putting the V in A/V |
class notes
putting the V in A/V |
class notes For most of the duration of this mix I was on a study-abroad at la Universidad de la Habana. It sounds like a stereotype, but music was really a big part of everything - during classes (history and contemporary culture), excursions, and time in the streets, music was never far away. I'm certainly no expert, but wanted to share some of the music and experiences of Cuba.Even if you're not a huge Latin music fan, don't toss this. Cuban culture is infamous for its international roots, and those turn up here in the form of African rhythms, Jazz, Rap, and even Bluegrass. Since this group is all based in the US, there should be some new stuff in here for everyone...
Benny Moré, Santa Isabel de las Lajas
Moré (El barbaro del ritmo) sang this song about the town in which he grew up, which still has celebrations of his life and music. When he lived there, he went to church at a syncretic temple known as a cabildo. The one in Santa Isabel de las Lajas is one of the three remaining cabildos in Cuba, and is known as the Cabildo de Congo Reales (for pictures, go to A/V and select album Casino).
Benny Moré, Tú me sabes comprender
This song was part of the soundtrack for the 1993 movie Fresa y Chocolate, and was another huge hit of Moré's. The movie is a classic about reconciling identity as a homosexual and revolutionary in a very difficult period in Cuban history. The film is centered around the block-sized ice cream park Coppelia, which is about the only brand of ice cream Cubans can buy. People literally go in and buy four giant bowls of ice cream a piece, pour it into tupperwares, and leave, bringing the ice cream home. It's not just because it's damn good ice cream - most people aren't eligible for milk on the rations market, and low salaries prevent most families from buying more milk at the dollar stores.
This song is the Cuban classic, and I was surprised to actually hear it, piped in in the "shopping mall" and played by every trio at a restaurant, tourist or local. The lyrics are originally from a poem by José Martí, one of the Cuban national heroes. If you've ever read Philip K. Dick's The Mold of Yancy, you might notice some similarities (yes, I'm aware the story was written about Eisenhower). The song, in any case, is a simple country man (un guajiro) courting a country girl (la guajira) from the province of Guantanamo. It's not just a US naval base formed under the Platt amendment, it's an entire province.
Gloria Estefan, Tres gotas de agua
This is the kind of Cuban music we see the most of up north here - it fits nicely in with the rest of the music that's been polished and marketed to the hilt, but can still be a) interesting and b) a good contrast to what is actually coming out of the island. Unfortunately, due to changes in visa regulations and "terrorism screening" Cuban artists are having a harder time touring in the States and distributing to the US. Everyone's heard of Gloria Estefan, though.
Irakere is one of Cuba's most popular jazz/big band-type groups, headed by Chucho Valdés, who also composes most of the group's music. Irakere's name comes from the Yoruba word for forest.Babalú ayé is syncretized with the Catholic saint San Lázaro. He's not a deity, "just" a spirit - and protects against sickness and death. The album (see above) this song is from is named for the orisha (deity) Yemaya, the orisha representing the moon, the seas, and everything in them. Like many other deities of the moon, she is the one whose help you would call on for fertility issues.
"Many of the top Cuban jazz musicians have played in Irakere during the past several decades, including altoist Paquito D'Rivera and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (before both individually defected). Pianist Chucho Valdes has been the orchestra's longtime leader, and its music ranges from Latin jazz and bop to Cuban folk melodies, with an emphasis on infectious rhythms and advanced improvisations. Several of Irakere's records have been made available domestically (including sets for Columbia and Jazz House), but the exciting band was not able to visit the United States until 1996. The album Toda Cuba Baila con Irakere followed two years later." -AllMusic
Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Eleggua
A literal translation gives these guys the best band name: The little dolls of massacres! The spoiler is that Matanzas is a city and province East of Havana.Los Muñequitos are part of the strong presence of African influence on Cuban culture. This song is named for Eleggua, an orisha (deity) of the Yoruba-based religion Santería. Eleggua is a male warrior deity, and is el dueño (the master) of destiny, chance, games, and youth. His colors are red and black, and the best offerings to make to him are caramels, tobacco, and rum. One of the key facets of Santería is that it is not an African religion, it is distinctly Cuban, with a basis in both African and Christian beliefs. This mixture of beliefs is known as syncretism, and can be found (in particular) throughout the Caribbean and in Mexico.
