he was a palero.

Soon after I would meet Julito Collazo, Tommy Lopez, Patato, Totico, and Lil' Ray Romero...

(Gene Golden, Photo Credit: justsalsa)

As you can see I didn't get to ask him many questions. Gene started talking and there was no way I was going to interrupt him as he was giving me such great information. Soon after we started talking he was called up to start his set. I stayed to watch the band and left soon after they finished. I've called Gene afterwords to try and finish the interview but have never been able to hook up with him again. Hopefully I will be able to do so in the near future.

* Barry's site has a great post about Gene, and a great video link as well

A Tribute to Babafemi Akinlana

Babafemi is walking, talking, drum playing history. Al "Babafemi" Humphries has been playing drums for over 56 years. His is the story of the reintroduction of Africanism into American mainstream culture. I am honored to say that this Tata in Palo and priest of Obatala in Ocha is a mentor and friend. I will be writing an extensive biography about Baba for these pages. His story will read like a who's who of percussion as he has played with such world renown figures as Katherine Dunham and Olatunji to name but a few. Here we have many of his students paying tribute to him the POINT CDC in the Bronx where he has resided for many years. Babaila is on lead vocal. The rest of the group consists of myself, Angel Rodriguez and Dafadi on drums, Jimmy Cruz on bell and Kali Ramirez and Chano Rodriguez on shekere. Date: 7/20/02

Frankie Rodriguez

(Frank Colon, ?, Julito Collazo, Frankie Rodriguez, Steve Berrios, Photo Credit: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/)

The importance of Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorkino can't be overstated. They influenced countless musicians and more importantly (at least for me) rumberos. They were creating and recording ideas that had not yet been touched upon and their message was being heard loud and clear among rumberos in the city.

(check out: http://sentimientomanana.blogspot.com/2008/08/gfyenstill-going-strong.html for more Grupo info and goodies)

One of those Grupo standouts that is no longer here is the late Frankie Rodriguez. Frankie was a great singer of rumba and santo, and these examples can be heard to great extent on Grupo's first recording "Concepts in Unity", (at least his guiro singing).


In my opinion Frankie wasn't a polished singer like lets say, Eugenio "Totico" Arango or an Abraham Rodriguez, but what he lacked in tone he more than made up for in ibiono and all out raw delivery. When you hear Frank sing you know he is definitely singing from the heart. This is one of the main reasons why I gravitated to his style when I first heard him on Grupo's stuff.

(Tony Jimenez, Pablito Rosario, Frankie Rodriguez, Photo Credit: Pablito Rosario)

Frankie at some point is playing with Julito Collazo y su Tambor. He plays conga with Ismael Miranda's group, Revelacion. Frankie then goes to Puerto Rico where he helps form "Zaperoko" along with the late Penalty and Edwin "Zaperoko" Feliciano. This early group featured Frank on vocals along with, Edwin Feliciano on Trombone, John "Penalty" Oliva on congas, William Cepeda on trombone, Ray Concepcion (on piano I believe), among others. This group definitely had swing, click on the album below to download their rare out of print LP, "Cosa de Locos" on the Montuno Records Label.

Frankie sang in Jerry's early Fort Apache recordings and he sings a great rumba on, "El Rio Esta Hondo", on Fort Apache's "Obatala" recording.

Sadly, that is really all the info I have on Frankie Rodriguez for now, if and when I get more, I will definitely put it out there. In the meantime enjoy this little video clip, with a young Giovanni Hidalgo on congas, and Frankie on vocals tearing it up.

("Zaperokero", Video Credit: 1zaperoko)

*thanks to Jorge Ginorio for identifying the okonkolero in the first pic

Rumba University of the Streets

(Johnny Conga and Willie Everich in 1973 @ 149th st on the Grand Concourse, Photo Credit: Willie "El Ruso" Everich)

In 1972 I embarked upon my percussion journey. I had acquired several teachers most important of which was "Trap" or Johnny Conga as he prefers to be called these days. JC lived on Walton Ave near 166th St and Mulally Park, the rumba university, was several blocks away. His day time gig at that point was Mental Health Worker, a position with NYC's HHC. One of his colleagues was one Luciano "Chano" Rodriguez who was also an accomplished percussionist and artist and lived on Jerome and 165th St; directly across the street from the park. Phil Newsome, timbalero with Harlow at the time also lived in Chano's building as did percussionist/artist and one of the ORIGINAL founders of El Museo Del Barrio and the Taller Boricua, Adrian Garcia.

