This past weekend I took a "quick" trip from Mississippi to Miami. The reason...to buy drums!! I'm happy to say I finally own a complete set of candombe drums.
My drums!!!
The trip was difficult: quickly planned, and way more time in a car than anywhere else. And driving on I-10 through the Florida panhandle is a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. I left Hattiesburg on Thursday (Oct. 4), and arrived in Miami Friday evening, after making a stop in Gainesville. Friday night was spent catching up with Brian Potts, on whose couch I also crashed that night. Saturday was long, but very productive, as I was able to meet with my advisor to talk about my paper. I left feeling great about the work I've done, and excited about what I still need to accomplish. Finally, I met Sidney Silva at Books and Books in Coral Gables to buy the drums. We met there since Federico Britos, an Uruguayan violinist, was playing, and we were going to join him with my new drums to play some candombes. Brian also came out, expecting to listen, but was also playing for most of the evening; the one exception being this clip, and here he's running the camera:
It felt great to play again, and having the opportunity to do so definitely made the short trip worth the long and exhausting travel. The only downside was not really having an opportunity to catch up with many people. I am excited to continue working on the paper at this point, and can't wait to return to Miami to defend my research, share candombe, and properly catch up with old and new friends. And now it's time to catch up on sleep.
It was exactly one year ago that I heard candombe for the first time on Isla de Flores, the famous street in the Palermo neighborhood of Montevideo. This is an excerpt from a blog post I wrote the next day:
Fue exactamente un año atras cuando yo oí el candombe para el primer vez por Isla de Flores, la famosa calle en el barrio montevideano de Palermo. Esta es un parte del blog yo escribí el día siguiente:
(hay una traducción español debajo la grabación.)
"...Sinfonia de Ansina. This group, I was told, is one of the best, and oh my god, words can't express what it felt like to walk up Calle Isla de Flores, and see the fire on the street, and hear the drums being tuned. People were coming in from every direction to see the cuerda's (drumline's) first rehearsal of the year. Everyone there had some sort of drink that they were more than happy to share with anyone, especially the drummers: wine in boxes, bottles in brown paper bags, and liter Coke bottles filled with what I'm guessing is 7 y 3 (Coke and wine). It was cool being with Victoria, as it seemed everyone knew "Pico," and she could explain to me a lot of what was happening. This entire time, the street is filling up and sections of the drumming ensemble are taking time to work their respective rhythms. Slowly the group came together, formed strict rows, and then...CANDOMBE!! I didn't expect it to start, but once it did, my entire core was grabbed by the bass of the piano drum, and all at once the entire street began to move. I can't explain this, it was like a wave, and then being caught in a current. I was finally able to get to my camera, and though it isn't the best video, in many ways it's appropriate to give an idea of exactly what I was experiencing."
"...Sinfonía de Ansina. Este grupo, me dijeron, es uno de los mejores, y las palabras no pueden expresar lo que sentí caminando por la calle Isla de Flores, y ver el fuego en la calle, y escuchar la afinación de los tambores. La gente venía de todas direcciones para ver la cuerda de tambores en su primer ensayo del año. Todos allá tenían algún tipo de bebida estabán más que felices de compartir con todos, especialmente los tamborileros: el vino en cajas, las botellas en bolsas de papel y botellas de Coca-Cola llena de lo que supongo que es de 7 y 3 (Coca y vino). Fue genial asistiendo con Victoria, ya que parecía que todos sabían "Pico", y ella me explicaba mucho de lo que estaba sucediendo. Todo ese tiempo, la calle va llenando y secciones del conjunto de tambores está tomando el tiempo para trabajar en sus respectivos ritmos. Poco a poco el grupo se unieron, formaron filas estrictas, y... CANDOMBE! Yo no esperaba que para empezar, pero cuando lo hizo, el núcleo de mi cuerpo fue agarrado por el bajo del tambor piano, y todos al mismo tiempo toda la calle comenzó a moverse. No puedo explicar esto, era como una ola, y luego de ser atrapado por una corriente. Por fin pude agarrar mi cámara, y aunque no es el mejor video, en muchos sentidos es apropiado para dar una idea exacta de la experiencia."
Exactly one month ago I was enjoying a final cup of coffee and a bag of bizcochos (pastries) in my apartment overlooking calle Sarandí, a pedestrian street in Cuidad Vieja. I never thought I'd miss living over a busy city street, but here in Mississippi the only action on the street is the occasional car turning around in our driveway. What I miss most about Sarandí is the music, the good and the bad. It was inspiring to see people doing what they love, which was something I needed to see when I first arrived to Montevideo. There were regulars: the group of candombe drummers begging pedestrians for dinero, a guitar player whose repertoire I had totally memorized, and a flute player who knew the beginning of tunes like Jesus Christ Superstar and Chariots of Fire, but only the beginning. Unfortunately I have no video of the flute player. But below is a sampling of some of what happened along my street, just below my balcony. Enjoy!
