NYC mozambique

[Tone]

Hello my fellow congueros,

I am curious to learn more about the NY mozambique. Who created it, when? What are the best recordings available?
Are those tasty patterns in the conga book classic NY mozambique?
From what I hear the NY mozambique tends to keep the flavor of the cuban one but seems to miss on the alternating pattern over four bars to just keep the flavor over two bars. Is that right?

Please share some hot patterns with us, we will be very grateful.

I was shown this one by Robin Jones in London :
o.ooOooBS.SSOooBt
r.rlrlrlr.rlrlrll
also nice on three congas replacing the B by open tone on a third conga on the left and the bass/tip by two opens on the left conga.


best to all

tone

[Chupacabra]

Hello,
Just yesterday, after a long wait, I received the "Kim Atkinson Rhythm Studies" DVDs - Vols 1 and 2 of Afro-Cuban Mozambique. In the introduction he describes it as the NY Mozambique. I am just dying to be able to get the time to give them a serious going through - probably next week some time before I can sit down for a day and just go through 1 and then 2. When I get this done I'll let you know what I think about it. I have heard all good about these DVDs so it should be a pleasure!

[JohnnyConga]

Well the first Mozambique I learned in 1966 was the 'ONE DRUM' patterns by Tommy Lopez who recorded with Eddie Palmieri on the albums Mambo con Conga=Mozambique and the Molasses album as well....I also know a few other "ol skool' patterns on 2 congas as well....so as far as I know Tommy created those patterns,which were unlike the Mozambique patterns by Pello El Afrokan....so I give Tommy the credit...like i said most of Tommy's patterns were done on 'one' conga....Johnny Conga...

[ABAKUA]

Hi JC, was this NY pattern created because the authentic pattern + movements were not known/understood 100% by those outside of Cuba, so a 'new' one was made up in the US or was it a development of the existing authentic one and now has become a 'branch out' of the Mozambique?

[Tone]

and what is this original pattern? Is it over two or four bars?
Also from my limited knowledge I understand that the bell pattern was changed as well.
The original mazambique includes two or more parts on two congas a couple of bombo parts , various bells. So obviously boiling this down to one conga implied some simplifications...

[Laurent Lamy]

and what is this original pattern? Is it over two or four bars?
Also from my limited knowledge I understand that the bell pattern was changed as well.
The original mazambique includes two or more parts on two congas a couple of bombo parts , various bells. So obviously boiling this down to one conga implied some simplifications...

You have all you need for congas in the CongaBook :

http://www.congaplace.com/instrument/congas/index.php
http://www.congaplace.com/instrument/congas/index.php

ZunZun

[Chupacabra]

I managed to get a couple of hours to be able to just chill and watch the 2 Kim Atkinson Mozambique videos. What I can tell you is this: I would never profess to using strictly video as a means of learning anything, much less music. Especially when the music involves complex rhythmic patterns such as Mozambique. Nothing can replace the interaction of practising and learning with other people, in my opinion. This DVD series will definitely get a beginner like me well on my way to tackling it with a good instructor and some dedicated students.
It is clear and concise and has everything broken down into segments, and also in eighth and sixteenth notes. There are notation booklets included as well with some important points to remember as you go through the lessons.
I believe this was money well spent and look forward to moving ahead with the lessons as regularly as time and my neighbours permit!
Another thing I should mention is that now I have to go and start shopping for high and low surdos for bombo and a nicer campana. I wonder if using a dunounba and sangban with a soft mallet will be good enough? I just don't have the room for more drums!

[Roka]

[quote="Tone"]Hello my fellow congueros,

I was shown this one by Robin Jones in London :
o.ooOooBS.SSOooBt
r.rlrlrlr.rlrlrll

Isn't 1 note too much here ???

[davidpenalosa]

The story goes that in the early 60's Eddie Palmieri and his bandmates heard Pello's mozambique from Cuba via shortwave radio. In every account I've heard or read, Palmieri and Manny Oquendo (Palmieri's timbalero during that time) have been vague as to how well they understood Pello's rhythm.

