by Raymond » Fri Aug 20, 2004 6:00 pm
JC you have a good point. However, like I mentioned the "traditional martillo" is not dominated by a lot people. The traditional martillo is more suitable when the bongo player does a lot of improvisation like the old traditional salsa songs did. It takes a good player to do it You have guys like Pablito Rosario, of Harlow and Johnny Pacheco, and Jose Mangual Jr., of Willie Colon, who are a good examples for me. They did not do the martillo a lot and they had limited but precised improvisation every four to eight bars without overdoing it. Rohena is perhaps the best example regarding salsa too. He ocassionally plays with both styles. Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez of Barreto, Tipica 73 and Tito Puente, is a good one in combining both styles. (In my opinion...there might be others)....
Guys like the current guys recording in salsa like Alberto Machuca, Rey Colon, Celso Clemente Junior have either a modified traditional or a modern approach. (I am aware Albert Machuca has follow sometimes a Roena approach in some recordings by going traditional, with low tuning, emulating Roena from the old times in some Tito Rojas recordings). Since some of the current salsa is done in a studio without having a feeling of the lyrics or horn section of the song they do with a continious martillo that is not traditional in the way I explained.
Is very interesting the styles of some bongoseros......
In regards to Yalla's comments, is not all open..if you go all open is going to be all "cacophonic" because it all sounds a like and is just takatakataka...what I call the modern is still muffled but you get the sound of the continous eighth notes. The "silence feel" you get with traditiona, because is all muffled, in what I called the modern martillo ocurrs you might say "semi-muffled" like the sound of the left hand in the conga.....
Saludos!
Edited By Raymond on 1093025422