THE CLAVE MATRIX
Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins
By David Peñalosa with Peter Greenwood
318 pages / English
Bembé Books
ISBN-1-886502-80-3
Latin Beat Magazine
http://www.latinbeatmagazine.com/reviews.htmlKnown for his work as executive producer for Bembé Records, the percussionist/educator David Peñalosa released his latest published endeavor, "The Clave Matrix". Most music aficionados know that Antillean music is mostly based on the Cuban clave, and Peñalosa a preeminent clave theorist sought out by scholars and authors for his analytical expertise-brings us the definitive book on clave, the rhythmic foundation of most of what it's usually known today as "Latin music". Regardless of your level of musicianship or musical education, this book unlocks the rhythmic secrets of Afro-Cuban music and Latin music in general. Going beyond the conventional teachings of the clave de son (3-2) and the clave de rumba (2-3) patterns, The Clave Matrix breaks down the concept of clave and its related complexities to a layman's level of understanding. The book includes extensive exercises, music examples written in standard and box notation, beat cycles, metric structure, terminology and theory. Two CDs accompany this instructional book, providing a vital component to the learning process. The audio examples are identified by the CD icon next to the written exercises, while a shaker plays the main beats on each track, so that you can hear every example within its proper metrical context. Interesting graphic patterns both African-carved and woven, as well as designs by the author based on traditional motifs, are found throughout the book, thus adding an artistic element which visually communicates, either explicitly or implicitly, the structures found in the music. In reality, The Clave Matrix is the first volume of a series entitled Unlocking Clave and based on the research conducted by Peñalosa for over 30 years, on the premise that the essential structure of sub-Saharan African rhythms consists of four independent patterns that intersect according to specific rhythmic principles. As Peñalosa explains it: "In Cuba, those principles are collectively known as 'clave', a Spanish word meaning key or code." The book was edited by Peter Greenwood, a gifted musician/composer /educator/musicologist, as well as a good friend of Peñalosa. -Rudy Mangual, Editor
Boogalu Productions
http://www.boogalu.com/the-clave-matrix"As long as I can remember, musicians at various levels have argued about or been confused by “the clave” and its role in Latin music generally and Afro-Cuban music specifically. I’ve listened to, collected, studied, and played this type of music for over fifty years and I’m still surprised whenever a new revelation comes upon me, revealing my understanding to be misguided, incomplete, or simply wrong. Being misguided is likely when navigating through a mysterious maze where the guideposts previously erected are not necessarily reliable. If only there were some really good maps maybe we would have a clearer idea about this territory.
How can I as a dancer, musician, listener, fan, performer, or musicologist understand the great attraction and complexity of Afro Cuban music in the deepest, most definitive and thorough manner possible? Answer: embrace, study, and absorb the teachings and concepts presented in The Clave Matrix by David Peñalosa, who I believe is the foremost expert on the subject. I would recommend first reading some of the introductory paragraphs to several chapters and then listening to the accompanying CDs. I am sure you will feel like you are in the confident hands of a master teacher and then you will want to proceed further toward understanding and grasping the vital lessons contained throughout the rest of the book.
This is only Volume One. It’s a great foundation for getting the most from the forthcoming volumes on more specific practices. As you proceed, you will undergo “quantum” shifts and “AHA!” experiences regarding the most essential concepts in the world of rhythm. You will see how each clarification is the stepping stone to the next development in the progression and in the end you will have an understanding that may have taken many practitioners most of their lives, to sense intuitively and pass on by “osmosis.” Peñalosa’s approach employs both the intuitive and the precisely articulate. No one has researched the subject of clave and sorted out its rhythmic labyrinth to the extent that this author has.
A great bonus is the two accompanying CDs of audio examples. Now I totally get it! It is clear as a bell. There is nothing better for retaining new ideas than to have both the telling and the showing at your fingertips and playable to your ears at the flip of the remote.
Peñalosa is careful to point out potential pitfalls. For example, after explaining everything you always wanted to know about 3-2 clave and 2-3 clave in popular music, he states: “When discussing clave in relation to Cuban folkloric music, or African and other non-Cuban genres, care should be taken as to not improperly project the 3-2/2-3 framework, or other popular music techniques and aesthetics.” Many old controversies get resolved: “In clave based folkloric music beat 1 is always the first stroke of the three-side. As we’ve seen, this is the point in musical time where the matrix is initiated, the moment of rhythmic “ignition”.
The author notes every major issue regarding the complexities and seeming contradictions that always emerge in clave theory. Furthermore, he has at last deduced a comprehensive system whereby all issues are resolved under “one tent.” Sooner or later, anyone wanting to be free of the frustrating confusions will have to confront Peñalosa’s system and conceptual foundations, which I see as the unavoidable truth of the matter.
Who should be interested in such a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to understanding clave? Who even entertains clave as a subject of contemplation? Answer: All those musically inclined who ever had an inkling that there was a certain “something” which made their favorite type of music from Africa, Cuba and the extended Diaspora, so engaging, mysterious, wondrous, and life affirming. The concepts, so clearly delineated in The Clave Matrix, are a basis for renewed creativity both with traditional approaches to playing and also for new musical composition.
The Clave Matrix articulates the structural relationships at the foundation of clave-based music, concepts that were always there but never before made so clear on a theoretical basis. You might say that these are “original” theoretical ideas, but David Peñalosa is simply clave’s long-awaited spokesman."
Zeno Okeanos, Associate Producer, Boogalu Productions