One thing is certain - while both are derived from conga de comparsa, the Cuban and NYC versions are two separate rhythms, which do not share even a single part in common. A few years ago there was a thread in the Yahoo Latinjazz forum where Bobby Sanabria addressed some of the differences between the two rhythms:

>>As far as the Mozambique thread is concerned, I haven't caught up to all the postings but one must also look at the musical content (melody, harmony, besides rhythmic structure) that make it slightly different than the traditional Conga De Comparsa complex. Mozambique's have a lot do with Mambo/Guaracha style writing and for the most part, in Pello's case, are in major tonalities. Also his unique use of trombones is something that has to be considered. What Pello did, is, obviously based on the Conga De Comparsa, but it does have its own idiosyncratic differences to be considered a different style unto itself.

The Mozambique's done by Eddie Palmieri are almost always in minor keys. As far as the rhythmic differences between what Manny Oquendo and Tommy Lopez developed in La Perfecta after listening to the recordings of Pello? Well there was no way they could
reproduce exactly what Pello was doing with his battery of multiple percussion. Manny and Tommy were just two guys with the occasional added bell part that vocalist Ismael Quintana would provide on the gigs trying to reproduce what up to eight percussionists (sometimes many more) were doing with Pello. In other words, necesity is the mother of "invento".

Amongst knowledgable players the two styles (Pello's and Manny's/Tommy's/Eddie's) are usually referred to as "Pello's" or "El Original" and the other "El Estillo Nueva Yor'" or "Como se toca en Nueva Yor'".<<

In 1987, writing in Modern Drummer Magazine, John Santos wrote a short article on mozambique where he said:

>>Shortly after mozambique debuted in Cuba, a modified version of it began to appear in New York with the Conjunto La Perfecta of Eddie Palmieri, this being the first established New York band to interpret it. We say it is a modified mozambique because it was adapted to the smaller rhythm section of the dance hall band, which consisted of one conga drummer (usually with two drums), one timbale player(with one or more bells attached to the timbales), and a guiro player. With Julito Collazo on timbales, Tommy Lopez on congas, and Ismael Quintana (who also sang) on guiro, La Perfecta "smoked" and eventually carved a niche for themselves in the super-competitive arena of New York City. The great Manny Oquendo spent several years with La Perfecta and is identified by most people as being the timbalero with the band during its early stages, although master drummer Julito Collazo actually preceded Manny in the band.<<

I disagree with John that NY mozambique is a "modified version" of the Cuban rhythm and with Bobby's suggestion that the NY rhythm is a pared-down version of the Cuban rhythm. Pello el Afrokan later pared-down his ensemble to a typical dance band and he maintained the rhythm's essential parts and flavor. It still sounded quite different from the NY (Palmieri) mozambique. The title of Palmieri's ground-breaking record was "Mambo con Conga is Mozambique" and that's exactly what the NY mozambique sounds like: mambo + conga de comparsas. I think it's more accurate to say that the NY mozambique was inspired by Pello's rhythm.

In 1985 Kim Atkinson, Rob Holland, Bret Gollin, Michael Pluznick and the late Jerry Shilgi went to Cuba. While in Havana, they got a lesson from Pello and learned the Cuban mozambique. Michael Pluznick recorded Pello's rhythm on his CD "Rhythm Harvest" and Kim has been teaching the rhythm for over twenty years now. His batucada groups have performed hip arrangements of the Cuban mozambique. Check out Kim's CD "Carnaval Spirit", where you can hear what I'm talking about (http://www.pulsewave.com). I played on Kim's two mozambique instructional videos, but regret my less than stellar performance, - oh well.

While the NY mozambique always has that distinctive timbale bell part, there is no set conga part. Congueros generally play something that follows the bell pattern. The Cuban mozambique on the other hand, has set parts. Not only that, but the parts have set places in clave where they enter, like you find in iyesa and other folkloric rhythms. For example, the congas and clave enter on the three-side and the bell enters on the two-side. This is different than how you ordinarily enter in a salsa tune. In band music you usually enter 3-2 if it's a 3-2 song, or 2-3 if it's a 2-3 song.
-David

[Thomas Altmann]

Hi David,

I think the fact that you did not get any response so far can be referred to definite, encyclopedic nature of your post. Nothing left to say. This treatise explains it all in an understandable way. It contains some details I didn't know, and it explains why I know 3-4 different conga patterns for the NY Mozambique (aside from my own adaptations). Thank you!

