The members of the group Los Terry talk about two things:
1. The musical instrument the chekere
2. The training that master musicians in Cuba receive which is unique in the world
Tell me where else on the planet musicians master classical music, local popular music, indigenous music, religious music and jazz.
There’s a reason Cubans have had such a out-sized impact on world music: Their training, discipline and versatility are second to none.
The conversation is a bit slow moving at times and a lot of it is in Spanish, but stick with it. It will give you an unparalleled insight into what goes into making a Cuban musician.
In the conversation:
Eladio Terry, the patriarch of the family, known to many as Don Pancho
Yosvany Terry
Yunior Terry
Some musical reference from the interview:
Yosvany Terry & The Afro Caribbean Quintet
More about Los Terry and Don Pancho (Eladio Terry)
Los Terry are a family of musicians from the Camaguey province of Cuba. Their unique blend of musical styles includes elements of folklore, classic charanga and modern jazz, creating a bridge across generations.
Eladio Terry, the patriarch of the family, known to many as Don Pancho, grew up surrounded by the music of the Afro-Cuban religions and learned the traditional drumming and vocal styles that date back centuries. Eladio followed the path of the apprentice drummer as he learned the prayers, songs and rhythms that accompany the religious ceremonies- watching, listening and playing for hours. Like many Cuban musicians, he also learned to play popular music styles, incorporating his knowledge of African traditions into the secular dance music of the day.
Eladio Terry’s influence in Cuban music began with the legendary charanga group Maravillas de Florida, from the town of Florida in Camaguey. He utilized the chekere with the traditional charanga format of violins, bass timbales, flute, piano, and guïro, adding an instrument widely used in the syncretized African religions that have survived and flourished in Cuba.
The chekere is an instrument made out of a gourd strung with beads that requires a sophisticated physical dexterity to produce rhythms and harmonic timbres. Eladio Terry and his sons handle the chekere like veteran basketball players taunting their opponents as they effortlessly coax rhythms and tones out of these hollow gourds.
In the early 1960s Eladio went to the newly formed Conservatory of Music in Havana. There he met fellow music students from Mali who became legendary figures in contemporary African music when they formed Maravillas du Mali and wrote the theme song for Radio Mali in a Cuban charanga style. Eladio recalls that they had assimilated much of the Cuban rhythms but could not understand the role of the bass. He claims credit for teaching them the subtleties of the tumbao or “swing” of the bass that can’t easily be notated or understood without grasping the fundamental structure of Cuban music.
Traveling with the Maravillas de Florida in the 1970s Eladio visited many African countries as well as Eastern Europe and the Middle East. As director, violinist and arranger he was able to incorporate many of the musical influences of his travels into his music. The recordings of the Maravillas from this period are spiced with African-based rhythms, harmonies and timbres that he introduced, giving the charanga a very Afro-Cuban feel.
Yosvany recalls that when the Maravillas played Son Wambari at outdoor dances people in the audience were seized by trances when they heard the Yoruba chants and the familiar incantations calling out to Elegua.When the Maravillas toured Africa they found that many people understood the meaning of the words to the Yoruba and Congo chants that they sang which are part of religious rituals in Cuba.
Cuba’s nationwide musical education program has had a profound effect on the development of countless talented musicians. Cuba has always had a wealth of musical talent but few of the youth from poor families had the resources to receive the formal training and practice time that would allow them to master forms of music other than those with which they had direct experience. Eladio Terry’s sons, Yosvany, Yoel and Yunior have all passed through intense musical conservatory training as well as paying their dues in popular music groups and have sharpened their skills playing improvisational jazz.
– Source: Excerpted from the excellent resource AfroCubaWeb.com
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
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Good news and bad news about the new travel policy for Cuba. (As of November 10, 2017)
I’m going to quote the Washington Post on the changes. As is often the case, you have to read the fine print to know what the real deal is.
Make sure you read the second paragraph carefully.
