Cándido de Guerra Camero was born April 21, 1921 in Havana, Cuba, which makes him 96 and half years old (and one day) on the day of this recording.
Cándido is the most recorded conga player in the history of jazz having appeared on well over 1,000 albums.
Perhaps even more remarkable – and this is something many people have trouble wrapping their minds around – he is the first person to perform with multiple congas at the same time.
It may seem like an “obvious” idea, but as for all obvious ideas, someone had to go first and that somebody was Cándido de Guerra Camero.
Here’s the story straight from the Maestro’s mouth…
When Cándido first visited the US in 1946, in addition to being a percussionist, he also was a master on the bass, guitar and tres.
The rabbit hole goes even deeper…
Everyone is aware that Afro-Caribbean music was created from elements of African music. What fewer people are aware of is that the creative contributions have flowed both ways.
The practice of a single drummer performing with three or more drums first appeared in Senegal in the 1970s.
According to the liner notes of “Bougarabou: Solo Drumming of Casamance” (Village Pulse Records) the Jola of Senegal played just one drum, adding two later, then finally graduating to three or four in the late ’70s.
What stimulated this sudden innovation in an already well developed musical tradition?
Believe it or not, the evidence points to the influx and popularity of salsa records in the region.
Yes, salsa.
So we come full circle…From Africa to the Caribbean to New York City and back to Africa.
And who was on those records that changed the way the Jola of Senegal approached the drums? Almost certainly Puertorriquenos
Hanging around at home, Bacary Olé Diedhiou, Senegalese master of Bougarabou, gives an informal demo.
OK, we’ve informed you and hopefully entertained you.
Over forty musicians donated their time and talents to create the material we’ve shared with you in this series.
Over $10,000 in donated video production and post-production and web services were donated to bring you these highlights.
If you haven’t given yet, now’s the time. Thanks.
– 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
August 2017, Jazz on the Tube brought Havana jazz educator Camilo Moreira to New York City and the Bronx to experience US jazz and meet his Latin jazz “uncles” and “cousins” in the U.S. first hand for the first time. (Camilo has been up before but always with heavy work loads that didn’t permit him to do any of his own explorations.)
Bobby Sanabria kindly took us around the Bronx to learn about the mostly unknown history of this most important and under-appreciated hotbed for musical innovation in America. We also hit the clubs and other resources like the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, the Bronx Music Heritage Center and the Schomburg Center in Harlem.
The Bronx: One of the most innovative music communities on earth.
Coltrane, Monk, Miles, Dizzy, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and others all found audiences in the borough’s vast network of live music venues as did Machito, Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Celia Cruz, Mongo Santamaria, and many others.
Bobby Sanabria, Mike Amadeo, and Camilo at Casa Amadeo. Amadeo, proprietor of the oldest Latin music store in the Bronx, is the author of over 300 songs written for and performed by the likes of Celia Cruz, Danny Rivera and Cheito Gonzalez.
An original mint condition disk of the super hit of 1930, “El Manisero” (The Peanut Vendor), the first million seller in Latin music history.
The remaining facade of one of over one hundred live theaters, concert halls and night clubs that used to dot the Bronx.
The South Bronx in 1976 when presidential Jimmy Carter candidate visited for a photo op. Devastated by highways built through the community, bank redlining, the heroin epidemic launched by the Vietnam War and calculated government neglect, this immigrant and working class community was plunged into social and economic chaos. The sense of unease felt by the outsiders, including New York City’s mayor at the time, is palpable in this photo.
The Puerto Rican community fought back against long odds on many fronts. The “Three Sisters” (Las Tres Hermanas) Evelina Lopez Antonetty, Lillian Lopez, and Elba Cabrera took leadership roles in the arts, libraries and the public school system demanding and winning equal treatment for the Bronx.
Bobby shares some details of the history of the Bronx’s Puerto Rican community at the Bronx Music Heritage Center where he is Co-Artistic Director.
Camilo stands with Las Tres Hermanas in front of the Casita Maria Community Center.
Here’s the text of the plaque Camilo is standing in front of in the first picture:
This neighborhood has been the incubator to more different styles of music than any other area in New York City. A home for Jazz, Doo Wop, R&B, and Latin music in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s, the area continues to be a home to many of the innovators of Hip Hop.
On any given night from the 1940’s through the 60’s, one could see and hear jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Maxine Sullivan, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, Helen Merrill, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Nancy Wilson, Henry “Red” Allen and Elmo Hope perform in any one of the area’s many music venues.
These clubs, such as Blue Morocco, Club 845, The Tropicana, The McKinley Theater, Freddie’s, The Embassy Ballroom and The Hunt’s Point Palace also gave rise to Doo-Wop and R&B greats such as the Chantels, The Crickets, The Limelighters, Arthur Crier, The Chords, The Morrisania Revue, The Wrens, Mickey and Sylvia and the Jimmy Castor Bunch. Local Latin Jazz and Salsa stars who could also be heard here included Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Machito, Celia Cruz and Mongo Santamaria.
These celebrated musicians lived, worked and played here and pioneered new genres of music and dance that continue to inspire future generations.
