Research On Conga Players
Matthew Dubuque
jsierra
Alex wrote:I was wondering if people in the group would drop me a line answering a couple of questions:
1. Favourite conga player / players
2. Favourite conga solo / or solos
please specify: [conga player|song|artist|record]
I hope you'll excuse the somewhat disorganized nature of my response, Alex, but my memory is fading a little. Here goes, hope this will help. As a former professional conga drummer I devoted a lot of thought to this topic in my younger years. This is by no means intended as a definitive list of great conga drummers, but rather a list of players that have particularly moved me and who influenced my own drumming.
rumberos: Patato (listen to the "Patato and Totico" album); Papin (check out anything by Los Papines or Papin y sus Rumberos)
salsa/Cuban dance music: Tata Guines wrote the book (he lays it all out on Cachao's "Jam Sessions in Miniature")
Francisco Aguabella is always worth listening to, no matter what sub-genre of Afro-Cuban, salsa, jazz, or latin rock he's playing in.
latin jazz: Mongo Santamaria - what a great sound and what driving tension in his playing on almost all of his recordings! More than just about any player, his internal metronome is rock-steady, and his playing always sounds thoroughly grounded and commanding. His boogaloo period/R&B cover stuff sounds pretty dated though it still contains good conga drumming. Any of his many versions of "Afro Blue" is worth listening to. He was probably at his peak on some of his Atlantic and Vaya recordings ("Up from the Roots," "Mongo's Way," "Mongo at Montreux," "Fuego," "Afro-Indio," "Live at Yankee Stadium") not to mention the great Afro-Cuban drumming albums "Drums and Chants" and "Afro Roots."
Ray Barretto falls somewhere between the two previous categories. A great player, but on some recordings he is more understated than someone interested in congas might like. There are several albums on which Ray can be heard to good advantage, however, including "Que Viva la Musica" and "Head Sounds." "Fania All-Stars Live at Yankee Stadium" features a "conga duel" between Ray and Mongo! I haven't really heard his latin jazz recordings of recent years (on Concord Picante?) but I imagine he gets a lot of room to express himself on those dates.
Victor Pantoja is one of the most underrated, versatile, innovative players in history IMHO. Much of his career was spent with Willie Bobo. He also played on Gabor Szabo's "Spellbinder" and got involved with the 70's San Francisco latin/jazz/rock scene. Victor's greatest asset: an incredible melodic sense and great set of ears: if you can find Azteca's "Pyramid of the Moon," check out Victor's spare eloquence on his guaguanco percussion duet with timbalero Coke Escovedo and the impeccable way he plays --funk-- on "Mazatlan," and "A Night in Nazca," and then -samba- elsewhere on the album. The self-titled first "Azteca" album, now on CD, is almost as good a showcase for Victor, easier to find, and also had good timbale playing by Coke.
Andre Baeza was probably never given a second thought by Cuban music purists, being a Chicano playing with a rock band (El Chicano), but he was a really fine player in a latin/jazz/rock/r&b vein and, as with Pantoja, contemporary percussionists can learn a lot from him about adapting the congas to non-traditional music. El Chicano's first three albums "Viva Tirado," "Revolucion" and "Celebration" are all exciting showcases for Baeza's driving syncopations. Unless you can find these on vinyl you'll have to settle for the CD compilations "Viva El Chicano" and "Chicano Chant," both of which contain some tracks from these albums.
chopsmonsters: Raul Rekow (Santana's conga drummer for the last 20 years) and (salsa/latin jazz artist) Giovanni Hidalgo have few peers in the areas of speed and technical ability. On top of that, they're musical. This is what endless hours of "woodshedding" (practice) can do for you.
spectacular unknowns of latin jazz: two good conga albums (small group latin-jazz setting), both by Cal Tjader, are Cal Tjader Quintet (late '50's, Luis Miranda(?) on congas) and Sona Libre ('60's, Bill Fitch on congas).