(Left to Right: Adrian Garcia, Willie "El Ruso" Everich, Amanda Everich, Johnny Conga, the late Chano, Photo Credit: Willie "El Ruso")

Just west, up a long flight of stairs, a group had taken over a building and claimed it for the people. They also included many percussionists and artists as well. They represented the African American presence in the park and included such players as Yomi Yomi, Balogun, Akinsele and Dafadi among others. These drummers travelled the world as members of the reknowned Chuck Davis Dance Company. They introduced me to Djimbe. Many of the members of this collective would go on to help found Oyotungi Village . They were the very first I saw play Bata (at the Studio Museum in Harlem) and DunDun, the talking drums . Other visitors to the park included Eloi Marti, older brother of Virgilio, Tapia, Osorio (who would become conguero with Charanga 76) and Henry Fiol of Saoco fame. Chano's apartment became a Mecca of percussion with many jam sessions lasting for hours as everyone honed their skills and fed their heads. I myself spent many hours there playing and listening to my teachers who were tough but fair. If Chano's apartment was the Dean's office then Mulally was the classroom where rumba and other rhythms were played just about every night. Chano was also in possession of a vast music collection that afforded plenty of research material. For someone wanting to learn to play, Mulally provided an opportunity that you would be hard pressed to recreate. It was without a doubt the Rumba University of the Streets and I am one of the extrememly lucky alumni.

(Mullally Park, Bronx NY)

Los Rumbero All Stars

So I am sitting in Willie’s living room watching a copy of the documentary that he produced way back when about Rumba in the city, or more specifically, “Armando’s Rumbacera” (rumba that was a mainstay throughout the 80’s and 90’s in Washington Heights), and I keep hearing the name “Los Rumbero All Stars” (not to be confused with “Los Rumberito All Stars”, consisting of a young Marc Quinonez, Bobby Allende, etc…) At various points in the doc, Willie asks various rumberos (i.e. Apache, Yambu, Yeyito Flores, Rene Lopez II, Dorien, Jose Rivera, Izzy Davila, Angel Rodriguez) about their influences and so forth. At least 3 or 4 cats mentioned Los Rumbero All Stars. So that stuck out in my mind.

Not too long before that I remember Felix Sanabria mentioning the same group as well, so I’m thinking, “why didn’t I know about this group, that seems to be of great influential importance?”, and “why isn’t there more information about them out there?”. Well, hopefully that won’t be the case for too much longer. .

Just the other day I gave Felix a ring to let him know I will be burning some cd’s for him and to ask him about Los Rumbero All Stars specifically. Now Felix is a pretty busy cat, which is why I usually call him at work, because I don’t want to take too much of his time at the house. Well, once I mention Los Rumbero All Stars, he runs down some of the history and next thing I know we are on the phone for probably 20 minutes straight. It was great.

Here are some of the names that were mentioned:

Rocky* (Ibae 11/94)
Nene*
Eddie Mercado
Nestor "Bootie" Bonilla*
Fat Man
Gene*

* main core group according to Willie El Ruso

(the lat e Rocky (ibae 11/94), Photo Credit: Felix Sanabria/Mark Sanders)

Apache told me a good story over the phone last year. As Apache tells it, he was walking in the neighborhood and heard someone playing conga. Apache, naturally drawn to the sound went to see where it was coming from. What he saw was a small cat, about 5', 4", but playing with the strength of 100 men. He had a powerful sound, which left a deep impression on Apache. That person was Bootie.

(Jose "Apache" Rivera, Photo Credit: Angel R)

Los Rumbero All Stars was more or less based out of El Barrio around 119th st. According to Felix there were several groups in and around NY at the time, such as Lexington Ave Express (Tito Cepeda, John Mason), there was Felix’s crew which played out of the Frederick Douglass Houses in the Upper West Side (Danny Santos, Yeyito, Joey, etc…), and David Hernandez’s group on 125th st and Amsterdam Ave.

(Tito Cepeda, Photo Credit: Los Pleneros de la 21)

According to Felix at the time in the 70’s Los Rumbero All Stars were the kings of the Central Park rumba. In his words, “they were untouchable.” They hold particular distinction in playing, developing or even creating rumba “breaks”. Willie mentions that they used to do breaks that would drive people nuts. See, while other rumbas were mostly rumba abiertas, Los Rumbero All Stars would be more organized and rehearsed. Not everyone could sit down and play with these cats; in fact the unit was small and rather tight. Felix also mentions that they hold the distinction of being one of the first (if not the first) group comprised mostly of Nuyoricans playing some heavy rumba. Felix has a recording from a group of rumberos dubbed, “Los Rumberos Ochenta”, which may have been an offshoot of Rumbero All Stars. Besides this they were street rumberos exclusively.

