[Dixielandjazz] A 1939 Latin treat; some questions

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Charles and others,

It all seems ages since Charles made his original post, so aplogies for 
the tardy response, but there's been quite a lot going on in the interim.

I'm afraid I can't offer any suggestions for the identity of the bongo 
player in the film clip, or indeed any specific recorded examples of 
virtuoso percussionists from the era before the fusion of jazz with 
Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. All the pre-1945 Cuban and Brasilian 
recordings I've heard have not been kind to the percussion sections: 
they're generally quite far back in the mix, so contributions of 
individuals are hard to make out and the overall section playing is 
often a bit *blurred*.

I'm sure Charles already knows about this, but it might be of interest 
to listmates who haven't delved into the development of African drumming 
in the Americas. The transplanted rhythms brought across the Atlantic 
by  slaves found a natural refuge in the syncretised religions of Cuba 
(Santeria), Haiti (Vodun) and Brasil (Candomble or Macumba), where the 
rituals and gods of West African religions were merged with the saints 
of christianity.  In their rites the percussion section playing involves 
teamwork to build complex patterns from initially simple building 
blocks, but, with individuals improvising within these structures, the 
complexity, intensity and excitement is rapidly increased. These 
techniques were carried over into social dance music where they combined 
with European instruments, and proliferated throughout the Americas in a 
wide variety of styles and forms. Over time these developed into danzon, 
rumba, bolero, son, mambo, salsa etc (Cuba), maxixe, samba, baiao, choro 
etc (Brasil), beguine (Martinique/Guadeloupe), calypso, ska, reggae 
(Jamaica/Trinidad) etc, etc.

One of the best records I've come across to demonstrate the African 
influence on Cuban music is Volume 3 (Rumba) of the Tumi Cuba Classics 
series (Tumi CD052). This is authentic Cuban Rumba, in which, after the 
clave is established, the percussionists get so far away from the basic 
groundbeat that orientatation becomes difficult. It also pinpoints a 
widespread problem many musicians have with the names of latin rhythms, 
certainly here in the UK and, I suspect in USA too. The complex rhythms 
and drive of genuine Cuban Rumba bear no resemblance to the simple, 
repetitive rhythm which most musicians here call *Rumba* but which in 
fact is really a Bolero. Meanwhile, the endlessly repetitive rhythm of 
Ravel's Bolero must have sprung from Ravel's imagination as it's nothing 
like the real thing.

Likewise, I've heard musicians who ought to know better asking for a 
*Beguine* rhythm, when what they really want is that simple, repetitive 
Bolero. Just because Cole Porter wrote a song called When They Begin the 
Beguine doesn't mean that the rhythm generally used for it bears any 
relation to a real Beguine (ignorance is bliss!). A real Antillean 
Beguine has the basic pulse of a Habanera overlaid with a rhythm 
remarkably similar to what can be heard on many jazz recordings of New 
Orleans Creole melodies. That shouldn't be too surprising considering 
their common French and African roots and the trading which occurred 
between them. Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfW0U3Q61Tk

Even more perplexing is the occasional instruction to "just play Latin", 
as if that might narrow it down a bit.

A Happy New Year to all, a Guid New Year tae ane an' a' (Lallan' Scots), 
Bliadhna Mhath Ur (Scots Gaelic), as we variously say in Scotland.

Ken





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ml.islandnet.com/pipermail/dixielandjazz/attachments/20170103/d2ca36c4/attachment.html>