Afro-Cuban culture, Blog, Cuba, Cuban Jazz, Latin Jazz, Video and audio
The deeper you dive into Cuban music, the more amazing it reveals itself to be.
Sometimes I have to ask myself is Cuba a country – or an alternate universe?
How can such a small country – with less people than Ohio – generate so much musical accomplishment?
Notice: I don’t day “talent.”
Talent is a dime a dozen. Realization of talent is the thing that matters.
It takes dedication and relentless study – and a higher moral purpose – to turn raw musical talent into accomplishment the way the Cuban people have.
Here’s an example of all the various threads of Cuban music brought together on one stage: reverence for classical music, immersion in Afro-Cuban rhythms, affection for popular genres, and hip-as-hell jazz sensibilities.
Who is this flute playing musical visionary dressed in white?
Meet: Orlando Valle, aka Maraca. Enjoy and Viva Cuba!
How about another one? The small unit works out on “Manteca”
– 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.
Afro-Cuban culture, Blog, Cuba, Cuban Jazz, Video and audio
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
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.
Afro-Cuban culture, Blog, Cuba, Cuban Jazz, Latin Jazz, Puerto Rico, The Cuba-US connection, Video and audio
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.
Meanwhile…
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.
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
Blog, Cuba, The Cuba-US connection, Video and audio
Musicians love Cuba.
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.
Israel Lopez (aka “Cachao”) recalls time he spent with Stravinsky in Havana.
“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.
Blog, Cuba, Latin Jazz, Puerto Rico, The Cuba-US connection, Video and audio
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
Afro-Cuban culture, Blog, Cuba, Cuban Jazz, Latin Jazz, Puerto Rico, The Cuba-US connection, Video and audio
A preview of some of the magic you’ll see at the Benefit.
Conga master Candido (age 96) surprises the crowd with his rarely-seen bass and cowbell skills.
Bobby Sanabria explains what’s in store for the audience this Monday, October 23 at Poisson Rouge in New York City: an unprecedented meeting of Jazz and Latin superstars to benefit Puerto Rico.
Details
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
Merry Christmas from Jazz on the Tube