Steve Thornton is a player I know primarily from early Jon Lucien albums like "Rashida," "Mind's Eye," and "Premonition." Aside from Lucien's deep baritone, Thornton's remarkably tasteful and distinctive full, propulsive playing seemed influenced by Brazilian, Caribbean, latin and R&B sources.
Brazilian music: though not as well-known as Afro-Cuban drumming, there is also a hand-drumming tradition in Brazil. Atabaques, the Brazilian equivalent of congas, are widely used in Afro-Brazilian worship (Candomble, Umbanda, Batuque), martial arts music (Capoeira and Maculele) and many forms of samba. Paulinho da Costa, Djalma Correia, Papete and Laudir de Oliveira are all excellent drummers whose conga playing is informed by these traditions. Best albums to hear them on may be, respectively Paulinho's "Agora;" Jorge Ben's "Africa Brasil" (for Djalma, unless you can find his solo album from the "Musica Popular Brasileira Contemporanea" series); Papete's "Berimbau e Percussao;" and Sergio Mendes' "Primal Roots" (Laudir). Several of Martinho da Vila and Clara Nunes' great, rootsy samba recordings feature good atabaque or conga playing in a "samba de roda" (Bahian samba) vein.
I hope some of these comments are of interest. If you have questions about any of this (or ideas on how to obtain these recordings) I'd be glad to help!
Jose
jsierra
I was wondering if people in the group would drop me a line answering a couple of questions:
1. Favourite conga player / players
2. Favourite conga solo / or solos
please specify: [conga
player|song|artist|record]
I hope you'll excuse the somewhat disorganized nature of my response, Alex, but my memory is fading a little. Here goes, hope this will help. As a former professional conga drummer I devoted a lot of thought to this topic in my younger years. This is by no means intended as a definitive list of great conga drummers, but rather a list of players that have particularly moved me and who influenced my own drumming.
rumberos: Patato (listen to the "Patato and Totico" album); Papin (check out anything by Los Papines or Papin y sus Rumberos)
salsa/Cuban dance music: Tata Guines wrote the book (he lays it all out on Cachao's "Jam Sessions in Miniature")
Francisco Aguabella is always worth listening to, no matter what sub-genre of Afro-Cuban, salsa, jazz, or latin rock he's playing in. One early Tjaderish band recording of his was recently reissued on CD, by the way, "Dance the Latin Way."
latin jazz: Mongo Santamaria - what a great sound and what driving tension in his playing on almost all of his recordings! More than just about any player, his internal metronome is rock-steady, and his playing always sounds thoroughly grounded and commanding. His boogaloo period/R&B cover stuff sounds pretty dated though it still contains good conga drumming. Any of his many versions of "Afro Blue" is worth listening to. He was probably at his peak on some of his Atlantic and Vaya recordings ("Up from the Roots," "Mongo's Way," "Mongo at Montreux," "Fuego," "Afro-Indio," "Live at Yankee Stadium") not to mention the great Afro-Cuban drumming albums "Drums and Chants" and "Afro Roots."
Ray Barretto falls somewhere between the two previous categories. A great player, but on some recordings he is more understated than someone interested in congas might like. There are several albums on which Ray can be heard to good advantage, however, including "Que Viva la Musica" and "Head Sounds." "Fania All-Stars Live at Yankee Stadium" features a "conga duel" between Ray and Mongo! I haven't really heard his latin jazz recordings of recent years (on Concord Picante?) but I imagine he gets a lot of room to express himself on those dates.
Victor Pantoja is one of the most underrated, versatile, innovative players in history IMHO. Much of his career was spent with Willie Bobo. He also played on Gabor Szabo's "Spellbinder" and got involved with the 70's San Francisco latin/jazz/rock scene. Victor's greatest asset: an incredible melodic sense and great set of ears: if you can find Azteca's "Pyramid of the Moon," check out Victor's spare eloquence on his guaguanco percussion duet with timbalero Coke Escovedo and the impeccable way he plays --funk-- on "Mazatlan," and "A Night in Nazca," and then -samba- elsewhere on the album. The self-titled first "Azteca" album, now on CD, is almost as good a showcase for Victor, easier to find, and also had good timbale playing by Coke.
