Los Conguitos by Mongo Santamaria

[Jongo]

Hey Homies, I need some help. I can play the palito pattern in Los Conguitos but I don't really understand it. I can play it by ear and I have it down but it does not really do me any good since I do not understand the time of the piece, I think it is in 6/8. I don't know what the clave is and I have not been able to write the palito pattern out so that it makes sense to me. If someone could tell me the time of the piece, the clave pattern, and type out the palito pattern that would be great. Any help would be appreciated. Chevere
Juan

[Jongo]

OK so from what I am getting from people not a lot of people are familiar with this piece. It is a short little song from the CD Afro-Roots. If anyone could give me some feedback I would appreciate it. Thanks
Juan

[JohnnyConga]

Juan what is the name of the tune ?......"JC" Johnny Conga....

[Jongo]

On the CD it is identified as Los Conguitos. Track #9 on the CD Afro-Roots.
Juan

[JohnnyConga]

Jongo ...I'm sorry but out of my 70 albums with Mongo I don't have the "Afro-Roots".....but I might have it on another album, I need the name of the song/tune....."JC" Johnny Conga...

[RitmoBoricua]

Jongo ...I'm sorry but out of my 70 albums with Mongo I don't have the "Afro-Roots".....but I might have it on another album, I need the name of the song/tune....."JC" Johnny Conga...

Alright "AfroRoots" is a compilation cd. "Los Conguitos" was originally released as Mongo (Fantasy 8032), recorded May 1959. I hope this helps.

[JohnnyConga]

HI Jongo..yes I have that album . Ok here goes...I"M STUMPED? I have never questioned anyone as to what rhythm that is that they are playing. You would have to ask the man who wrote it Fransisco Aguabella. To me it's a combination of 2 or 3 rhythms combined, part Bembe,part calypso,even the cascara is not standard, so i am 'stumped' on this one. I actually haven';t listened to this great album by Mongo and the rest Fransisco, Willie Bobo, Emil Richards and others, in a long time, I need to go back and check it out again. Sorry Bro , but you got me on this one, anyone else know????......or can anyone call Fransisco and ask him? I'd like to know myself, now...."JC" Johnny Conga.... ???

[Jongo]

Hey Johnny Conga thanks for checking it out for me. I am completely stumped as well. Well I doubt if I will ever have access to Francisco Aguabella to ask him but I hear that he is a Pearl endorser now so maybe you will see him at a Pearl event. Well I think for now I may have to use that little cascara part and do the best I can with the rest of it. Does anyone else have any ideas on this? RitmoBoricua, what do you think? Can someone tell me if it is in 4 or 6 because I am having trouble even figuring that out. Thanks for the help
Juan

[vaconguero]

I haven't heard the recording you're talking about, but on a hunch I'm gonna ask if it is similar to the pattern that Francisco plays on Dajomy Blue, off Agua de Cuba. This pattern has been bugging me for a while. Maybe you mean something different, but I'll throw this out and see what you say. The bell pattern (24 eighth notes long) in Dajomey Blue goes as follows (it varies a bit):

x.x.xx.xx.x.xx.xx.x..x..

While the other instruments all play in 6/8 (the 6/8 downbeat is played on the ride throughout) for 4 measures, in this same amount of time the bell plays the above pattern as if it were 3 measures in 4/4. If you divide the above bell pattern like this, it goes:

x.x.xx.x x.x.xx.x x.x..x..

but if you divide the same pattern into 4 measures of 6/8, you get:

x.x.xx .xx.x. xx.xx. x..x..

I think of the tune (and therefore the bell) as definitely in 6/8, but (on this disc at least) Francisco uses these two possible subdivisions of the bell pattern to play with the meter that you perceive. Inside the basic phrase length of the song (4 measures of 6/8) sometimes he'll play:

x.x.xx.x x.x.xx.x x.x.xx.x

- the same pattern of 8 eighth-notes over and over, emphasizing the 3 measure division, and other times he'll play:

x..x.. x..x.. x..x.. x..x..

- ie the downbeat in 6/8. He plays around between these two extremes. I don't have the slightest about where he came up with this pattern, except to ask whether the 4 over 3 aspect might come from abakwa (I'm not well versed in abakwa at all). Hopefully this is not terribly far off from the song that you were talking about - I just guessed that since Aguabella was involved in both, they might be similar. I'd be interested to see the pattern you mean written out, anyways, and if this is entirely irrelevant to the pattern you're talking about, I apologize.

Lee



Edited By vaconguero on 1100668918

[zaragemca]

I haven't heard the recording,but according to the diagram above,those are Yoruba's bells patterns,and the last one is an accentuation of the 6/8,(which is also used in those patterns).As I said in my article about percussion,it is founded in the 'Batamu',Batacum' and 'Batanga' which are differents articulation and combination of cuban percussion ensembles.Gerry Zaragemca



Edited By zaragemca on 1101920726

[vaconguero]

Hi Gerry,
Does this bell pattern function as a clave unto itself? or does the whole thing fit into 3/2 clave. Lastly, could I find your article somewhere online?

Lee

[zaragemca]

Saludos Vacongero,from the start let me make it clear, this Bells pattern was created by the Yorubas in Africa,thousands years ago, the 3/2 clave was created by cuban percussionist as a guiding time for the Rumba.And...yes the Yoruba's bells pattern hold the differents parameters for the articulation of all the drums involved in the percussion ensembles.(kind of time signature).My article is right there in (open discussion forum).



Edited By zaragemca on 1102355667