by jorge » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:34 pm
This is terrible news. Tata Guines was my #1 favorite conga player of all time. I always wanted to study with him, and try to learn his marcha, that subtle swing he had that I never heard anyone else master, not even his most famous student Anga. I am not talking about his solos, which were amazing themselves, but just the straight marcha he played. Que afinque. Que sabor. NOBODY else played like that. Unfortunately, the embargo and political situation have made it impossible for me, and a lot of other people, to go to Cuba to study with him.
Fortunately for us he recorded a lot, especially in his later years, and left us with a legacy of incredible recordings. For me, nothing surpasses his first great recording from the late 50s with Cachao, Descargas Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature, although some of his later recordings come close. Ecue Ecue is an abakua rumba with Tata playing bonko on a quinto in the beginning, then switching into an uptempo rumba with some of the cleanest quinto you will ever hear. In the late 70s, his recordings with Los Estrellas Areito included "Guaguanco a todos los barrios" with Miguelito Cuni and Ruben Gonzalez, great backup playing and solo by Tata. I particularly like some of the recordings he did with Merceditas Valdes including the tastiest fill-ins and marcha I have heard Tata play on "Que callada manera" on her Ache para Cuba CD (1995). One of my all time favorite Tata Guines recordings is "Tata se ha vuelto loco", the band version on his CD Pasaporte with Anga (1995). It is sort of a guaguanco-songo that challenges Joel Driggs and Changuito as the masters of songo. Playing rumba, some of his best quinto work is on 3 songs he did on the groundbreaking CD Rapsodia Rumbera, with his folkloric group (1995). He did a whole CD of rumba, Aniversario (1996) with that same group, which included Maximino Duquesne, Marquito Diaz Scull (Ibae), Lazaro Rizo, Ernesto Gatel, and Pedro Lugo Martinez, great CD. Incidentally, most of the recent recordings of Tata Guines (Pasaporte, Aniversario, Rapsodia Rumbera, Chamalongo) would not have happened without the dedicated recording and production work of EGREM producer Rodolfo Chacon, who has contributed greatly to the recent rebirth of rumba recordings in Cuba.
One of the few quotes I have heard from Tata, some words of advice about the challenge of inspiring the audience, from the liner notes of Aniversario,
"...Asi sean los mas apaticos, salgo a ganarmelos. 'Estan frios', dicen otros compañeros, pero contesto 'dejenmelos a mi!'. Voy a conquistarlos. No me importa el idioma. Nada tiene en comun con la tumbadora. Importa el alma, aparte de la tecnica. Vale la emocion. De veras, si uno trabaja con emocion y con buena tecnica, todo lo consigue. He puesto a bailar a cada uno!"
Although he has been called "destreza y maestria" because his techique is so perfect, he is telling us that it's not just about technique, that putting your feeling and emotion into your playing is important too.
Tata your spirit will live with us, you have changed the art of the tumbadora forever, que descanse en paz.