The most significant change under the new regulations is the elimination of the individual “people-to-people” category of educational travel. As before the Obama opening, most visitors to Cuba will again have to travel in licensed groups.
One remaining exception appears to be the “support for the Cuban people” category, which requires travelers to “engage in a full-time schedule” of unspecified “meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba” and activities that support civil society.
I don’t like the weasel word “appears” in the phrase “one remaining exception appears to be…”
However, if this is the case, then citizens of the “Land of the Free” can still freely travel to Cuba if they fulfill the following two conditions:
1) They check off “support for the Cuban people” as their reason for traveling
2) They engage in a full-time schedule of “meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba” and activities that support civil society.
What the heck does that mean?
Your guess is as good any anybody’s. That said, here are some ideas.
First, you can’t go to the beach and loll around all day drinking Cuba Libres. That’s only for Canadians – and the citizens of literally every other country in the world.
You have to do things like attend cultural events, go out for music, spend money in privately owned business like guest houses and restaurants, talk with Cubans about life and art and love, visit museums and learn about Cuban history and culture. In other words, be a respectful student of Cuban life and be a good will ambassador for the United States.
You also must avoid engaging in any transactions with the State Department’s list of evil Cuban companies. Print it out and bring it with you on your trip. You can find the list at State.gov under “List of Restricted Entities and Subentities Associated With Cuba”
It was previously recommended – and I imagine it’s still the case – that you keep a daily diary that documents that you did these kinds of “approved” things while there and retain those records for five years in case a US government agent wants to “zee your papers.”
Is this ideal? No, but it’s more than good enough for us to work with.
Note: Am I a lawyer? No. Am I giving you legal advice? No. I’m a music writer and these are my thoughts. Use them at your own risk.
Should you go to Cuba?
Absolutely.
If you love jazz and all the ingredients that have gone into its making, seeing Cuba is essential.
All your musical life you’ve heard “rumors” and “distant echoes” of Cuba and its music. To experience it full bore with no filter is a life-changing experience.
It sure was for me.
If you can manage it, do it before our beloved government takes away even this thread of a right.
For perspective, back in 1977 Jimmy Carter opened travel to Cuba. Reagan shut it down in 1980 and it stayed shut for 35 years. (Because the US is a free country, don’t you know.)
How to get there? Is it expensive?
It’s easy to get there. Just get on a plane. There are scheduled flights everyday out of places like New York City and Miami.
Is travel in Cuba expensive?
If you go with a packaged tour or use the “normal” travel industry, yes. Cuba is no bargain. Budget at least $400 a day (probably more) plus your airfare.
You could have an exponentially better time – better housing, better food, better entertainment – for about $100 a day.
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
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This montage of the October 23 Benefit for Puerto Rico at Poisson Rouge (the old Village Gate) was created and contributed by the very talented Garbriel Moreno of Tableaux Multimedia.
Select video of the actual concert will be coming soon. Watch for it here.
Jazz and Latin music have been brothers for as long as jazz has been an art form
Jelly Roll Morton laid it out:
“If you can’t manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz.”
In 1930, Don Azpiazu knocked down the doors of American popular music with The Peanut Vendor.
Machito and his musical hermano (and real life brother-in-law) Mario Bauzá kicked it into high gear with one of the greatest big bands ever to rock a jazz stage.
Then in 1947, thanks to an introduction by Bauzá, bepop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie teamed up with Chano Pozo to create a model for collaborations between Latin and Jazz musicians that has been going strong ever since.
Started by the Mario Bauzá’s rhythm section and jazzman Sonny Fortune, Monday night at the Gate was THE place to go with crowds lining up around the block to get in.
On Monday October 23, 2017, in support of the people of Puerto Rico, many of the giants who were part of this legendary time came back for a once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-repeated reunion with Bobby Sanabria‘s big band Multiverse.
Over time, we will be releasing video of this historic event.
Meanwhile, this is what it’s all about…
No sightseers please. We need givers right now. Please read how you can help.