It's been almost two full weeks since I left Montevideo for Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I'm here to be with my girlfriend, Jenn, who is working on her doctoral degree at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Since arriving, life has mainly been trying to find a way to fit my things, which includes a variety of large percussion instruments, into an apartment that's just not made for them. I've managed to find room for two snare drums so far, and have started to dust off my chops. So far things seem to be in good shape. We'll see if I still feel good about things when I finally touch a marimba again.
Aside from unpacking, I'm looking for jobs. Not a lot of success so far.
I've also been hanging out with my cats, Calvin and Hobbs:
There's also been some nostalgia for Uruguay. So much now seems like a dream. It's wierd not to walk everywhere. I notice the distance between two people when they greet here. I miss Tuesday/Thursday nights drumming, or just hanging around, with the Taller de Percusión in Buceo. A call out of the blue from Alvaro Salas to come to Mundo Afro, to chat, or for some other surprise. Walking/running on the rambla. Hearing drumming coming from Barrio Sur through the open window of my apartment in Ciudad Vieja.
Anyway, for those of you not connected to me on Facebook, here are some photos/videos from the final month in Montevideo.
Noche de Ñoquis (March 29): I wanted to experience this Uruguayan tradition, and convinced Kate and Megan to take part. We decided to make our own butternut squash gnocchi, and aside from the gas stovetop running out of gas, all was a success. Note: gnocchi made in microwave not so amazing looking.
After paying the final month's rent, most of what I wanted to do involved food. A surprise was the Bandeja Paisa, a "little" Colombian meal on March 31:
Killed it!
Tried gramajo for the first time on April 9. Basically a big plate of fries, jam, onions, scrambled eggs, some parsley, and top it off with some lemon juice. Pretty amazing. This is from a place called Míos, an excellent little hole in the wall in Ciudad Vieja, that I discovered way too late in my stay.
On April 12, I said goodbye to the Taller de Percusión. Very happy I had an opportunity to feast and play some candombe with these amazing people one more time before leaving.
Following Anthony Bourdain's suggestion, on April 13 I finally ate at Estancia del Puerto, in the Mecca to meat: Mercado del Puerto.
On April 14, I played candombe for the final time this trip. It was a total surprise, as Alvaro told me to come to Mundo Afro, and when I got there I ended up playing chico in a rehearsal. The coolest part was having my chico playing approved of by master piano player, "Paco" Silva.
The last 24 hours in Montevideo was pretty much food and saying goodbyes. It was a much more difficult time than I expected it would be. It all started with a waffle from Facal, something I had wanted since first seeing it on fellow Fulbrighter Danielle Brown's blog almost nine months ago. Not sure if it met every expectation, but it was still pretty delicious.
Later that night I went to Mundo Afro, expecting to see a tango/candombe show. It was however a big night for Uruguay, as Paul McCartney was performing there. A couple of weeks before that night, the city was caught up with "Beatlemania." Because Sir Paul was in town, there was no audience at Mundo Afro, and they cancelled. With that, I went and joined Megan at the Intendencia, where they broadcast the end of McCartney's show.
And those are the last photos I have from Uruguay.
I do plan on continuing the blog as I begin the writing process for my doctoral essay. There's plenty of video I still need to go through, and if anything, this offers an excellent venue to draft out some ideas. So anyway, stay tuned...
El 3 de abril, tuve la oportunidad de ir a Mundo Afro y tocar un poco con Alvaro Salas, algo que yo había estado queriendo hacer (y grabar) por algún tiempo. Los siguientes videos son extractos de una sesión mucho más tiempo.
En la primera, estoy tocando el chico, que es como el metrónomo, mientras que Alvaro toca el piano, a menudo me probar con improvisaciones para ver si puedo mantener el tiempo.
En la segunda, ahora estoy tocando el piano, mientras que Alvaro toca el chico. ¿Por qué he elegido para tocar un tempo rápido voy a nunca lo sabré, pero Alvaro fue, obviamente, disfrutando que me empujaba a seguir el ritmo.
Con tambores del candombe, a menudo los tamborileros piensan en sí mismos, o se refieren a otros, como el tambor tocan: "Yo soy un chico", o "él es un piano." Muchos de los tamborileros son muy hábiles para tocar los tres, pero todavía se identifican con un tambor en particular. He oído Guillermo Ceballos, quien dirige el Taller de Percusión en Buceo, asociar esto con una personalidad individual. Como yo estaba analizando los videos, me empecé a preguntar: "¿qué tambor soy yo?"
