Cante Mi

Latin Beat Magazine, June-July, 2003 by Frank M. Figueroa

VISUALIZE a jungle clearing in Africa where a group of natives has gathered to celebrate a religious ritual. The African priest is urging his followers to join in the call and response portion of the ritual by shouting words equivalent to, "¡Que cante mi coro!" ("Let my chorus sing!") The faithful then enthusiastically respond to his call.

Envision a cave in Spain's southern province of Andalucia, where a clan of gypsies has come together for a song and dance session. The "cantaor," or lead singer, beats a rhythmic pattern with the palms of his hands while singing improvised flamenco verses. His style of singing has been called "lloricantar" (sob singing). At the appropriate time, the other members of the clan sing a specific chorus, a common activity used by the gypsies for their own amusement.

Eventually, the descendants of both groups brought that antiphonal form of singing to America. Upon arrival in the Caribbean islands, they discovered that the Taino Indians celebrated rituals in which their tribes sang in a style similar to theirs. The combination of those influences formed the roots from which the Afro-Caribbean call and response style of singing was derived.

The African singing tradition was kept alive in the New World by slaves. Some historians have reported that the slaves used their call and response mode of singing to disseminate rebellious messages.

Songfests were the principal Saturday night diversion for the slaves who worked in the sugar fields. Among the Congo natives, these social activities were known as "conguerias." One type of singing that was always' included in these celebrations was "cantos de puya." These were contests in which one singer, backed by his chorus of followers, challenged another who also had his chorus of supporters. The lead singer was called "El gallo" of "Akpuón," who would improvise offensive and challenging verses cloaked in indirect and metaphoric language. A supportive chorus sung by his friends followed these. The opposing "gallo" would answer in return with the backing of his chorus.

The Afro-American religious liturgy is always accompanied by some type of vocal or instrumental music. Most of the time it is antiphonal in nature with the congregation and priest involved in a dialogue. The Lucumí rituals feature a solo singer who sings special traditional verses. He is also allowed to improvise. The chorus echoes the verses of sings only part of them. At times, the chorus sings something totally different. The main theme of the Lucumí chants is the life of the orishas. The orisha's name is often obsessively repeated by the chorus. The music for the Santería rites also uses an alternating scheme between a soloist and a chorus. Some of this music has crossed over into the secular field.

In Cuban popular music the call and response section is sometimes referred to as the rumba. That is also the term used for the song and dance form that has carried on the traditions of African music in North America. There are three main variants of the rumba. The guaguancó, the columbia, and the yambú. The best known of the three styles of the rumba is the guaguancó. The original guaguancó was made up of three sections. The first part was the diana, a melodic fragment in which the lead singer improvised some la, la, las or syllables with non-lexical meaning. Next, the singer introduced the theme of the song. In the third section all members of the group joined in. In this part, as in all call and response formats, the chorus repeated a set pattern of phrases while the lead singer improvised. The other two variants of the rumba also use a format in which the lead singer alternates with the chorus. There are still many rumba groups active today and their leaders can be heard shouting, "¡Qué cante mi coro!" ("Let my chorus sing!")

The origin of chorus singing in formal musical groups can be found in the trios. The original lineup consisted of two guitarists and a lead singer. The first guitar played the melody and the second played rhythm. The lead singer also played the maracas. In the first part of the songs, the lead singer and the second guitarists sang in harmony. During the second part of the usually fast-paced songs, the second and first guitarists sang chorus while the lead singer improvised.

As the musical ensembles became cuartetos, sextetos, septetos and conjuntos, the chorus became firmly established. Their repertoire (which included rumbas, guajiras, sones and guarachas) required a strong chorus. Since these groups played mostly while standing, it was easy for them to come close to the microphones and sing a loud chorus.

Once big bands were organized using instruments that required the musicians to sit behind their music stands, it became more difficult to have a real chorus singing in front of the band. That is why for many years one heard a half-hearted chorus sung in a monotone by musicians far away from the microphone. It was not until 1937 that the Orquesta Casino de la Playa in Havana, Cuba (at the insistence of singer Miguelito Valdés) began using an organized chorus in front of the band. It was composed of bandleader Guillermo Portela, bongosero Ramoncito Castro and trumpeter/singer Walfredo de los Reyes. The latter always moved to the front of the band during the montuno section to take his trumpet solos and therefore was able to join the chorus. In many of the Casino de la Playa recordings one can hear Miguelito Valdés singing instructions to the chorus.