Gershwin took a two-week holiday in Havana in February 1932 and came back with this.
The work, under the original title “Rumba”, later named “Cuban Overture”, received its première at New York’s now-demolished Lewisohn Stadium 16 August 16,1932, as part of an all-Gershwin program held by New York Philharmonic.
The concert was a huge success. As Gershwin wrote:
It was, I really believe, the most exciting night I have ever had…17,845 people paid to get in and just about 5,000 were at the closed gates trying to fight their way in—unsuccessfully
George Gershwin’s Cuban Overture. Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, September 8, 2012
Leonard Bernstein was a fan of Cuba too and, like Gershwin, took a two week-holiday there to recuperate after the commercial failure of his Broadway show Candide in 1955.
He came back from the trip rejuvenated. Some of this energy helped him persist in his ultimate success bringing “West Side Story” to the stage.
Leonard Bernstein’s “Mambo” from West Side Story by the Berliner Philharmoniker. Ingo Metzmacher, conductor. Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, September 8, 2012.
Igor Stravinsky visited Cuba too at the height of his career in 1946 to perform – and as a student of rhythm.
“How about Stravinsky?” The composer’s name is mentioned in Cachao’s curriculum vitae. And it has been said that Stravinsky’s use of rhythm sometimes resembles the Afro-Cuban.
“Stravinsky was my friend. I played the ‘Firebird’ and ‘Petrouchka’ with Stravinsky conducting in Cuba. He was a simple man, ugly like me…”
“No no,” the interpreter interrupted.
“…but very nice. Noble. He was interested in Cuban rhythms. I took him to the clubs to hear Cuban bands and he tried to notate the rhythms on paper. They are complex, very difficult to transcribe.” Cachao tapped a fast two-handed mambo beat on the table. Coffee cups bounced.
Then there’s Aaron Copland
A friend heard his “El Salón México” and asked him why he called it “Mexican” when it was clearly based on a Cuban Danzón.
Copland said that he first heard the style at a dance hall in Mexico City and didn’t realize it had is origins in Cuba and was a Cuban form.
To make up for his gaff he wrote “Danzón Cubano” which he plays here as a piano duet with his friend and colleague Leo Smit.
Aaron Copland’s “Danzón Cubano” performed by Copland and Leo Smit.
Here’s Copland performing “El Salón México.”
Still watching and reading?
Good!
Now here’s a secret about Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture” which very few people know.
This comes from the excellent movie: “Cachao: como su ritmo no hay dos” directed by Andy Garcia
The story of Gershwin and Pinero is interesting told to me by Ignacio Pinero himself.
He told me one night he was walking around. It was 1936 or 1937 and along the street as it often happened in Havana, all the doors and windows were open and he heard this music.
“Ah, that sounds familiar.”
He went to the house and asked the lady there: “What is that?”
She replied “That’s the “Cuban Overture” by the great George Gershwin.”
So in the Cuban Overture by great George Gershwin there were various chunks of “Echale Salsita.” (Pinero’s composition!)
They asked Piniero if he wanted to sue Gershwin.
He replied: “Oh, no, no. I’m satisfied that the great George Gershwin considers me a part of Cuban Folklore.”
– 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.
As bad as the situation was in New Orleans after Katrina – and it was dire – conditions in Puerto Rico are exponentially worse. Approximately 60,000 New Orleanians were stranded in the city for nearly a week.
Over a month after the Hurricanes Irma and Maria, over 3 MILLION Puerto Ricans were still without electric power and medical and other basic services and many still have no access to potable water or reliable food supplies. Improvements are slow and difficult and resources of all kinds are needed.
We ask every Jazz on the Tube subscriber to do whatever they are able – share these pages, spread the word, contact your Congress people, donate money.
