TUMBADORA ICONS from Havana to New York

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 1998 by Luis Tamargo

The large makuta drum of Bantú origin has been identified as a possible ancestor of the barrel-shaped Cuban hand drum known as tumbadora, better known aboard as conga (a term that is easier for tongue-tied gringos to pronounce). Tumbadoras come in three sizes- the large, true conga (or bass tumbadora), the medium-sized tres por dos and the smaller quinto, the latter of which plays the most elaborate rhythmic patterns, while the basic rhythm is carried by the other two drums.

Some Cubans do not regard the high-pitched quinto as a real tumbadora or conga drum. No wonder there are separate entries for tumbadora and quinto in Helio Orovio's "Diccionario de la música cubana."

Despite any remote African ancestry, It must be clarified that the tumbadora, like the bongó, could not have been developed without the European manufacturing techniques and materials, including the Spanish wine barrels. Therefore, the tumbadora is as mulata as Cecilia Valdés.

DRUMS AND CHANTS (MOFORIBALE AL FOLCLO)

Initially, the tumbadoras played a largely folkloric role ni Cuba. When the Afro-Hispanic genre known as rumba was developed in Havana and Matanzas, it was played at first on cod fish or candle boxes, which eventually became the cajones. Such boxes were substituted (at least partially) by the three tumbadoras, which were also employed by the comparsas, those traveling ballets specialized in the conga rhythm (not to be confused with the conga drum).

Although it is no longer confined to folkloric and ritualistic endeavors, the tumbadora's traditional functions have been maintained by a wide range of committed artists, both in its native land and abroad. In 1952, for example, the rumba group Los Muñequitos de Matanzas was founded, under the name Guaguancó Matancero, at a popular watering hole in the Cuban seaport of Matanzas. Since then, they have grown to become a 14-member ensemble of percussionists, vocalists and dancers who cover the entire rumba spectrum, as well as the liturgical music of Yoruba, Brícamo, and Abacuá origin.

Six years later, the Abreu brothers- Luis, Alfredo, Jesús and Ricardo- formed the vocal/percussive quartet Los Papines in Chano Pozo's native Havana neighborhood, Los Pocitos. Less bound to tradition than the comic strip characters from Matanzas, Los Papines' Afro-Cuban repertoire combines the rumba styles with contemporary musical elements.

Following the path established by Los Muñequitos and Los Papines, various post-Castro ensembles have kept alive those percussive traditions. Since 1960, the troupe Clave y Guaguancó has cultivated different rumba styles (under the direction of babalao Amado Dedeu), while Pancho Quinto's Añag 7 recently shifted between rumba, batá, iyesa and abacuá rhythms on the CD En El Solar La Cueva del Humo (Roundworld, 1997).

Mongo Santamaría's 1995 solo debut for Tico (Changó, reissued in the 1970s as Drums and Chants by Fania) was the first album of Afro-Cuban folklore ever recorded outside of the island. By the way, there is a controversy involving this session which prominently featured Mongo's childhood friend from the Havanese neighborhood of Jesús María, the late percussionist Silvestre Méndez, who alleged later that he was maliciously led to believe that he would be the headliner, instead of Mongo. It has been documented hat Méndez (the author of such Cuban classic as Yuri Yiri Bon and El As de la Rumba) was already playing three tumbadoras in the mid-50s.

A decade and a half later, Totico organized a folkloric ensemble, in conjunction with musical director and quinto specialist Orlando "Puntilla" Ríos (not to be confused with Panamanian percussionist Luis "Puntillita" Kant), who had recently arrived from Cuba through the Mariel-Key West boatlift. Comprised mostly of New York-based percussionists of both Cuban and Puerto Rican descent, Totico y sus Rumberos recorded their eponymous album for Montuno in 1981, enhanced by the adventurous bass of Andy González and the delightful vocals of Encarnación Pérez.

AGAINST BONGO AND TIMBAL

Although it was publicly utilized in 1936, during an Afro-Cuban folkloric recital under the musical direction of the legendary Gilberto Valdés (the same guy who later formed the first U.S. charanga, featuring tumbador Mongo Santamaría), the tumbadora did not become an essential element of popular Cuban music until the early 1940s, when it was permanently incorporated into the conjunto and charanga formats.

Arsenio Rodríguez redefined the conjunto's percussive combination through the exciting interaction of Papa Kila (the only bongosero ever used by El Ciego Maravilloso) and tumbador Felix "Chocolate" Alfonso. Through his subsequent tenure with Félix Chapottín and Conjunto Modelo, the future leader of Estrellas de Chocolate posed a major threat to the bongó's traditional prominence within the conjunto format.

A similar process took place when Antonio Arcaño hired tumbador Eliseo Martín (a.k.a. El Colorao), whose presence in Arcaño's charanga threatened the percussive dominance of the Creole timbal, as executed by Ulpiano Días, credited for standardizing the use of the cencerro with the timbal during his tenure with Arcaño.