Getting the macho to sound dry and snappy ...

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Re: Getting the macho to sound dry and snappy ...

Postby Chtimulato » Mon Jan 25, 2021 3:44 pm

Hello everybody.

Yes, Pepe Espinoza is a great player.

About Carlos Caro, I remember he was involved a few months ago in a controversy on a Facebook group which I follow, for this reason (the clave interpretation on the LP video).
The group admin posted this video and left a comment like "It's puzzling, I don't understand why he's playing this way, as if he was cruzado", which was commented by several group members wondering the same. Carlos Caro answered, but in a non-friendly way, like, "I know what I'm talking about, and you guys don't know anything". The admin asked him for some further information or explanation about this way of playing, which Carlos Caro didn't deign to give us, and the discussion, so to speak, "extinguished" itself.
Maybe the admin should have first sent a message to Carlos Caro, asking for an explanation, before posting the video and commenting it, but as you said, if you're posting educational videos, you have to make it right.

This being said, he's not the only one. In the case of Tomás Cruz, it's a claimed and taken on choice, since he plays timba, and created more or less something new. IMHO.
But I remember a video of Eric Pérez claiming to break down the "Dandy" martillo. I think it was this one :



It took me quite a while to understand :
1. that I already knew the variation he was showing
2. that he was cruzado, and that that was why it took me so long to understand it.

I know that nobody's perfect, and even the masters can make mistakes. But, as said above, if you make educational videos, you have to make sure you left no mistake nor ambiguity in them before publishing.
It's like writing a book (and publishing) or sending a letter of application without proofreading to correct one's mistakes, it's a lack of seriousness (and respect for the reader).

Just for the anecdote, in the section "Even the masters make mistakes", (maybe I've told it already, I don't remember) : I've seen Daniel Ponce with Steve Berrios and Puntilla, amongst others, in Paris, some 30 years or so ago. Ponce was in front of the stage, and Puntilla behind, singing and playing clave. And Puntilla got suddenly cruzado with the clave. Puntilla !
I will always remember Ponce's murderous gaze before he turned around to look daggers at Puntilla. :)
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Re: Getting the macho to sound dry and snappy ...

Postby Siete Leguas » Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:04 pm

Thomas Altmann wrote:This man did his homework ...

Nice one! Thanks for sharing, Thomas!
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Re: Getting the macho to sound dry and snappy ...

Postby Thomas Altmann » Mon Jan 25, 2021 7:47 pm

Carlos Caro answered, but in a non-friendly way, like, "I know what I'm talking about, and you guys don't know anything".


:lol:
The darkside of cubanidad ...

It took me quite a while to understand :
1. that I already knew the variation he was showing
2. that he was cruzado, and that that was why it took me so long to understand it.


@Beatnik: Do you remember me urging you to take lessons and not rely on YT? Here you have some of the reasons. It takes more time to guide you through the jungle and teach you what fruits are edible, which mushrooms could kill you, and which roots you have to cook before eating, and where you have to look out for snakes, instead of simply inviting you into the kitchen, with all the ingredients ready at hand and tell you once for all times how to prepare the meal.

The Pakito Baeza video is in fact amazing. But don't let it confuse and distract you from the more important issues at first.

Contemplating over the ever rapid changes in this world, the climatic, social, technological ones etc, it might turn out that actually I am the one who has to change his attitude. I understand that now during the pandemic, taking traditional lessons is not advisable. I stopped teaching since end of October 2020. Maybe Skype, YouTube & Co. are not only the future media for teaching, but also for performing music. And like the sound engineer once, the video designer will become a close collaborator for musicians in the presentation of the music. A good music teacher must then also be something like a YouTube pilot. Can please somebody wake me up from this nightmare?

Greetings,
Thomas
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