Chachalokuafun ---> Rumba

Just a little clip showing off the talents of one of the best all around Afro Caribbean groups in the city, Ilu Aye. Here they go from chachalokuafun (on congas) to rumba. Felix (sitting in with the group) is playing quinto and his wife Susan steps up to dance a little as well. Jonathan is on tumba and Danny is on tres golpe. You can hear Bembesito in the back doing his thing as well. I apologize dearly for the poor visuals, I hope you can still enjoy...

No es la flecha...

There is a saying, "No es la flecha, es el Indio..." What this basically means is that it doesn't matter what kind of arrow you are using, because if you are skillfull enough you are going to get the job done. Same goes for instruments in most cases, as I am sure that Giovanni Hidalgo could get more sounds out of a wooden stool than most could out of some Juniors. That said, I believe a good drum goes a long way, and ever the discerning percussionist I would like to add a little info if I may.

Matthew Smith out of the Philly area has been making drums for many a year now, and his drums have been played by a wide variety of people. Pablo Batista and Jerry Gonzalez are two that readily come to mind. Matt is working on an oak tres golpe for me, and I am pretty excited since he is going to be using his new style crown hardware on my drum (and all future drums for that matter).

(same drum)

What I like about Matt is that not only is he confident in his work, he is also pretty low key. Up until recently the only way to get in contact with Matt was strictly through word of mouth, and I am sure Matt would like it to remain that way if possible. For those interesed check out his website and drop him a line. He makes conga, bongo, bata, timbal, bells, cajones, and supplies skins as well. And let me not forget to mention that he does extensive repair work on drums as well. And for the record he was never an "apprentice" of Jay Bereck.

Ok, lets move on shall we? I got an email this morning from artisan,tambolero completo and apkwon, Ezequiel Torres out of Miami, responding to an inquiry about his chekere pricing.




As far as his chekeres are concerned you can get a set for $600 (3), and as you can tell his chekeres are a work of art. He makes bata, cajon, iyesa drums, and congas I believe. You can check out his website and shoot him an email, but it would probably be better to call and even better if you know a lil' Spanish.

Rumba at the POINT C.D.C.

The Hunt's Point section of the Bronx is home to the Point CDC, a great community action center involved in many issues affecting the quality of life of South Bronx residents. The Point gave Angel Rodriguez, percussionist extraordinaire a forum for teaching his skills to the children and even some adults in the neighborhood. It was called All America Is Drumming. Angel also created the Living Legends tribute series where over 35 of our major artist were honored for their contributions. More on that later. This night which occured in February of 1999, featured Rumba and included Jose "Apache" Rivera on vocal and clave, Angel Rodriguez on tumbadora, myself on tres golpe and Jose "Mongo" Rivera on quinto.

Eddie Bobe - "Central Park Rumba" (CD-PIR 1365)

Two nights ago I found myself looking through my collection for the great NYC rumba recording, "Central Park Rumba". What I find amazing is that this recording is almost 10 years old, but sounds like it was recorded yesterday. I wanted to highlight this particular album as it could very well be the definitive soundtrack to our little blog here.

Whenever I am thinking about buying a record I look at one thing first, the credits. Judging by who is playing on a particular record, I can usually tell what to expect, and this is usually the deciding factor for me. Needless to say CPR did not let me down.

Here are the cast of characters:

Eddie Bobé (lead vocals, timbales, congas, claves, shekere, guagua)
Orlando "Puntilla" Rios (lead vocals, quinto, cajon, iya, claves, coro)
Pedro Martinez (lead vocals, cajon, itotele, coro)
Felix Sanabria (quinto, cajon, okonkolo, coro)
Alberto Serrano (quinto, congas, cajon, claves, coro)
Jay Rodriguez (baritone sax)
Tony Batista (bass)
Jay Collins (flute)
Jonathan Crayford (piano)

Now, what you may not know is who played what, on which particular song. For instance I always wondered who is playing that great quinto on "Columbia para los Guerreros". Well my fellow bloggees and bloggettes, I talked to Felix Sanabria today and he gave me the scoop.

"Ta Ta"- Alberto is playing quinto, Felix and Pedrito are playing tumbador and tres golpes
"Rumba Para Los Olu Bata"- Alberto on 3 drums, Felix on okonkolo, Pedrito on itotele, Puntilla on iya
"El Mas Cumbanchero"- Felix is playing quinto and Alberto is playing 3 drums
"El Parque Central"- Felix is playing quinto and Alberto is on tumbador, ? is playing tres
"Columbia Para Los Guerreros"- Alberto is playing quinto, Felix is playing tres and Puntilla is on tumbador
"NYC Quimbombo"- According to Eddie Bobe: "the cut NYC Quimbombo is just me and Puntilla I overdubbed every thing, Puntilla is on Quinto"
"Alberto's Drum Solo"- Who do you think is playing on this one?
"Bonko"- Alberto is playing bonko enchemiya, Felix is on obiapa, and ? is on kuchiyerema
"Compa Galletano"- Puntilla is on quinto, Felix and Pedrito are on tres dos and tumbador

So there you have it, the official lowdown. If you don't have a copy of this click on the picture above.