A surprising number of hard core jazz fans have never seen this picture and would not be able to explain its historical context or significance.
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
One of the highlights of my March 2016 trip to Cuba was visiting the small city of Güines, a major historical center of Cuba’s sugar industry, 50 kilometers southeast of Havana.
The city center has a beautiful town square and many handsome private homes and is the birthplace of not one but two Cuban music legends: Tata Güines and Arsenio Rodríguez.
By an accident of fate, the two were raised so closely together, if you have a good arm you could throw a rock from Tata Guines’s childhood home, (a one room former slave cell) to Arsenio’s childhood home, (a small house on the street just beyond the barracks compound.)
Along with Chano Pozo and Patato Valdés, Güines, who was born in 1930, is considered one Cuba’s greatest masters of the tumbadora, the conga drum.
Fortunately, there’s a lot of excellent video of his work.
First, Güines with a group of friends (“Los Amigos”): pianist (Frank Emilio), flautist, (Miguel O’Farril), bassist (Chachuito) and timablero (Guillermo Barreto).
Güines tells a bit of his life story which is followed by a solo
Güines with the legendary rumba group Yoruba Abdado and Changuito (filmed in 2002)
And now, for a lesson from the master.
Spanish and/or French will come in handy here. If not an attentive pair of eyes and ears will help.
Want more instruction?
Good!
Whether you play or are simply someone who loves and is fascinated by the music, this tutorial with Changuito (José Luis Quintana) and Giovanni Hidalgo will change your ears – for the better – forever.
Click here: Inside the Conga
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Ken talks with jazz veterans Jane Bunnett and Larry Cramer about their musical odyssey in Cuba which began over 30 years ago in 1982.
You will not find North Americans anywhere who have a deeper connection with the island, its music and its musicians.
If you’re at all interested in Cuba and its music, lock the door, turn off the ringer on your phone and dig in. Don’t miss this.
Two excerpts from the documentary “Cuban Odyssey: Spirits Of Havana” about Jane and Larry’s musical adventures in Cuba.
Jane and Maqueque, an extraordinary band of young Cuban musicians recording and on tour in North America.
You can learn more about Maqueque here.
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
If you can’t make it to Cuba, but are in or can get to New York City, you can experience one of the great Afro-Latin music centers on earth without leaving the US.
Here are ten places in New York City that host world class Afro-Latin music performances on a regular basis:
Hostos Community College (El Bronx)
https://www.hostos.cuny.edu
Bronx Music Heritage Center (El Bronx)
http://whedco.org/bronx-music/bronx-music-heritage-center-bmhc/
SOBs (Downtown)
http://sobs.com
Subrosa (Downtown)
http://subrosanyc.com
Camaradas El Barrio
http://camaradaselbarrio.com/
Zinc Bar (Downtown)
http://zincbar.com/homepage
55 Bar (Downtown)
http://55bar.com/
Pregones Theater (El Bronx)
http://pregonesprtt.org/
Jazz at Lincoln Center
http://www.jazz.org
Lehman College (El Bronx)
http://www.lehman.edu/arts/index.php
Click here for a list of great streamable Afro-Latin radio programs
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
“It’s all the same music. We just speak it with different accents.”
– Mario Bauzá (as quoted by Albert Angeloro)
Bauzá at age 82 interviewed most skillfully on CACE International TV. One of the most important, and little known, chapters in American music history revealed and explained in less than 15 minutes. Great intro to Bauzá’s life story.
A segment from the documentary “Latin Music USA” that covers Bauzá’s invention of Afro-Cuban Jazz.
Machito & his Afro-Cubans (Mario Bauzá, music director) with Charlie Parker. Recorded in 1950 by Norman Granz.
Bauzá & his Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra performing in Germany in 1992
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
“There is no other rhythm on the planet that excites me like the structures that came out of Cuba. I learned them intuitively and then I learned them scientifically.”
– Eddie Palmieri
Jazz on the Tube is the largest annotated and indexed online collection of jazz videos on earth - and it's free.
We have THREE OPTIONS to help de-clutter your mail box, but still keep the great music coming.