70's Bomba

Check out these great pics that Eddie Bobe sent me...

 

On the top pic, is that Yeyito on the drum to the right? 

On the bottom pic of course there is Felix on the left, Eddie himself in the middle, who is the drummer on the right hand side?

Thanks Eddie.

NPR talks with Eddie Bobe

Check out this excerpt from an NPR interview featuring Eddie Bobe talking about his then newly released album "Central Park Rumba".

Check out this link here.

On a side note, I believe this was one of the better rumba albums to come out in recent periods, featuring many of the most notable players in NYC. You can check out my two cents on the topic by clicking here.

Eddie Bobe - Vete Tu

Here is another gem from Eddie Bobe's up an coming project.

Track name: Vete Tu

Musicians:
Giovanni Hidalgo: Bongos
Eddie Bobe: Tres, Coro & percussion
Juan Papo Garay: Lead Vocals & composer of Vete Tu
Chris Theberge: Congas
Reut Regev: Trombone
Abe Rodriguez: Coro


Artist: Descendientes del Ritmo
Title: Back to the Root
Label: Descendent Music
Executive producer : Chris Theberge
Produced by : Eddie Bobe
Release Date: TBA

Eddie Bobe - Mama No Quiere

I just received another sneak peek from Eddie Bobe.

Here are the details:

Track Name -"Mama No Quiere"

Giovanni Hidalgo Congas
Eddie Bobe Tres Vocal percussion
Orlando Puntilla Rios Bata Iya
Eddie Bobe Itotele
Chris Theberge Okonkolo
Reut Regev Trombone
Abbe Rodriguez Vocals

Artist: Descendientes del Ritmo
Title: Back to the Root
Label: Descendent Music
Executive producer Chris Theberge

Produced by
: Eddie Bobe
Release Date: TBA

Website for more information: www.descendientesdelritmo.com

El Balcon - Eddie Bobe

This is an unreleased unmixed, raw track from an up-n-coming Eddie Bobe project. Eddie on guitar, percussion and voice, Felix Sanabria on quinto.

http://descendientesdelritmo.com

Herencia Rumbera

(Video Credit: Eddie Bobe)

Eddie Bobe - Vids

I got an email from Eddie Bobe this morning, letting me know how his recording project was coming. It looks like we are in for a little bit of a wait, but hopefully it won't take too much longer. In the meantime I wanted to share some video clips of Eddie that he was nice enough to highlight. Check them out. All videos courtesy of Eddie Bobe.

More Youtubin' "GFYEN"

(GFYEN Rehearsal, Video Credit: rasmann6)



(GFYEN Rehearsal, Video Credit: rasmann6)

Eddie Bobe

A couple of weeks back I established contact with Eddie Bobe. We talked for a few minutes but since he was on his way to the studio, we couldn't really talk. He is currently working on a Nigerian/Cuban Bata project and it will feature the late great Puntilla (ibae) in probably one of the last recordings that he participated in.

(Eddie Bobe - iya, Photo Credit: Eddie Bobe)

I asked Eddie how he came up learning these traditions and here is what he had to say:

I basically learned the Folklore on my own. Rumba y Bata at the time in NYC, there were not a lot of players as there are now on the scene. It was a small circle and there was only a few old recordings that served as a musical model. We learned from each other and older players who had fragments of the vocabulary. It was a reciprocal study and learning experience. I was Frankie Malabe's protege so I came into the scene with an expansive musical sense. Julito Collazo brought the Bata Drums here to the US in the 50's, there was no Internet and limited access to information at the time so there were a lot of drummers with only the "A,B,C'S" until we aquired the other few pieces to the Rumba -Bata puzzle as tapes, books , clips, came into play. In the mid 70's Rene Lopez recorded Afro Cuba de Matanzas and others and brought back the tapes and they spread amongst the small Drumming -Rumba community. This gave us an opportunity to listen, study, dissect and internalize more of the musical vocabulary, then in 1980-81 Puntilla and other great Rumberos such as Manuel "El Llanero" who brought more of the Xyz's. We had some incredible rumbas and jams in the late 70's in Central Park and across the city before their arrival.

But before that, we were experimenting with the information that was around. The NYC Rumberos of my generation were just the right balance and blend in terms of the US development and evolution and understanding of Rumba and Bata folklore, because we used our own minds and had the talent when it came to interpreting the music correctly since we weren't born in the magic surroundings ofthe solares it was in our blood and conciousness. It's a complex subject because as the music is uniquely re-interpreted on many dimensions here in NYC or wherever it is played (in Puerto Rico, or the west coast) its rebuilt on misconceptions because of lack of information. So it becomes a new form stylistically wherever it travels. You could have 10 people watch the same movie or read the same book but your going to get 10 uniquely different interpretations on the same subject as it was also reinterpeted in Cuba from Spanish and African elements and became a new music and dance form there.

That's the paradox of information. Its a human abstraction codified with tradition, laws, religion and culture. So information, technique, musical aesthetics and sensibility are relative to that context.

Rumba & Bata are always in a state of flux. Everything in this dimension is imperfect and incomplete because everything is constantly evolving and developing, as the Rumba takes or adds on new musical characteristics.

*more to come from Eddie...

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.