Hector Garcia - Germany
"I watched this DVD last night and it was a real pleasure! I am
a bit of a conguero myself so that I really enjoyed the solos and watching
and listening to the "real thing" made in Cuba, which always is a bit
different to that played in the US and/or Europe, even when played by
Cubans. It just has a different color to it, like a visual-acoustic
perfume, only possible by Cubans in Cuba. "
Clifford Brooks, Afrocubanchops.com
"This is the first time that I've actually seen "snare drum
rudiment techniques" being played on conga drums being used with really
great tastefulness. It really figures that it took a drummer from Piner
Del Rio to break it down for the folks. Usually drummers play high speed
techniques very fast but linear and not very tastefully. I really really
like the way the conguero plays.
Timbalero and bongocero solos were full of taste, taste and more tastefulness.
No one was showing off, just playing with extreme tastefulness. I really
like the way everyone interacted together as a group. they're pi-mozambi-son
was very funky.
I really want to give a lot of credit to these very fine musicians.
I've seen a lot of stuff out of Cuba but this is the first DVD or video
that I've seen that didn't seem redundant. The camera work was right
there on top of everything very clear and I felt like I was right there
with the guys. Bajo was too funky, the piano, trumpet and flute was
so very tasty. Wow, I thought I was just going to watch "another" DVD
out of Cuba, I was really surprised."
Bruce Polin, Descarga.com
"Ah, something I have been waiting for...
Here's a totally essential descarga jam session DVD - an informal series
of performances that allow the players to stretch, and improvise, against
a background of the most savory Cuban dance grooves.
Filmed entirely on location in a well lit Havana courtyard, and led
by percussionist and vocalist Santiago "Chaguito" Garzón
(Clave y Guaguancó & Rumberos de Cuba), these extended descarga-sons
capture the spirit and soul of the pristine rhythm saturated jam-sessions
born in the late '50s and made legendary by names like Cachao, Peruchin,
Niño Rivera and Walfredo Reyes. This is one, folks, rocks from
beginning to end. A must-have. Very Highly Recommended."
Brian Dring
“The Beat” Magazine Volume 25, No. 1, 2006
"Lovers of Cuban music should check out the recent dvd Descarga
Pi-Mozambi-Son (Boogalu) which catches an ensemble of top-notch musicians
from different groups assembled under the leadership of conga player
Santiago "Chaguito" Garzon.
As with many of the "live" performance dvds issued by this label, this
one was filmed as an informal session or descarga in what appears to
be an outdoor courtyard. Chaguito directs and propels the seven or eight-piece
group through a variety of Cuban styles with extended flute, trumpet
and percussion solos which nevertheless never lapse into repetition
or excess.
One of the revelations I came away with was that some Cuban rhythm patterns
like the pi-Mozambi-son are actually constructed from rhythms that originated
in two different parts of Africa and were hybridized over time into
something unique and new. This may be the key to understanding the apparent
complexity of some of Cuba's vast array of drum patterns.
Between songs, the musicians are captured working out impromptu arrangements,
joking and pumping each other up. Their easy camaraderie is contrasted
with their professionalism and an underlying self-awareness as musicians
and keepers of their island's musical traditions."
Descarga
Commentary by
Zeno Okeanos
Boogalu Associate Producer
Boogalu Productions is ever expanding its horizons to include
more and more of those scenes you always wished you could see first hand.
Musically speaking, the descarga, or Cuban jam session, as it is often
called, has long been a favorite of Latin music fans, record collectors,
and autodidacts everywhere. That is a fancy word for people, like myself,
who sit with bongos or congas in front of the stereo in order to teach
themselves through the vicarious experience of playing alongside more
advanced performers. Not to say that a jamming descarga is not also
conducive to dancing or just a very exciting listening experience. Descarga
tempos can be interpreted as "bailable".
The extended solos and the fiery emotional release that
this form can generate is both infectious to the participating musicians
as well as the audience. What could be more exciting than watching
and hearing musicians doing what they themselves enjoy the most, "stretching
out" as they feel it, to their heart's content, without the usual
time restraints or "commercial" considerations?
With this current Boogalu project we have added the hitherto missing visual
element to just such an authentic Cuban descarga recording. A picture is
worth a thousand notes and now you have before you both the audio and
the video. You can learn from hearing and from simultaneous seeing - and
what a spectacle it is - the next best thing to actually being there.
By the way, there are plenty of close shots of hands on
instruments so you can really see what is going on. You will also enjoy
watching the casual camaraderie among the musicians, before, during, and
after each session.
The emphasis is on instrumental solos, but not without
some vocal elements and coro as well to spice things up and to keep a
reference to the traditions. In addition to percussion (tumbadoras, timbal,
bongo, bata, cajon, clave, campana, guiro, guira, and shekere) there
is piano, flauta, tres guitar, trompeta, and upright string bass.
You will see and hear extended solos by the flute, the piano, trumpet,
tres, bass, and, of course, all the percussion.
Some of the many highlights to look for are the advanced
conga drum solos by "Panga" and the totally inspired bongo solos
by the leader "Chaguito" who also composed and arranged the
whole session. Fans of the traditional wooden flute will hear one
of its masters, Melquiades Fundora, who was an original member of Orq.
Sublime in 1956! Other highlights are solos by pianist Angel Labori,
tres guitar by Esconodio Padilla, trumpet by Juan Carlos Tito Rojas, timbales
by Alberto Muguercia, bongo by Luis Enrique "Kiki" Romero, and
bass by Armando Fuentes.
In addition to the cha cha chá (destined to be a hit in its own
right), the son, the son montuno, and the conga, as take off points for
these descargas, Chaguito has arranged many inventive combinatorial pieces
which utilize an extended range of Cuban percussion traditions. This includes
pilon, mozambique, bata-rumba with cajon, rumba guarapachangeo, and bembe.
During the bembe piece, for example, you will witness something quite
unique in one section - both Chaguito and Panga playing lead conga drum
phrases with one hand while holding clave with the other.
After this gets out, I cannot imagine that every percussionist around
the world will not be challenging themselves with this little exercise,
to learn, as we always seem to be doing, from the many accomplishments
of our Cuban brothers and sisters.
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