This one's from Mary. TK
Hey Folks
Hey Folks
Toni put the email group together so you'll recieve this from her. Ayer (Wed
5/18) es todo de mucisc, all about music. We followed up on Tues afternoon's
concert of Septet Habenero at THE recording studio in Cuba with a visit to a
music school. Toni's email will have the details. For me the lesson about
"clave" was eye-opening. Clave is not just the instrument (2 hardwood sticks)
but more about the internal rhythm of most Cuban music until the 1980's (jazz is
the exception). Pereuchin, a pianist and comtemporary composer and educator, has
devised a method for teaching clave, and believe me learning clave is not easy,
even for young Cuban musicians. His demonstration was followed by a performance
of one of the school's "musica popular" ensembles. Boy could those kids play! It
was a joy to watch! More in Toni's email, I'm sure. After lunch, we went to a
rehearsal of an up-and-coming pianist/composer--Jorege Luis Pacheco. He, like
many young Cuban musicians is from a musical family. He has a trio with a
bassist and drummer, both of whom were extraordinary. The bass guy, David, spoke
wonderful English and in addition to translating for Pacheco and our Cuban
guide, Sonya, also engaged us in thoughtful discussions about the music.
Specifically, one of our group, a pianist from New Orelean (Tom) asked about
"timba" the genre that follows, chronologically, Cuban son (what we all think of
when we think Cuban). Again, I think Toni will cover this but my two cents:
Cubans have evolved without the influence of the outside world, but they are
hungary for those new sounds. Pacheco & David and Anyel (drummer) talked about
soaking up whatever they could from any source--trascribing the music from CDs,
paying high cover charges to see foreign musicians, etc. They had an opportunity
to rehearse with Wynton Marsalis when he was here in Cuba (last year?) and you
could tell it was a big deal. It made me realize, not for the first time, that I
am an amateur in every sense of the word, and still have lots to learn. However,
one way that I could totally identify was ensemble music as communication and
group building. Pacheco and trio were clearly friends and could intuit what one
another was going to do, to signal each other what to do. I've had some
experience with that, and know it's wonderful. It was marvelous to witness the
joy these young jazz musicians were experiencing as they "rehearsed." More some
other time. Breakfast calls! Love, MT
5/18) es todo de mucisc, all about music. We followed up on Tues afternoon's
concert of Septet Habenero at THE recording studio in Cuba with a visit to a
music school. Toni's email will have the details. For me the lesson about
"clave" was eye-opening. Clave is not just the instrument (2 hardwood sticks)
but more about the internal rhythm of most Cuban music until the 1980's (jazz is
the exception). Pereuchin, a pianist and comtemporary composer and educator, has
devised a method for teaching clave, and believe me learning clave is not easy,
even for young Cuban musicians. His demonstration was followed by a performance
of one of the school's "musica popular" ensembles. Boy could those kids play! It
was a joy to watch! More in Toni's email, I'm sure. After lunch, we went to a
rehearsal of an up-and-coming pianist/composer--Jorege Luis Pacheco. He, like
many young Cuban musicians is from a musical family. He has a trio with a
bassist and drummer, both of whom were extraordinary. The bass guy, David, spoke
wonderful English and in addition to translating for Pacheco and our Cuban
guide, Sonya, also engaged us in thoughtful discussions about the music.
Specifically, one of our group, a pianist from New Orelean (Tom) asked about
"timba" the genre that follows, chronologically, Cuban son (what we all think of
when we think Cuban). Again, I think Toni will cover this but my two cents:
Cubans have evolved without the influence of the outside world, but they are
hungary for those new sounds. Pacheco & David and Anyel (drummer) talked about
soaking up whatever they could from any source--trascribing the music from CDs,
paying high cover charges to see foreign musicians, etc. They had an opportunity
to rehearse with Wynton Marsalis when he was here in Cuba (last year?) and you
could tell it was a big deal. It made me realize, not for the first time, that I
am an amateur in every sense of the word, and still have lots to learn. However,
one way that I could totally identify was ensemble music as communication and
group building. Pacheco and trio were clearly friends and could intuit what one
another was going to do, to signal each other what to do. I've had some
experience with that, and know it's wonderful. It was marvelous to witness the
joy these young jazz musicians were experiencing as they "rehearsed." More some
other time. Breakfast calls! Love, MT
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