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Guaguancó
Guaguancó () is a subgenre of Cuban rumba, combining percussion, voices, and dance. There are two main styles: Havana and Matanzas. Percussion * battery of three conga drummers: the ''tumba'' (lowest), ''tres dos'' (middle, playing a counter-clave), and ''quinto'' (highest, and lead drum). These parts may also be played on cajones, wooden boxes. * claves usually played by a singer * guagua (aka Catà ) (hollowed piece of bamboo) * maraca and/or a chekeré playing the main beats Other instruments may be used on occasion, for example spoons, palitos (wooden sticks striking the side of the drum), and tables and walls played like drums. Clave Rumba clave is the key pattern (guide pattern) used in guaguancó. There is some debate as to how the 4/4 rumba clave should be notated for guaguancó. In actual practice, the third and fourth stroke often fall in rhythmic positions that do not fit neatly into music notation. Triple-pulse strokes can be substituted for duple-pulse strokes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Muñequitos De Matanzas
Los Muñequitos de Matanzas is a Cuban rumba ensemble from the city of Matanzas. The group was established in 1952 as Conjunto Guaguancó Matancero and released their first LP in 1956 through Puchito. Since then, Los Muñequitos have continued to perform and record, becoming one of the most successful and critically acclaimed rumba groups of all time. History On October 9, 1952 in the barrio of La Marina, city of Matanzas, Cuba, a group of young rumberos stopped off at their local tavern El Gallo after work. While unwinding over drinks, a song by Arsenio RodrÃguez came on the bar’s record player. The drummers began accompanying the song by playing on the counter, on glasses and bottles, using whatever items were at hand. Their performance so impressed the other customers, as well as passers-by, that the men received applause when the song and their accompaniment concluded. It was at that moment when one of the men suggested they form a rumba group to perform at local venues. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quinto (drum)
The quinto (literally ''fifth'' in Spanish) is the smallest and highest pitched type of conga drum. It is used as the lead drum in Cuban rumba styles such as guaguancó, yambú, columbia and guarapachangueo, and it is also present in congas de comparsa. Quinto phrases are played in both triple-pulse (12/8, 6/8) and duple-pulse (4/4, 2/2) structures. In columbia, triple pulse is the primary structure and duple pulse is secondary. In yambú and guaguancó duple-pulse is primary and triple-pulse is secondary. Quinto performance in rumba The optimum expression of quinto phrasing is shaped by its interaction with the dance and the song, in other words, the complete social event, which is rumba. Quinto interaction with the song During the verses of the song the quinto is capable of sublime creativity, while musically subordinate to the lead vocalist. There are natural pauses in the cadence of the verses, typically one or two measures in length, where the quinto can play succinct phr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross-beat
In music, a cross-beat or cross-rhythm is a specific form of polyrhythm. The term ''cross rhythm '' was introduced in 1934 by the musicologist Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980). It refers to when the rhythmic conflict found in polyrhythms is the basis of an entire musical piece. Etymology The term "cross rhythm" was introduced in 1934 by the musicologist Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980), who, with Klaus Wachsmann, took-up extended residence in Zambia and Uganda, respectively, as missionaries, educators, musicologists, and museologists. African music One main system African cross-rhythm is most prevalent within the greater Niger-Congo linguistic group, which dominates the continent south of the Sahara Desert. (Kubik, p. 58) Cross-rhythm was first identified as the basis of sub-Saharan rhythm by A.M. Jones. Later, the concept was more fully explained in the lectures of Ewe master drummer and scholar C.K. Ladzekpo, and in the writings of David Locke. Jones observes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuban Rumba
Rumba is a secular genre of Cuban music involving dance, percussion, and song. It originated in the northern regions of Cuba, mainly in urban Havana and Matanzas, during the late 19th century. It is based on African music and dance traditions, namely Abakuá and yuka, as well as the Spanish-based ''coros de clave''. According to Argeliers León, rumba is one of the major "genre complexes" of Cuban music, and the term rumba complex is now commonly used by musicologists. This complex encompasses the three traditional forms of rumba (yambú, guaguancó and columbia), as well as their contemporary derivatives and other minor styles. Traditionally performed by poor workers of African descent in streets and ''solares'' (courtyards), rumba remains one of Cuba's most characteristic forms of music and dance. Vocal improvisation, elaborate dancing and polyrhythmic drumming are the key components of all rumba styles. '' Cajones'' (wooden boxes) were used as drums until the early 20th cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alberto Zayas
Alberto Zayas GovÃn (February 14, 1908 – 1983) was a Cuban rumba singer and songwriter who founded one of the first recorded rumba ensembles, Grupo Afrocubano Lulú Yonkori. He is considered one of the most important guaguancó vocalists/composers in the history of rumba. Life and career Alberto Zayas GovÃn was born in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood of Matanzas on February 14, 1908. When he was one year old his family moved to Havana. At age 14 he lived in El Cerro district of Havana and sang in ''coros de clave'', the precursor ensembles of the guaguancó. There he earned the nickname "El Melodioso" (The Melodious One). In 1925 he moved to Guanabacoa, another district of Havana. According to several accounts, Zayas played with several son ensembles such as Sexteto Habanero and Sexteto Boloña, before focusing on rumba and other Afro-Cuban genres. Zayas became a collaborator of ethnomusicologist Fernando Ortiz and in 1941 he invited anthropologist Harold Courlander to an Aba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clave (rhythm)
