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Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2020-07-15T15:29:03.000Z
Views:
3,395
Video Title:
The John Santos Sextet - "Descargarará" [Official Audio]
Description:
Listen to the official audio for "Descargarará,”, a single off John Santos Sextet’s new Folkways album 'Art of the Descarga.’ 'Art of the Descarga' available August 7, 2020 on CD and digital. Stream/download/purchase: Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/the-john-santos-sextet/art-of-the-descarga Bandcamp: https://thejohnsantossextet.bandcamp.com/album/art-of-the-descarga All other platforms: https://orcd.co/thejohnsantossextet Santos says: "Descargarará is an homage to the immortal Cuban virtuoso bassist and composer, Cachao (Israel López 1918-2008), one of the founding fathers of two of the world's greatest musical forms that happen to come from Cuba: The Mambo and the Descarga. Cachao and his cohorts who were all among the top tier of Havana's musical elite, utilized all types of Cuban rhythms and musical devices to unleash their unbridled improvisations. I had the tremendous honor of hosting Cachao as a guest with my band, The Machete Ensemble, through the San Francisco Jazz Festival in 1989 and 1990. We also brought him to the studio and recorded several pieces at that time. He subsequently invited me to tour with his band in the early 90s and I accompanied him on congas in NY, Washington DC, the North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), several locations in Spain and Paris! In this piece, the rhythmic point of departure in the call-and-response intro is an adaptation of music that originates in the old West African kingdom of Dahomey (Daomé - 16th through 19th centuries), present day Togo, Benin, Ghana and Western Nigeria. This tradition is known as Arará in Cuba, Rada in Haiti, and Ketu in Brazil (not to be confused with the Indigenous Brazilians known as Arará). But Descargarará is also a rhythmic rollercoaster, featuring a banquet of additional Afro-Cuban forms and influences such as batá, rumba, chekeré and the carnavalesque conga de comparsa, all focused on inspiring the respective soloists: bass (bowed and pizzicato), trumpet, bari, piano, timbal/drums, and flute. Marco Diaz does a wonderful job switching between trumpet and piano!" Built on the Afro-Caribbean past, forged by visionaries such as John Santos and his comrades, and steeled by its rootedness in American life, Latin jazz is a major force shaping contemporary American musical culture. Over decades of performing, arranging, producing, and teaching, Santos has helped make the San Francisco Bay area a Latin jazz stronghold. In Art of the Descarga, The John Santos Sextet and a parade of stellar guests mine the music’s imaginative motherlode, the descarga—the spontaneous, improvisatory interplay that is the beating heart of Latin jam sessions. Orestes Vilató, Jerry González, Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Tito Matos, Juan “Juango” Gutiérrez, and other luminaries join the sextet in this spectacular collision of beauty, design, and time-honored creativity. John Santos: https://johnsantos.com Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings Twitter: https://twitter.com/Folkways Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways The content and comments posted here are subject to the Smithsonian Institution copyright and privacy policy (www.si.edu/copyright/). Smithsonian reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any content at any time.
Video Duration:
6 min 46 sec
YouTube Keywords:
music folk "Woody Guthrie" "Pete Seeger" Smithsonian Folkways old-time non-profit
