TUMBADORA ICONS from Havana to New York

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 1998 by Luis Tamargo

The jazz-fusion years also catapulted the careers of two tumbadores imported from Puerto Rico- Sammy Figueroa and Manolo Badrena. After paying his dues with Raices (the best Puerto Rican fusion band of the 1970s), Figueroa moved to New York, where he has worked with John McLaughlin, the Brecker Brothers, Miles Davis, Dave Valentín, Paquito D'Rivera, Seis del Solar, etc. Unlike many tumbadores raised in Puerto Rico, Figueroa was equally proficient in the areas of fusion and main-stream jazz. lf you have ever listened to Raices, you will know why.

The other prominent Puerto Rican tumbador of the fusion epoch, Manolo Badrena, clearly expressed his unpredictable style and contrapuntual approach through his recordings with Weather Report, Ahmad Jamal, Spyro Gyra, paquito D'Rivera, Lew Soloff, etc. Not to mention his eponymous 1979 recording debut- an avant-garde, free-spirited session that creatively incorporated the most guttural moos imaginable, as performed by a couple of heavy heifers. Before the end of such innovative session, A&M Record's Herb Alpert discovered another spontaneous contribution from the musical beasts' intestinal tracks!...

On the other hand, the 1970s also marked the emergence of Nuyorican tumbador Jerry González, who worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Eddie Palmieri, before joining force with his older brother (bassist Andy González) and master timbalero Master Oquendo in the exhilarating original version of Conjunto Libre. By the early 1980s, Jerry widened his musical horizons by forming the Fort Apache Band, capable of superimposing authentic bebop over a complex Cuban rhythmic structure which included an array of religious and folkloric rhythms.

The 1980s Mariel-Key West boatlift to the U.S. several talented hand percussionists, such as Daniel Ponce and Juan "Long John" Oliva. A creative tumbador with a flair for the dramatic, bold-headed Daniel Ponce settled in New York and recorded various albums, as a leader, which combined jazz improvisations with Cuba's folkloric motifs and popular rhythms. I have not heard any news about Ponce for a while, but I hope that he does not vanish mysteriously like Lázaro Cinco-Tumbas.

DRUMS OF THE WILD WEST

Ponce's homeboy, Juanito Oliva (known at that time as "Penalty"), injected some newly-arrived songo into the 1980s sound of Zaperoko, a progressive Puerto Rican band along the lines of Batacumbele. Poncho Quinto's prodigal son eventually moved to L.A., where he was baptized as "Long John" by none other than the late Willie Bobo.

In reality, Long John merely reinforced a thriving contingent of West Coast tumbadoras, such as John Santos, Mitchel "Michito" Sánchez, Luis Corte and Idelfonso "Poncho" Sánchez.

One of those rare Verdean-Ricans (half Cape Verdean and half Puerto Rican), San Francisco-born John Santos has become one of the top West Coast bandleader. Capable of delivering a superb variety of Cuban forms, Santos' Machete Ensemble is infused by expressive jazz improvisations and explosive percussion.