The clave (; ) is a rhythmic pattern used as a tool for temporal organization in Cuban music. In Spanish, ''clave'' literally means key, clef, code, or keystone. It is present in a variety of genres such as Abakuá music, rumba, conga, son, mambo, salsa, songo, timba and Afro-Cuban jazz. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Cuban rhythms. The clave pattern originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions, where it serves essentially the same function as it does in Cuba. In ethnomusicology, clave is also known as a ''key pattern'', ''guide pattern'', ''phrasing referent'', ''timeline'', or ''asymmetrical timeline''. The clave pattern is also found in the African diaspora music of Haitian Vodou drumming, Afro-Brazilian music, African-American music, Louisiana Voodoo drumming, and Afro-Uruguayan music (candombe). The clave pattern (or hambone, as it is known in the United States) is used in North American popular music as a rhythmic motif or si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). Congas were originally used in Afro-Cuban music genres such as conga (hence their name) and rumba, where each drummer would play a single drum. Following numerous innovations in conga drumming and construction during the mid-20th century, as well as its internationalization, it became increasingly common for drummers to play two or three drums. Congas have become a popular instrument in many forms of Latin music such as son (when played by conjuntos), descarga, Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, songo, merengue and Latin rock. Although the exact origins of the conga drum are unknown, researchers agree that it was developed by Cuban people of African descent during the late 19th century or early 20th century. Its direct ancestors are thought to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coros De Clave
''Coros de clave'' were popular choral groups that emerged at the end of the 19th century in Havana and other Cuban cities. Their style was influenced by the ''orfeones'' which grew popular in northern Spain in the mid-19th century, and their popularization in the island was linked to the emancipation of African slaves in 1886. The common instrumentation of the ''coros'' featured a ''viola'' (a string-less banjo used as a percussion instrument), claves, guitar, harp and jug bass. History Background During the 19th century, the Cuban government only allowed black people, slaves or free, to cultivate their cultural traditions within the boundaries of certain mutual aid societies, which were founded during the 16th century. According to David H. Brown, those societies, called cabildos, "provided in times of sickness and death, held masses for deceased members, collected funds to buy nation-brethren out of slavery, held regular dances and diversions on Sundays and feast days, and spo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montuno
Montuno has several meanings pertaining to Cuban music and its derivatives. Literally, ''montuno'' means 'comes from the mountain', and so ''son montuno'' may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente. Another possibility is that the word ''montuno'' comes from the word ''montura'', the Spanish word for "saddle", because the rhythm in son music is like riding a horse. Or it may mean the final section of a song-based composition; in this sense it is simply part of a piece of music. Here it is usually a faster, brasher, semi-improvised instrumental section, sometimes with a repetitive vocal refrain. Finally, the term ''montuno'' is also used for a piano ''guajeo'', the ostinato figure accompanying the montuno section, when it describes a repeated syncopated piano vamp, often with chromatic root movement.Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. Tumi, Bath. p141 References See also *Son montuno *Call and response (music) *Coro-pregà ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rumba
The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. Since the early 20th century the term has been used in different countries to refer to distinct styles of music and dance, most of which are only tangentially related to the original Cuban rumba, if at all. The vague etymological origin of the term rumba, as well as its interchangeable use with guaracha in settings such as bufo theatre, is largely responsible for such worldwide polysemy of the term. In addition, "rumba" was the primary marketing term for Cuban music in North America, as well as West and Central Africa, during much of the 20th century, before the rise of mambo, pachanga and salsa. "Rumba" entered the English lexicon in the early 20th century, at least as early as 1919, and by 1932 it was used a verb to denote the ballro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tata Güines
Federico ArÃstides Soto Alejo (June 30, 1930 – February 4, 2008), better known as Tata Güines, was a Cuban percussionist, bandleader and arranger. He was widely regarded as a master of the conga drum, and alongside Carlos "Patato" Valdés, influential in the development of contemporary Afro-Cuban music, including Afro-Cuban jazz. He specialized in a form of improvisation known as descarga, a format in which he recorded numerous albums throughout the years with Cachao, Frank Emilio Flynn, Estrellas de Areito, Alfredo RodrÃguez and Jane Bunnett, among others. In the 1990s he released two critically acclaimed albums as a leader: ''Pasaporte'' and ''Aniversario''. His composition "Pa' gozar" has become a standard of the descarga genre. Life and career Early years ArÃstides Soto was born in Güines, a town east of Havana in the former province of Havana in Cuba, on June 30, 1930. He grew up with his parents and his seven siblings, leaving school after year 4 to work as a shoeshine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregorio Hernández RÃos
Gregorio Hernández RÃos (17 November 1936 – 8 January 2012), known as El Goyo, was a Cuban Cuban rumba, rumba singer, dancer and percussionist. A founding member of the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional, he was also the leader of a SanterÃa music ensemble, Grupo Oba-Ilú. He toured Europe and Latin America with various ensembles and recorded with Tata Güines, Alfredo RodrÃguez and Jane Bunnett, among others. For the collaborative album ''La rumba soy yo'' he received the Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album, Latin Grammy Award in 2001. His album ''La rumba es cubana'' was nominated to the 2003 ''Premio Cubadisco'' in the Best Folk Album and Best Design categories, winning the latter. He has been described as one of the most important ''rumberos'' of contemporary Havana. El Goyo was also a teacher at the Instituto Superior de Arte, where he taught Afro-Cuban music. He was the director of the Cuban Society of Percussionists (PERCUBA) for fifteen years. Despite his academic commit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
