Here comes Batacumbele once again!

Latin Beat Magazine, Dec, 2003 by Frank M. Figueroa

Batacumbele, one of the world's leading Afro Caribbean ensembles, reappears three or four times a year to remind its audience that innovation in Latin music is alive and well. One might assume this experimental group retires to its laboratory for certain periods of the year to try out new ideas and then comes out to reveal the results.

A memorable sighting of Batacumbele was on September 19, 2003, at the Tito Puente Amphitheater in San Juan, Puerto Rico. On that occasion, the stellar group came together to honor the memory of one of its founding members, Juancito Torres. The latter, known as "Puerto Rico's National Trumpeter" died on July 27, 2003. His brilliant, clear tone was heard as part of the horn sections of the Puerto Rico All Stars, Bobby Valentín, the Fania All Stars, Machito, Eddie Palmieri and Batacumbele.

For this event, Angel "Cachete" Maldonado, Batacumbele's leader, brought together some of the original members of the group. Among them were Giovanni Hidalgo on congas, Anthony Carrillo on bongó and timbal, Endel Dueño on trap drums, Eric Figueroa on piano, Angel "Papo" Vázquez on trombone, Eddie "Guagua" Rivera on bass, Héctor Veneros on sax, and Jerry Medina on trumpet and vocals.

The concert was an artistic success, with the audience rising repeatedly to applaud the band's renditions of such favorites as La Jibarita, Se le Ve and Batacumbele Llegó. The band also courageously played a previously unheard composition by the late Tite Curet Alonso titled El Fantasma. Musical director Eric Figueroa said that he was not deterred by the possible consequences of playing that tune without ACEMLA's permission (the Music Association of Composers and Editors of Latin America). That organization is embroiled in legal actions to guarantee royalty payments to the composer. Figueroa said: "We are not interested in that problem, we are going to take a chance for the good of our music."

Innovation and risk-taking are not new for Batacumbele, since those were the principles upon which the group was created back in the late 1970s, when Cachete was living in New York City, busy playing with Eddie Palmieri, Machito, Típica 73 and Dizzy Gillespie. That is when he befriended pianist Eric Figueroa and bassist Eddie "Guagua" Rivera, while participating in a musical project named "Jazz-Mobile," a program directed to take music to the poor Latino neighborhoods in New York City. By that time, all three of them were dissatisfied with the rhythmical patterns that prevailed during that era. As a result, they began to elaborate the concept for Batacumbele. Their plan was to organize a group of the most talented musicians available to p[ay progressive and innovative music. Their repertoire would fuse Afro-Cuban popular music and Latin jazz with African and Puerto Rican folkloric polyrhythms.

In 1980, the group of musician friends left New York for Puerto Rico on Eastern Airlines flight #923. Guagua Rivera was on board with his wife Kathy. That trip inspired him to write two songs: Vuelo 923 and Kathy's Theme (eventually, these songs were included in the Batacumbele CD, Hijos del Tambó). Once they arrived in Puerto Rico, they very carefully recruited other musicians to round out the ensemble. Next came the selection of a name for the group. Batacumbele was the name they agreed upon. The term is a combination of "batá" that among the Yorubas means drum, and "cumbele" derived from "kum" meaning "knee" and "bele" which is the action of bending your knee as in kneeling down. Batacumbele, therefore, means, "kneeling before the drum."

The original members of the group included Angel "Cachete" Maldonado (leader, congas, batá, timbal), Giovanni Hidalgo (congas), Anthony Carrillo (bongó, cencerro), Jimmy Rivera (trap drums), Eric Figueroa (acoustic piano), Eddie "Guagua" Rivera (bass), Héctor Veneros (sax, flute), Jerry Medina (trumpet, vocals), Juancito Torres (trumpet), Angel "Papo" Vázquez (trombone) and José Luis "Chegüi" Ramos (vocals).

Eric Figueroa, Papo Vázquez, Eddie Rivera and Cachete wrote the band's arrangements and original compositions. Initially, the ensemble's music was intended to be performed at music festivals, concerts and recordings.

Batacumbele's first recording, Con un Poco De Songo was released in 1981 by Tierrazo Records (and reissued as a CD by Disco-Hit in 1989). Cachete Maldonado and his boys had been experimenting with the Cuban songo rhythm and mixing it up with jazz and native Puerto Rican rhythms. The result developed in the recording of tunes such as Se Le Ve, La Jibarita, Yerbabuena and La Piyé. That 1981 release began to garner a cult following for Batacumbele, as ah underground buzz circulated about this inventive and cohesive group.

Since that first album, Batacumbele has made only five other recordings. According to Cachete Maldonado, the big record companies are afraid to take a chance on Batacumbele's progressive and innovative music. Maldonado says: "They are scared of us because they are afraid we would not be commercial enough. I have so much material right now waiting to be recorded, but I am not willing to compromise my principles. That's why I remain a free agent. We may not be rich and famous, but our small contributions to the music will endure."