Los Zafiros, Por no comprenderte
Los Zafiros have been around for years, originally hailing from the Cayo Hueso neighborhood of Havana, which is home to one of Havana's most successful urban renewal projects. The projects are sometimes funded internationally by groups like UNESCO or other NGOs, but are also part of the socialist idea of trabajo voluntario, or voluntary work. I had the opportunity to visit another project, Taller La Corea in San Miguel de Padron, Ciudad de la Habana, and was really impressed to see that in one of the most run down parts of the city, people were not itching to move out, as they would here in the US. The residents were really proud of their neighborhood and their heritage, and were working hard to improve their infrastructure and maintain the traditions that had been passed down. Besides fixing houses, installing plumbing, cleaning streams, and making other physical improvements, recreation centers and cultural groups have been founded to keep kids aware of their roots and keep them off the streets.
Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra, Mambo mucho mambo
Jazz of any mood is magical, and the music of Machito has been cited as an influence to such American greats as Dizzy Gillespie. Let the music speak for itself, but should you want to dance...
Nueva Trova Cubana, Pablo Milanés, Tú eres la música que tengo que cantar
Pablo Milanés contributes to the musical movement of Nueva Trova, literally translated as New Ballads, which started out of a folk tradition of songs of social criticism. It's funny how every time change comes to Cuba, it's rooted in the Eastern provinces, known as el Oriente. The genre has been popularized throughout Latin America, partciularly in Puerto Rico. (If this song strikes you, you might also look at Mezcla, whose lead singer is an American living in Cuba since the 1960's).
This song is played and covered everywhere - probably because it's pretty good! It might be named the official counterpart to Will Smith's Miami. Orisha started out as Amenaza, and have landed the dream of international success.The song is of course about the city of Havana (la Habana), and they sing about one of the quintessential Cuban beasts, el camello (the camel). This one is no mammal, it's a bus, a Cuban invention which is manufactured in Hungary, if I recall. The cheapest form of transportation, they cost about one US cent to ride across town in a smoke-belching crowd of sweaty people. The front end is from a semi, and the back is people-carrying. They first showed up during the Special Period, which started in 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and 80% of Cuba's trade (so named because, and I can't find the quote, Castro described it as a "special period in a time of peace" - wartime conditions without the war). FYI, buses in general are called guaguas and vans are guaguitas. And English is such a creeping language - here, like much of Central American and US-ian Spanish speakers, the car is not el coche, but el carro. I cannot get used to that!
Polo Montañez, Guajiro natural
Those guajiros are at it again. Polo passed away last fall, and left a lot of people with memories of his life and music. Some of his more recent songs have been set to poems by Antonio Guerrero, who is one of five Cubans convicted of conspiracy and imprisoned in the United States.The charges stem from the 1996 shooting of private planes from Brothers to the Rescue, a (depending on what side you are on) humanitarian or terrorist organization. The planes were allegedly trespassing Cuban airspace, and were promptly shot down by Cuba. This was the final act that pushed Clinton, despite vows that he would veto, to sign the Helms Burton Act, formally known as the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. Nice doublespeak, hm?
Weydaminud - what's the norteamericano doing on the mix of Cuban music? He was the producer of the first Buena Vista Social Club album, and has since been both a fan and artist of Cuban music. Ry Cooder's visit to Cuba in 2001 helped open the country to cultural exchanges, with a hand from Bill Clinton. During that visit he worked on an instrumental album with Manuel Galbán, of Los Zafiros (above)."Where can you go in the world anymore where you can be in any kind of atmosphere other than the post-media, post-consumer world that we live in now - one that's available and that's musically rich? So it's very attractive in that way." -Ry Cooder, in an interview with Stereophile.
Songs about the locomotion of the human posterior are far and above the most common, so I had to include one, right? SBS has been around since the mid-1990's, and belongs to the generation that has made rap Cuban, putting the "rap" rythyms heard here with the sounds of el son and la salsa. A movement tied to both social protest and the promotion of the status quo, el rap cubano existe.
