Rumba: Intro

LA RUMBA BUENA TE ESTA LLAMANDO

by Philip “Felipe” Pasmanick ©11-22-96 La rumba es especial de los dominios de Apolo es un elemento solo del concierto universal en ello no tiene rival (¡guaguancó!) por lo bello y lo profundo si en este glorioso mundo no se ha visto cosa igual.

[Good ol’ rumba’s callin’ you] English version 1.0

12-28-97

911 wds

The rumba has a special place In Apollo’s wide domain. While it is just a single element of the universal concert, it is unrivalled therein for its beauty and profundity. Why, in all our glorious world no one has ever seen the like.

These elegant verses, as sung by the outstanding Cuban folkloric group Yoruba Andabo, express pride and love for an afro-cuban cultural phenomenon often ignored or disdained by society at large. Daughter of the African three-drum ensemble and hispano-moorish vocal esthetics, rumba endures in Cuba and throughout the world. Guaguancó, the best known of the three rumba rhythms, emerged in Havana in the first decades of the 20th century. Born from the secretive cabildos (Afro-cuban religious associations), it was seen first in enormous coros de guaguancó and later in the present-day ensemble featuring a half-dozen singers and percussion: three conga drums, claves, and palitos (sticks which play a pattern on any hard surface). The two lower-pitched drums maintain a base of repetitive rhythmic “melodies” combined with improvised “conversation”, all held rigorously to the beat of the clave. The high lead drum, the quinto, improvises fills and extended solos working off of the singer, the lead dancer, and the conversations of the other drums. A chorus of three or four men and women and a soloist provide the harmonic, melodic, and textual elements. In a party (rumba’s natural element), a succession of percussionists, singers and dancers compete to defend or promote their status as the outstanding performer of the moment. In the guaguancó dance, a single couple participates in a stylized game of erotic tag, in which a woman must, with all naturalness and grace, attract her partner yet avoid his “vacunao”, a sudden sexual approach with a hand, a foot, or a pelvic thrust. The vacunao is executed without lewdness or physical contact, and a good vacunao (or equally, a suave defensive move) excites laughter and admiration among the spectators. In rumba columbia, a variation in 6/8 from the province of Matanzas, a single dancer, traditionally a male, carries out a sequence of moves which in their competitiveness and stylized qualities share something of contemporary break dancing. The third common rumba variant, yambú, is usually played on wooden boxes (cajones) and is slower and more relaxed. Like the guaguancó, it is a couple dance, but as the singer reminds the dancers from time to time, “el yambú no se vacuna” (the yambú has no vacunao).

Sometime the couple mimes a story (such as the hawk and the hunter, or the stern grandma and the reluctant school boy) which the singer narrates. This style is known as yambú de tiempos de España, or yambú from Spanish (ie, colonial) times. Rumba texts can be short or long, and in a variety of structures, from unrhymed narrations to the 10-line décima espinela so loved by Cubans. Typical themes include songs of praise, boasting, picaresque tales, nonsense verse, and social commentary. In folkloric groups a specialized singer often sings duets in harmony with the lead singer, while another adds flourishes called floreos. After singing the text, the soloist improvises while the chorus repeats a short refrain. The inclusion of phrases in“lengua” (Afro-Cuban tongues such as lucumí, abakwá, or palo) is frequent, particularly in the columbia rhythm. The best singers have an extensive repetoire, a gift for verbal and melodic improvisation and a knack for choosing, pacing, and putting in optimal order the most appropriate songs to build energy, participation, and excitement among the particular group of dancers, singers, and drummers. A rumba party is participatory by nature--everyone can join in, at least in the chorus. But it must be noted that in no form of rumba is there general public dancing as one would expect at a dance party featuring son (salsa), merengue, or cumbia, for example. In a rumba, individuals step forward one or two at a time to compete in a public demonstration of their mastery of a highly specific art form. Furthermore, rumbas must be live. We listen with pleasure to rumba records, but to dance it we need ambiente and spontaneity, drums, voices and spirit in a precise and elusive balance. Finally, there are social barriers to rumba’a acceptance: racist and classist stereotypes (drunkenness, criminality, illicit sexuality, exaggerated machismo, African primitivism, witchcraft), not to mention the direct and indirect effects almost 40 years of U.S. government hostility towards Cuba. Rumba is invisible on Latin TV and little known outside of small groups of aficionados. As a consequence many who know and love “salsa” know nothing of the rumba in all its subtlety, creativity, and popular vitality. Excellent CDs of today’s outstanding folkloric rumba groups (I recommend Los Muñequitos de Matanzas’ Rumba Caliente 88/77 Qbadisc 1992 [no number]) are on sale in the Descarga catalog as well as specialized stores. Also, in many U.S. cities there are parks, basements, and dance classes where good rumba can be found. Rumba is a living tradition. Find it, learn to appreciate its unique voice, and enjoy. As the old guaguancó insists “la rumba es lo mas sublime para el alma divertir” [rumba is the most sublime / to satisfy the soul].

FIN

San Francisco de California