Andre Baeza was probably never given a second thought by Cuban music purists, being a Mexican-American playing with a Los Angeles rock band (El Chicano), but he was a really fine player in a latin/jazz/rock/r&b vein and, as with Pantoja, contemporary percussionists can learn a lot from him about adapting the congas to non-traditional music. El Chicano's first three albums "Viva Tirado," "Revolucion" and "Celebration" are all exciting showcases for Baeza's driving syncopations. Unless you can find these on vinyl you'll have to settle for the CD compilations "Viva El Chicano" and "Chicano Chant," both of which contain some tracks from these albums.
chopsmonsters: Raul Rekow (Santana's conga drummer for the last 20 years) and (salsa/latin jazz artist) Giovanni Hidalgo have few peers in the areas of speed and technical ability. On top of that, they're musical. This is what endless hours of "woodshedding" (practice) can do for you.
spectacular unknowns of latin jazz: two good conga albums (small group latin-jazz setting), both by Cal Tjader, are Cal Tjader Quintet (late '50's, Luis Miranda(?) on congas) and Sona Libre ('60's, Bill Fitch on congas).
Steve Thornton is a player I know primarily from early Jon Lucien albums like "Rashida," "Mind's Eye," and "Premonition." Aside from Lucien's deep baritone, Thornton's remarkably tasteful and distinctive full, propulsive playing was one of the more striking things about these albums, seemingly influenced by Brazilian, Caribbean, latin and R&B sources.
Alex Pertout
Hi, I am conducting research on influential conga players and I was wondering if people in the group would drop me a line answering a couple of questions:
1. Favourite conga player / players
2. Favourite conga solo / or solos
please specify: [conga player|song|artist|record]
Thank you so much.
Greetings from Melbourne, Australia
All the best,
ALEX PERTOUT
percussionist, composer & educator
http://www.netspace.net.au/~pertout
Edward-Yemíl Rosario
<snip>
> latin jazz: Mongo Santamaria - what a great sound and what driving =
>tension in his playing on almost all of his recordings! More than just =
>about any player, his internal metronome is rock-steady, and his playing =
>always sounds thoroughly grounded and commanding. His boogaloo =
>period/R&B cover stuff sounds pretty dated though it still contains good =
>conga drumming. Any of his many versions of "Afro Blue" is worth =
>listening to. He was probably at his peak on some of his Atlantic and =
>Vaya recordings ("Up from the Roots," "Mongo's Way," "Mongo at =
>Montreux," "Fuego," "Afro-Indio," "Live at Yankee Stadium") not to =
>mention the great Afro-Cuban drumming albums "Drums and Chants" and =
>"Afro Roots."=20
<snip>
Hi,
I enjoyed your post, very informative in a concrete sorta way. I have
to agree with your assessment of Mongo during his Atlantic/Vaya
recordings. I feel that his "Up from the Roots" is one of the best
examples of drum recording ever. It offers the best of Mongo in that
one side contained excluively smoking drumming and the other side is
some very good latin-jazz. Technically, it is clean, you can hear all
the nuances (check out that almost supernaturally low drum beat that
starts off the conga, "Pan de Maiz"). It had two remakes, "Sofrito"
and one of the most rockingest versions of "Para Ti" I've ever heard
(next to afro-Blue, this is probably one of the most recorded Mongo
sides). Great, Great piece of work, this album. Unfortunately, it's no
longer available. I was wondering if you have any info on how I can
get my hands on "Up from the Roots."
Peace Out,
Edward-Yemíl Rosario (Eddie)
jsierra
jsierra
I wish Atlantic realized what gems they have in the vault.
Maybe they'll let Rhino do a Mongo anthology reissue, that might turn out
well. The band on "Mongo's Way" and "Mongo at Montreux" which I think
included Armando Peraza, Eddie "Gua Gua" Rivera, Carter Jefferson, Roger
Glenn, Eddie Martinez and Stanley Turrentine (on Mongo's Way only) was
really hot. Armando, Turrentine and Roger Glenn really went ballistic on
Mongo's Way - some great playing, not to mention Mongo of course.
