Rumbos de la Rumba (The Routes of Rumba) is the result of my collaboration with music virtuosos Pedro Martínez and Román Díaz. It is a conceptual musical journey about Rumba’s performance culture understood as a set of socio-historical relations. Each track is located within a different psychic space to evoke a sense of walking in la Havana, or circulating in the African Diaspora, or feeling caught between love and conflict, between the secular and the sacred.
Soon after their arrival to New York, I saw Pedrito and Román performing at La Esquina Habanera, a well-established Cuban Rumba space in Union City, New Jersey. This project is their first recording in the U.S. as a duo elaborating the entire music in the Rumba guarapachanguera style. Most Rumba records are performed by established ensembles, or what is known as a “ven tú,” a jam session organized by invitation. This work however traces Pedrito and Román’s musical synergy.
I proposed six essential Rumba concepts to Pedrito and Román: dialogue, prohibition, conflict, seduction, Abakuá, éxodo and fragmentation. Pedrito and Román interpreted these concepts by arranging popular Rumbas and composing new ones. Both decided to interpret the fragmentation concept individually. Pedrito created his “Encyclopedia of the Drum,” a number performed with the batá drums—a double-headed set of three drums considered the “Ph.D.” of African drumming. His piece is a salute to Élegua, Ogún and Ochosí, Yoruba warrior deities, also known as the Orishas from Cuba’s Regla de Ocha (Santería) religion. While Pedrito’s “Encyclopedia” shows one of rumba’s spiritual precedents, Román deconstructed the concept of fragmentation into an eight-movement composition. “Fragmentacion” traces Rumba ethnic roots and culminates in a totality: “all of a sudden you are in a Santería ceremony, then all of sudden you are in a rumba, this is Havana.” (Román Díaz)
This project is also about Pedrito and Román’s encounter with the diversity of NYC rumberos. We invited Alfredo Díaz "Pescao" who arrived to the U.S. in 1980 with the Mariel Exodo. Pescao’s contribution was not only his voice and original compositions, but his witty sense of humor bringing the street and solar energy into the project, elements of el ambiente de la Rumba: El Brete (neigborhood gossip), Salud Estomacal (on culinary matters), and “El Monumento,” a tribute honoring Manuel Martínez Olivera “El Llanero.” Pedrito, Román and Pescao performed together these three numbers, creating a sparkling call and response dynamic necessary in a good Rumba. Thus this recording connects two Rumba generations in the Diaspora, Pedrito and Román’s, who were entirely raised in Revolutionary Cuba and departed during the Special Period, and Pescao and Manuel’s generation who grew up in-between the Batista and Castro regimes and left during the Mariel boatlift. Two migratory generations still connected through Rumba as their common denominator and epistemological framework.
Most recordings of Latin music do not emphasize attention to the quality and diversity of the tumbadora drum’s sound because drums are reduced to their rhythmic function. It is also known that the best Rumbas are when they are performed live and spontaneously. However, this recording was done in studio and most of the instruments (with the exception of tracks 3, 6 and 8) were recorded independently. Kamilo Kratc concentrated in the analysis of each drum’s color and sound texture in order to reproduce the melorhythm and harmonies resulting from their combination. Kamilo’s art was also to experiment with different microphones in order to obtain a recording that captured the sound closest to each drum’s natural sounds.
The sound mix was a collective effort. With Kamilo, I was particularly interested in the reproduction of the different drum sounds’ spatial relations. Pedrito and Román also participated in different mixing sessions, they work with the various sounds, their combinations and their drums diverse manifestations. This resulted in sound mixes that complemented each other, adding to each song our different moods and sentiments. The final sound mix was about Rumba’s polyrhythmic figures, to recreate the dialogue between the various drums and human voices. For instance, “when one sound is telling another sound that he has not much time left, that the Abakuá sound is coming.” (Román Díaz) Pedrito also pays particular attention to the choral harmonies; with Kamilo and Maribel they experiment with the creation of Prohibition’s chorus. This resulted in a totally different version of Protesta Carabalí, the song’s real name, a classic made famous by Pedro Fariña and Juan Campos Cárdenas “Chan” in Cuba.