I'd like to compile whatever information I can about this important group. If anyone has any information please let me know.

John "Babaila" Martinez

During one of my many conversations with Willie over the early history of rumba in the city, he mentioned a name that stuck out in my mind, “Babaila”. John Martinez “Babaila” is a rather important figure in the early rumba/afrocubano scene. He started to get into the scene around 61-62’. Babaila, (who is of Puerto Rican descent) mentions that he would hang out with guys like Totico, Patato, Juan Dreke, and others. John was given the name “Babaila” by Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez whom he also hung around with at the time. What a lot of people don’t realize that cats like Pete “El Conde”, Henry Fiol, and others were hanging out and rumbiando at the time. It just so happens that a guy like Pete “El Conde” goes on to become a legend in the world of “salsa” y la Fania. John mentions that it was El ñato (a professional boxer) who would take him and get him involved in the rumba scene at the time. According to John he started to learn and play at around 13-14 yrs of age. John told me about how he only live a block away from Arsenio Rodriguez. Arsenio’s brothers, Raul y Quique Rodriguez were probably some of the earliest cats out of Cuba really playing palo, rumba, santo, o lo que sea. That was the school that Babaila came from. Babaila mentioned that when a band like Arsenio’s would play a club date, after they would play the popular music of the day, they would then begin a rumba. There were numerous clubs in the Bronx where they would get together, “El Gallego” was running one on 163rd in the Banana Kelly area of the Bronx.


Babaila makes note of that fact that a lot of the Cubans coming into NY at the time were marineros, and a lot of them were abakua. As a result Babaila, and his contemporaries would play abakua, bembe, guiro, palo and the like. I think this is especially important to mention since that would mean that the guiro, palo, abakua and bembe scene is not a recent NY phenomenon. Bata may have come later, but groups were definitely playing guiros and palos before bata really took hold. When I told Babaila that Gene Golden had told me that Quique and Raul were known paleros, Babaila said, “but they played everything, rumba, palo, santo, etc…”, so this is just clarify that they played a little bit of everything and not just palo.




Babaila has the distinction of being one of the very, very few outsiders to gain access into the then New York Afro Cuban “click”, which really only mingled amongst themselves. Here is a great story that Willie told me about Babaila’s early history.

“Back in the day Patato used to give lessons to kids in the community on his rooftop. So at the beginning there would be like 30 people there waiting learn from the master. The only thing was that Patato was not only strict but brutal. If you didn’t get something right the first time he may ask you to do it again, but if you didn’t get it soon after… SMAAACK! He would pull out a stick and smack you right across the hands. So a class that started at maybe 30 or so people would dwindle down to just a few after a couple of days. Babaila was one of those people that stayed…” (Willie Everich, 07).

The important thing that I pulled out of my short but deep conversation with Babaila, was as to how important it is to speak to the pioneers that were involved as things were taking shape. See, to guys like Babaila, names, dates, and stats don’t really mean much in the big scheme of things, at least not as much as having been there, and playing because that is what one pursued and wanted to do. Rumba was and is a social setting in where guys would hang out, drink (or do whatever they did) start playing, dancing, “ya se formo la rumba”. Babaila to this day is still playing rumba, palo, and santo in and around the city, and he has probably played with pretty much everyone there is to play.

Babaila threw some names at me:

Juan Candela
Tony Mayari
Cadavieco Brothers
Quique y Raul
Matanzas
Viejo
Curba

Among those that have played with Babaila (that I know of):

*Carlos Elegua
*Frances Yemaya
*Jonathan ? (used to work w/ Jay Bereck)
*Ralph (Dominicano)

Willie “El Ruso” Everich
Willie Sanabria
Carlos Elegua
Osvaldo "Bembesito" Lora
Angel Rodriguez
Ivan Ayala
Steve Berrios
Hector "El Flaco" Hernandez


(*main core group according to Willie)

Obviously, this is just a little glimpse of the life of John “Babaila” Martinez. I hope to interview him in the future and not only get more information, but also confirm some info I already have.

(Izzy Davila, Jose Rivera, Babaila, Pic courtesy of Willie Everich's collection)