Track Notes

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE DRUM: MOYUBBA ILU (Greeting to The Drum or to The People) Performed by Pedro Martínez. Because of its connection to slaves, the knowledge of the batá drums’ religious foundation also traveled to the Americas. It initially arrived in Cuba and Brazil but expanded to the rest of Caribbean and Latin America. “Encyclopedia of the Drum” is a greeting done with batás to three warrior deities of the Yoruba Pantheon: Elegua, who opens and closes the paths, the beginning and the end; Ogún, whom is the orisha of labor; and Ochosi, the hunting god. “Encyclopedia” is a sonorous journey through time and by sea that transports us into one path of rumba's spiritual routes. In the union lies the strength. (Román Díaz)

PROHIBITION (Guaguancó) Rumba is the celebration of the being, and the result of the coming together of diverse African ethnicities. This guaguancó is a nationalistic anthem that exemplifies Rumba as a space of political and social debate. The author is Abakuá Reynaldo Brito.

DIALOGUE (Guaguancó) And when they took their drums away from them, they used their body as a resonating body. They turned it into an acoustic body.

STOMACH HEALTH (Guaguancó) Rumba narrates the quotidian. In marginal neighborhoods, the culinary arts are always a topic, “the gossip of the spoon.” This number integrates the Cuban diet into the absurd.

CONFLICT (Columbia) Always, where there is exploitation there is war and illness. This columbia begins with a prayer to Babalú Aye, King of Arará land, and saint of diseases and epidemics. The piece introduces masculinity, puya, competition, provocation, all reaffirmations of one’s being.

ABAKUA: GREETINGS TO THE POWERS The Carabalí and Brikamo people from West Africa, known as Abakuá, created one of the strongest socio-cultural and religious organizations in colonial Cuba. Their lodges have made a presence in the various emancipation and union movements during the pre- and post-colonial Cuba. This number occupies an in-between space, a sound between ceremonial and secular performance.

THE MONUMENT (Guaguancó) This is a double tribute performed via the conversation between two voices, that of the quinto’s improvisational drum and the singer’s. Manuel Martínez Olivera “El Llanero” composed this guaguancó in tribute to Benny Moré, one of the most prolific interpreters of Cuban popular music. In this context, the song operates as an homage to "El Llanero" himself who was also known as the Beny Moré of Central Park Rumba. "El Llanero" was a central figure in NYC for having taught the relationship between Rumba’s clave and singing to many first generation Nuyorican rumberos.

SEDUCTION (Guaguancó) Where there is Rumba there is flirtation, friendship, “he says to her nice things, and the people tells her to leave him. He tells her that it is a love story, that people have given up their life for it ….”

EL BRETE (Guaguancó) Rumba integrates and convokes the people’s voice, the unfolding of words, the riddle. This piece connects Havana and New York City by greeting Central Park rumba’s picturesque characters.

EXODUS (Guaguancó) Rumba itself is exodus, migration, crossing borders, seas and also nations. It is not being able to return, as well as the encounter with other cultures. Rumba is the embodiment of the conditions of crossing, and the meeting between subjectivities in transit. For instance, this rumba was composed in the U.S. Guantanamo Base by one of the 35,000 balseros (rafters) who left Cuba during the 1994 Special Period. Indeed, the mass movement of temporary field-workers has historicaly produced the so-called Rumberos invasions. In 1926, when migrant laborers travelled from Matanzas to Havana escaping the hurricane and the resulting lack of employment, it is said that these rumberos formed dance competitions in their free time.

FRAGMENTATION by Román Díaz. "This number is a history also, a history inside memory …” Migrations, forced or not, always create a sense of personal or group fragmentation. But when these individuals find each other, they form a great Rumba. “Fragmentation” follows rumba’s musical routes, in this trajectory “the clave and the cata are two guys that are just crazy, walking around and they find one thing and later another.” (Román Díaz) Thus, the Congo tradition is founded on dance and the strong stepping on the ground; the Yoruba Lucumi traditions are manifested in the guaguancó’s flirtatious nature, Oshún’s feminine gestures, Oya’s fortitude, the queen of the wind and the cemetery. As Román says, “like Andrea Baró, not all women want to be possessed.” The Abakuá manifests itself in the guaguancó’s eloquent rhythms and masculine energy. The Rumba is the synthesis of all: it is a conversation between all the rhythms with the joy and festivity of the carnival, the public form where ethnic groups have manifested themselves since the 19th century. The Carnival is the union of all the fragments. For Román "the beginning in the end…because the black people were understanding everything, that there was a way to unite all… Carnival, holiday of the people." “Fragmentation” shows the musical kaleidoscope rumba encloses.

INTERACTIVE RUMBA by Berta Jottar. (Flash file) An experimental rumba to be activated in your computer. This piece illustrates rumba's musical structure. Each instrument's sound is activated independenlty by using your computer’s mouse enabling you to analyze each drum's sound in relation to the clave. 

DIALOGUE by Berta Jottar. (Movie file) A short lyrical video about Pedrito's and Roman's synergy.