Isn't the NY Mozambique bell pattern actually just one variant of the "standard" Conga figure, without tone separation between bell mouth and handle?

Thomas

[davidpenalosa]

Thanks Thomas,
I was beginning to feel lonely out here in cyberspace. Yes, you are correct about the NY mozambique bell pattern.

2-3

L•L•HH•L•LL•H•H• standard conga bell pattern
X•X•XX•X•XX•XX•X NY mozambique bell pattern

I find the NY mozambique bell pattern more difficult to play using two tones because of those two sets of double strokes in a row.

I forgot to mention another difference between the two rhythms of the same name - like the typical NY salsa of that era, Eddie Palmieri used the son clave pattern. Pello el Afrokan used rumba clave. The Cuban mozambique was the first post-Revolutionary genre of popular Cuban music and the first popular (band) music to regularly use rumba clave instead of son clave. The use of rumba clave in Cuban popular music continued through the songo era, right up to the present timba era. Rumba clave is gradually replacing son clave as the iconic "Cuban clave".

A year or so ago, Johnny Conga mentioned that the songo pattern in the Thomas Cruz book was identical to the NY mozambique pattern he learned many years ago. Like the NY mozambique, there is no set pattern for the congas in songo. It seems to me that at about the same time, band percussionists in Cuba and North America were experimenting with busier, "rounder" and freer conga patterns in order to break out of the typical "angular" marcha. Drummers in both locations drew from folklore, mostly guaguanco and conga, for their inventos. It's interesting to note that the classic songo timbale/drum ride is nearly identical to the NY mozambique bell pattern. The only difference between the two is that the songo part plays on the downbeat of the three-side.

2-3

R•L•RL•LRLL•RL•L songo timbale/drum ride
X•X•XX•X•XX•XX•X NY mozambique bell pattern

-David

[ABAKUA]

Cool history lesson. Good to know brother Dave.

[Tone]

Thanks David for all the knowledge and perspective ( did you see my last comments on sambas addressed to you?)

am I wrong to think that another difference is that the whole Cuban pattern is 4 bars long and the NY 2 bars?

peace

tone

[davidpenalosa]

Tone,
Thanks for alerting me to your question in the "Too many sambas" thread. I posted a response there.

The two-drum conga part in the Cuban mozambique is the only part in that rhythm that’s two claves ("four bars" as you say) in length. All the other parts are one clave. In the first clave the high conga plays this on the two-side:
OOO

In the second clave it plays this:
O.O

So, its’ practically the same pattern in both claves. By the way, that two-drum pattern begins on primary bombo (second clave stroke of the three-side), which is pretty cool.
-David

[Thomas Altmann]

I would like to point out two observations on the NY-Mozambique bell pattern:

1. The figure that appears on the 3-side of the clave is the complementary eighth note strokes between the tresillo.
2. I have observed (in cascara and bell patterns, as well in iyá floreos in batá) that the cell x|x_x_ (one eighth note pickup before the bar, two quarter notes in the beginning of the measure) has a common tendency to be changed to x|_xx_ (one eighth note pickup before the bar, eighth rest, eighth note, quarter note) as a variation. Viewed in this way, both measures are basically the same, ore at least equivalent, with the syncopation to point to the 3-side measure.

Also, referring to the initial topic of the thread, I am offering a small repertory of NY-Mozambique conga patterns I am using (without warranty of authenticity):

||: o_sOoots|_ssOooOs |
||: R_LRRLRL|_RLRRLRL |

||: O_sOoots|_ssOoots |
||: R_LRRLRL|_RLRRLRL |

||: b_sOoots|_ssOo_os |
||: R_LRRLRL|_RLRL_RL |

||: s_s_ooOs|tssbooOs |
||: R_L_RLRL|RLRLRLRL |

The last pattern relies on the timbales- or drum set player to provide the bombo.

I also mix and exchange fragments of these patterns.

Thomas

P.S.: The program turned my repetition bars into "emoticons", which is great, since I hate this form of notation anyway. I'm sure you guys can even read smileys. -TA