Where to send help
We have vetted this short list thoroughly and these are our current recommendations (as of December 18, 2018)
PRIMA (Puerto Rican Independent Musicians and Artists)
In cooperation with Pregones/PRTT
PRIMA is a collective of musicians and artists on the island of Puerto Rico. Their mission is to help sustain the independent music community in Puerto Rico which has suffered catastrophic losses as the result of Hurricane Maria.
PRIMA is partnered with the NYC based non-profit Pregones Puerto Rican Traveling Theater which has been dedicated to supporting Puerto Rican artists in all disciplines for decades.
Contributions to this fund are distributed by PRIMA to artists in need on the island and are tax-deductible.
Any amount, large or small, is welcome and will be put to good use by people who are on the ground, know the needs, and are dedicated to helping the musicians of Puerto Rico.
This organization founded in 1990 has a clearly defined program for bringing and distributing emergency aid throughout Puerto Rico and has already delivered over 1.5 million pounds of emergency provisions to distribution centers throughout the island.
They are well organized, committed, focused on Puerto Rico, and in it for the long haul.
Charity Navigator which rates charities on fiscal responsibility and transparency has rated this group 95.47 out of a possible 100 which is the equivalent of AAA+ in the non-profit accountability world.
This group provides medical, financial, legal, and vocational services to jazz, blues and roots musicians in the United States. Their exact plans and programs for helping Puerto Rico are at this time not known because they have not disclosed them.
If you want to contribute to this group specifically for Puerto Rico relief, we recommend you do so by CHECK ONLY and include a cover letter stating your intention and with a memo to the effect written on your check.
Note: On its website, the Foundation says it reserves the right to use donations it receives for any purpose at its sole discretion.
Jazz Foundation of America
322 West 48th Street, 6th Floor ·
New York, NY 10036
(212)245-3999 · info@jazzfoundation.org
Some facts
1. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and have been since 1917.
2. The U.S. government has the material, personnel, transportation, infrastructure and expertise to address this situation on a massive and rapid scale. That it has not done so is a decision based on the assumption by those in control of these public resources that there will be no political consequences for failing to do so.
If you disagree with this deliberate government policy of minimal emergency aid, please contact your political representatives and tell them you want to see meaningful help for the people of Puerto Rico.
Where to send help
We have vetted this short list thoroughly and these are our current recommendations (as of December 18, 2018)
PRIMA (Puerto Rican Independent Musicians and Artists)
In cooperation with Pregones/PRTT
PRIMA is a collective of musicians and artists on the island of Puerto Rico. Their mission is to help sustain the independent music community in Puerto Rico which has suffered catastrophic losses as the result of Hurricane Maria.
PRIMA is partnered with the NYC based non-profit Pregones Puerto Rican Traveling Theater which has been dedicated to supporting Puerto Rican artists in all disciplines for decades.
Contributions to this fund are distributed by PRIMA to artists in need on the island and are tax-deductible.
Any amount, large or small, is welcome and will be put to good use by people who are on the ground, know the needs, and are dedicated to helping the musicians of Puerto Rico.
This organization founded in 1990 has a clearly defined program for bringing and distributing emergency aid throughout Puerto Rico and has already delivered over 1.5 million pounds of emergency provisions to distribution centers throughout the island.
They are well organized, committed, focused on Puerto Rico, and in it for the long haul.
Charity Navigator which rates charities on fiscal responsibility and transparency has rated this group 95.47 out of a possible 100 which is the equivalent of AAA+ in the non-profit accountability world.
This group provides medical, financial, legal, and vocational services to jazz, blues and roots musicians in the United States. Their exact plans and programs for helping Puerto Rico are at this time not known because they have not disclosed them.
If you want to contribute to this group specifically for Puerto Rico relief, we recommend you do so by CHECK ONLY and include a cover letter stating your intention and with a memo to the effect written on your check.
Note: On its website, the Foundation says it reserves the right to use donations it receives for any purpose at its sole discretion.
Jazz Foundation of America
322 West 48th Street, 6th Floor ·
New York, NY 10036
(212)245-3999 · info@jazzfoundation.org