Thus this project is invested in Rumba’s multiple trajectories and layers to demonstrate the presence of history and memory, as they conflate momentarily within Rumba’s contemporary sound, “lo antaño con lo moderno.” (Román Díaz) While Rumba is a highly intellectual, emotional and spiritual, it is also about street culture. Thus where there is rumba, there is controversy, gossip and poetic conspiracies.
This recording captures Pedrito and Román’s musical chemistry right after their arrival from Havana, thus documenting their unique interpretation of their generation’s sound, the Rumba guarapachanguera, a grass-roots music movement that emerged in the late 1970s and that introduced a different Rumba rhythm, the interplay of beats and rests, or what the rumberos call “silences.” The guarapachanguero style juxtaposes traditional instruments with the invention of new ones, for example the “raspadura” drums. Raspaduras are pyramidal wood box instruments which size determines their tonality. Marielito Manuel Martínez Olivera "El Llanero" baptized the guarapachanguero by naming it before his departure from Cuba in 1980. The rhythm, however, was actually invented by his neighbors and cousins, the López brothers, better known as "Los Chinitos," a Rumba family from La Korea suburb in Havana. Los Chinitos, Francisco Mora “Pancho Quito,” Jacinto Schull “El Chori,” and the ensemble of Yoruba Andabo were this musical movement’s precursors and Pedrito and Román’s direct influence.
The invention of the guarapachanguero’s new rhythm and drums is a key indication of Rumba’s improvisational nature, an acoustic elaboration that showcases Rumba’s experimentation based on a profound sense of polyrhythmic knowledge based on the clave (performed with two wood sticks or two different spoons) timing, and the necessary conversation among drummers, singers and dancers. Thus improvisation or inventar (to invent) is a great example of the rumbero idiosyncrasy: anything rumberos think becomes a Rumba lyric, anything the rumbero touches becomes an acoustic surface, and when the police arrives there are no drums on sight but wood trunks, suitcases and spoons.
Congratulations to Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra for their triumph in the 2009 Grammy Latin Jazz category. If you have not heard the album yet you are missing some truly great music. We have several videos of Arturo's father, the late great Chico (the albums name is Song For Chico) for your viewing and listening pleasure on the Street Level Productions partner site. Arturo plays piano with his father on the vids.
(Property of Yerbabuena, Inc)
Back in 06', Tato Torres and Bryan Vargas (producer) put out an album entitled, "Boricua Roots Music". I wasn't in NY at the time, and I honestly forgot how I got my hands on the CD (maybe on Ebay?), but I did and gladly so. For me, this was a first in showcasing the talents of a new breed of NY percussionist, as cats like Nicky Laboy, Obanilu Allende, Jorge Vazquez made up the roster. Whether they played a seis corrido, holandes, plena, sica, etc...it swung and it demanded attention. If your like me, buying a cd in a way is like buying into the reputation of the individuals listed on the liner notes, and since I saw names I was familiar with (i.e. Nicky, Oba, Jorge, Bryan V, Tato, Raquel Z Rivera), I knew this was going to be a project that was worth the price of admission.
Bomba y Plena has had a long history of development in NYC. Notable groups and players such as Heny Alvarez, Aurora Florez and Yeyito (Amigos de la Plena), Victor Moñtanez y Los Pleneros de la 110, Sammy and Nelly Tanco, and of course Chema and his crew have all kept the artform alive and kickin' since the late 60's, 70's, also Willie did mention to not forget to put down Jovan Romero, (please forgive if I missed anyone). Nowadays groups like Alma Moyo, Bambula, Zon del Barrio, LP21, Yaya, and Yerbabuena are continuing to not only carry the torch, but blaze new paths in keeping this tradition a "living tradition" and not just a remnant of the past.
So all that to say, that Yerbabuena's offering, "Boricua Roots Music" is as Tato says,
"Like nothing you've ever heard before, and yet like everything that leads to a contemporary Puerto Rican musical expression... like our parents record collection on our turntables... "
I especially like "Lola/No Me Cuques", as it goes from an energetic "seis corrido" to a equally energetic, yet different "holandes".