Desde el primer vez en que toque con el Taller en agosto, he tocado el piano, y con ese grupo se siente cómodo haciéndolo. Tocando del piano base ofrece el primer tiempo, a menudo se hace referencia aquí a "la tierra". La base de piano es sólida, confiable, que creo que es mi personalidad. Pero también es un instrumento que permite a ciertos gestos de improvisación, y aunque yo lo entiendo, todavía no puede hacerlo de la manera que lo oigo, lo cual es claro en el segundo video. La espontaneidad ha sido siempre algo que planea (creo que tenga sentido).
Tocando del chico ha sido una experiencia diferente para mí, pero al final pienso a menudo este se adapte a mi personalidad. Es constante y confiable. También se falta ese tiempo fuerte, que durante mucho tiempo convertido en un instrumento difícil de entender, y totalmente podría alterar la manera en que escuché del toque de una cuerda de tambores.
Al final no estoy seguro de que he encontrado mi identidad del tambor. Los dos videos anteriores son grandes porque que es posible ver y escuchar la diferencia en la forma en que un candombero verdad toque contra un competente Yanqui (Yankee en ínglés; divertido desde que creció en Carolina del Sur).
On April 3rd, I had an opportunity to go to Mundo Afro and just play some with Alvaro Salas, something I'd been wanting to do (and record) for quite some time. The following videos are excerpts from a much longer session.
In the first I'm playing the chico, which is like the metronome, while Alvaro plays the piano, often testing me with improvisations to see if I can maintain the time.
In the second, I'm now playing piano, while Alvaro takes over the chico. Why I chose to play such a fast tempo I'll never know, but Alvaro is obviously enjoying pushing me to keep up.
With candombe drumming, often players think of themselves, or refer to others, as the drum they play: "I am a chico," or "he's a piano." Many of the players are highly skilled at playing all three, but will still identify themselves with a particular drum. I've heard Guillermo Ceballos, who leads the Taller de Percusión in Buceo, associate this with an individual personalities. As I was analyzing these videos, I really started to wonder: "what drum am I?"
Since first beginning to play with the Taller back in August, I've played piano, and with that group feel comfortable doing so. Playing the "base" pattern offers the downbeat, often referred to here as la tierra, the "earth." The piano base is solid, dependable, which I think is my personality. But it is also an instrument that allows for certain improvisatory gestures, and though I understand it, still can't make it happen the way I hear it, which is clear in the second video. Spontaneity has always been something I plan (I think that makes sense).
Playing chico has been a different experience for me, but in the end I often think this suits my personality. It's constant, dependable. It also lacks that downbeat, which for a long time made it a difficult instrument to understand, and could totally alter the way I heard the groove of a complete candombe drumming ensemble.
In the end I'm not sure that I've found my candombe drumming identity. The two videos above are great because it's possible to see and hear the difference in the way a true candombero plays against a proficient Yanqui (Yankee, sort of the Uruguayan gringo; funny since I grew up in South Carolina).
The Museo del Carnaval was the last place I visited before my original camera was stolen back in September. I'm not sure why it took me so long to return, especially since it's free on Tuesdays. Anyway, I made it back there last week (Tuesday the 27th, of course) to re-take some photos...
The card reads: "Giant Drum: The largest drum to have paraded in Uruguayan carnival. It needed special support to be carried. It was constructed in tribute to Juan Velorio and was used by the comparsa La Zabala in Carnaval 2007."
The original tambor más grande ("giant drum"), shown being played by Walter Sánchez Silveira, "Keka," in the Desfile de Las Llamadas, 1979.
"Kanela" refers to Julio Sosa, shown in the photo to the right, who is the director of the comparsa Tronar de Tambores, the group which won the 2012 Desfile de Las Llamadas.
Parade along the Rambla.
Los Lecuona Cuban Boys in Teatro Solís.
Sign reads "Parodistas Negros Melódicos." Example of
blackface traditions in Montevideo.
The first photo above is Martha Gularte, vedette and carnival icon, taken in 1950; the second shows the legendary singer Lágrima Ríos in front of the conventillo Mediomundo in Barrio Sur.
Two candombe paintings by Uruguayan artist Eduardo Vernazza (1910-1991).
The following photos show a collection of masks from around the world:
The rest of the museum was devoted to the other carnival traditions, like the murgas, particularly showcasing the elaborate costumes and accessories used by various ensembles.