Sorry, Back to "Up from the Roots." The calibre of both the Afro-Cuban
folkloric tracks and the band tracks -are- really superb and clean both in
execution and recording. For now, you'll have to find it on vinyl (keep your
turntable). GEMM appears to have one or more copies up for auction
( http://www.gemm.com/ ) and I've seen it from time to time in used record
stores. Big Al's Record Barn in Santa Clara California has had it before,
and I believe they'll do mail order on request (they're not on line, so
you'd need to call them (area 408, San Jose area).
Edward-Yemíl Rosario wrote
>I have
>to agree with your assessment of Mongo during his Atlantic/Vaya
>recordings. I feel that his "Up from the Roots" is one of the best
>examples of drum recording ever...
Matthew Dubuque
Anybody that mentions Big Al's Record Barn must be a local! I don't
know if they are on line, but their collection is extraordinary.
I must say however, that the San Francisco place where I picked up my
SEALED copy of Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo vinyl for 3 big dollars
ain't half bad either.
Musically,
Matthew
PS There's also a place near San Mateo with ALL of Charlie Parker's
78's in MINT condition... and that's just for starters.....! This
collection includes over 50 Beatles Butcher Block albums, etc.
Stanford University Music Archives is also open to the public and has a
world class collection of old Cuban 78s, Miguelito Valdes, everybody....
It's not that bad out here on the left coast!
Edward-Yemíl Rosario
wrote:
>> 1. Favourite conga player / players
>>
>Daniel Ponce
<snip>
Paul,
I first really heard Ponce on the now unavailable "Mariel" LP by
Paquito D'Rivera. Here, Ponce demonstrated a great feel for the
dynamics of conga playing in a Jazz context rarely heard elsewhere.
The interplay and anticipation betweenhe and pianist Hilton Ruiz was a
pleasure to listen to on this date.
Peace Out,
Edward-Yemíl Rosario
New York University
"I have a problem with an institution such as the independent
counsel that has no real accountability, that goes on and on
like Tennyson's brook, without end and with an open-ended
checkbook."
-Sen. Henry Hyde in defense of Oliver North
Edward-Yemíl Rosario
Peace Out,
Kvetcher2
Personally when I want to hear great conga playing I get my folkloric
recordings, Munyequitos or Afro-Cuba or Yoruba Andabo. This is how I like the
congas best--as part of a percussion ensemble. I have heard Anga up close, it
was like a sonic beating--I was dazzled, transfixed, but I can't honestly say
it felt good. Saw Tata Guines solo--again, impressive, phenomenal technique
and rhythmic control, but hard to take. Saw Patato live a few years ago--was
disappointed. I can't really talk about the jazz or "salsa" guys--I don't
usually listen too critically to the conga player, just dig the groove if
groove there be.
Now with the rumba ensembles, it's more like a fine massage that goes on and
on, gently but inexorably working deep into the tissues, soothing and relaxing
yet energizing and stimulating.
Saludos--
Felipe (Philip Pasmanick)
rumba clave: xooxoooxooxoxooo
son clave: xooxooxoooxoxooo
Riq from New York
I must say I had fun reading everybody else's favorites, and I must
second the great Mongo Santamaria. A great CD is "Afro Roots" which
contains 2 albums from 1959. Willie Bobo plays on this CD. It contains
the famous Afro Blue, but it's mostly very afro--percussion and vocals.
It is probably my favorite Latin CD of all time.
My big 3 are Mongo, Patato Valdez, and Ray Baretto. There are several
great albums/CDs featuring Tito Puente that include Patato, Mongo, and
Willie Bobo--all the ones I've heard smoke.
I haven't got enough Chano Pozo. On some Arsenio Rodriguez' tracks,
maybe one Dizzy Gillespie. Any Chano recommendations? Thanks in advance.
--Riq