More from Yerbabuena's Myspace site:
YERBABUENA (one word) is a group of individuals who come together to play the music that they love under the musical direction of singer-composer-musician Tato Torres. It is composed of musicians, singers and dancers from the New York City area, who share an intense passion for the musical traditions of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The last thing that will come to your mind while at a YERBABUENA event is that you're watching a show, it feels more like a cross between a jam in the park, a spiritual ceremony and a family reunion. They convey wholeness and harmony, and their music is moving beyond belief. The music they play is, by nature, participatory. Whether bomba, plena or música jíbara, it's all interactive. And being witness to their vibrant sounds and the deep joy that making music together gives them, just leaves the audience no choice but to join in the chorus or dance for the drums. After a YERBABUENA session, you'll be uplifted, tired and happy.
The concept of YERBABUENA developed during the summer of 1999 at the renowned Rincón Criollo Cultural Center (aka "La Casita de Chema") in the heart of the South Bronx, and has been growing since. It developed out of the need for cultural expression, redefinition and re-appropriation of the Puerto Rican musical heritage by a new generation of Boricuas. For a long time, Puerto Rican musical traditions have been constricted by commercial culture and generally limited to holidays and "folkloric" presentations.YERBABUENA is an important part of the struggle to develop and promote identity through living Puerto Rican musical traditions such as bomba, plena and música jíbara.
While well-recognized Boricuas like Willie Colón, Marc Anthony and Ricky Martin are known worldwide for their "Latin" flavor, groups like Plena Libre, Los Pleneros de la 21, Viento de Agua, and now YERBABUENA, have been changing the way people listen to traditional Puerto Rican music in New York City and beyond. YERBABUENA reclaims the Puerto Rican music often branded as "folkloric," refusing to accept its packaging as frozen-in-time museum pieces, only vaguely connected to contemporary culture. Instead, they make gorgeous music that incorporates past and present. YERBABUENA taps right into the core of who Boricuas are as a People.
Boricua Roots Music
Boricua Roots Music is a musical movement in which Boricua musicians have combined and re-combined elements of traditional and/or folkloric music as contemporary musical expressions. This style of modern music, which reaches back to the roots of Boricua (Puerto Rican) tradition has come to be called "roots music" or "música de raíz" in Spanish. The movement is also often referred to simply as "roots" or "raíces" in Spanish.
So if you want to buy the CD and are in the NYC area, you can go to:
El Barrio Music Center1870 Lexington Ave. (bet. 115 & 116 Sts.),El Barrio, NYC
Casa Amadeo Record Shop786 Prospect Ave.,The Bronx, NYC
If not, you can get it through their myspace site.
Now, I can't wait till Alma Moyo, puts out their CD, which is supposedly in the making from what I hear...
So if this music moves you as much as it does me, you can get your copy by clicking on the pic above.
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.
Ok, so last night I was digging through my collection because I wanted to hear this particular album on the drive to work this morning. Straight up and down this is not only a good recording sound-wise, its pretty historic if you ask me. It features many of "los fundadores" de Los Munequitos de Matanzas, and the singing is the best I have heard in a really long time. This recording (1968) featured a group of Matanceros whom were so popular they were playing in Havana just as much, if not more, than anywhere else. But the style is strictly Matanzas, through and through. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that this recording is not going to be available for too much longer, so snatch it up! (Click on the pic for a link to descarga.com)
Here is the track list:
Cuele Cuele 4:28 /La Protesta Carabali 4:38 /El Tonelero 3:33 /El Yambu De Saldehigeras 3:34 /Tambor Enamorado 3:56 /Perro Trabuco 4:08 /Pentagrama Musical 4:10 /La Plegaria 4:09 /Bava Kue Yambu 2:52 /Linda Habana Yambu 7:02 /Ritmo Criollo Guaguanco 3:53
Here are the musicians: (with their Abakua names in bold)
Pedro Vero Alfonso "Moni Bonco Afia Kaniran", Esteban Lantrice Saldehigeras "Empego Afia Kaniran", Primitivo Rodriguez "Acuere Bion", Catalino (Florencio Calle) "El Yamba Uliavon", Papito Díaz "Efi Varondi", Jorge Llorca "Acuere Bion", Reinaldo Brito "Alias Yambita", Pedro Celestino Fariñas "Efi Varondi"
