Jerry Gonsalez

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Jerry Gonsalez

Postby Congadin » Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:19 pm

Anyone have copies of the Jerry Gonsalez Instructional videos for sale?
Are the clips on YouTube complete, or is there more material on the VHS tapes?
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby Derbeno » Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:15 am

To call his video instructional is stretching the definition of the word. That is not taking anything away that JG is a brilliant player but there is nothing instructional about the vintage VHS.

With the material out there any particular reason you are looking for copies?
Echale candela, p'afinar los cueros
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby Gallichio » Sat Apr 19, 2014 12:20 pm

I have the 2 Jerry Gonsalez VHS tapes you are looking for. They are like brand new. Yes you can learn a ton from them. PM me if interested.
All the Best!
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby JohnnyConga » Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:29 pm

Once again because one might play the drum does not make them a Teacher of the drum!...I have known Jerry before he could even play congas...for me this video was disappointing... Luv me some Jerry on congas and trumpet but a teacher of the drum?....
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby Gallichio » Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:47 am

In most cases your a player or teacher. It is nice if you can do both. Jerry Gonzales can do both.
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby JohnnyConga » Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:10 pm

Sorry to disagree MIke Jerry who I have known since he was 16 is not a Conga drum instructor...yes he plays..but he does not ever teach how to play the congas drum with anyone over all his years..and the video he did years ago is not an example of his teaching...it was supposed to be but ..if u have seen it like I have ..Jerry does not have a 'methodology' he just says this and that....and to me that is not teaching...and that is my professional opinion as a teacher of the drum for over 25 years..
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby Gallichio » Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:13 am

JC,

It's OK to disagree.
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby Thomas Altmann » Mon Aug 18, 2014 1:37 pm

I have never met Jerry in person, but I always loved his playing for some reason. His videos, whether being instructional to some or not, just added to the image I had of him and kind of explained why he played the way he did (emotionally).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCWlv4IWdVw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkUpFv2yYyw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV6GQQKSXns

Also check out Jerry's playing with Tito Puente's Latin Jazz Ensemble at Montreal.

There was a time when today's drum teachers depended on the information from "players", because there was no other source from which to gain the knowledge we are applying and passing on to students. And this was not just yesterday. I am still grateful to those natural musicians who have never exactly been teachers, because without them I wouldn't even have a clue about conga technique or Latin American rhythms.

Thomas
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby jorge » Mon Aug 18, 2014 3:03 pm

Some people are great players but can't teach. Some can teach but are not great players. A few are both great players and great teachers.
Some students can learn from anyone because they are patient and critical about what they choose to learn. Some students need things broken down to them in a systematic clear way. Others can figure things out mostly on their own by watching and listening to great players.
Some of the best players I know are in the last group. They are naturally curious, very patient, smart, disciplined and, most important, dedicated to the drum and willing to spend the time needed to master each of the important things they want to master. They also have access to great players and play with people with good timing, strong sense of clave, and deep knowledge of Afrocuban music. These days, much of this access can be substituted by recordings of great players, with the important warning that the recording provides the groove whether you play great or not. It is very easy to feel that you are playing on time with swing even if you aren't, so you can get a false sense of how great you sound.
Those videos of Jerry Gonzalez do have some useful techniques that you should be able to learn from if you are already at an intermediate level. Probably not so much if you are a beginner in your first few years of playing. He plays his own style, there are lots of other ways to play the rhythms he is demonstrating. In some cases, eg, the Mozambique clip, he doesn't demonstrate the conga parts at all. Don't expect the video to spoon feed you the techniques in a way you can learn them in a few years. In addition to the things I mentioned above, learning Afrocuban music takes time. A lot of time, much more than most people realize or expect.
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby JohnnyConga » Mon Aug 18, 2014 3:24 pm

Please don't get me wrong ok....Jerry is a GREAT player and friend...Yes he has "his way" of approaching the drum...and Im sure he has influenced many over his playing years, and that's great!.. Please also understand 'ol skool' players like Jerry and myself learned off of records....we didnt really have any real teachers coming up, except maybe 2 or 3 in New York at the time ..IF you can find someone that really knew the drum and how to Teach on it...and was 'willing' to teach you as well...which there weren't at all really...guys went to Julio Collazo to learn Bata and he turned them away , because they were NOT in the religion..and I knew many that got into Santeria just to learn Bata from Julio..it wasnt until the late 60's that Frankie Malabe began teaching guys what he knew on the drum...and I dont know of any others in that time period..My 2 teachers (Hank who lived in my projects was my first teacher who taught me technique and sound development) My 2nd teacher and i only had 3 lessons-cause he hated teaching, he had no patience for it-was George "Sabu" Caldwell the 3rd and he taught me rhythms, which he learned while with the Katherine Dunham dance troup and with Olatunji...Sabu was a "dance drummer"...played for dance classes throughout the city back then...and he also played with Dizzy, Charlie Parker and many other Jazz artists back then.. then the New skool showed in the late 80's and 90's with more of an "Academic and Rudimentary" approach on the Conga drum( which i wasnt too keen on back then being somewhat of a 'traditional" player who questioned like many "how the hell you gonna use 'rudimentary' playing in Latin conga drumming...well the answer to that is Giovanni Hidalgo ..who introduced it to us via Changuito...and here it is today...I became a teacher one, because I enjoy sharing knowledge, and i have over 50 years of it ..2. I wanted to help whoever came to me truly learn the right way of playing and all that goes with it. 3. It took me a long time to be able to create a curriculum(that does not exist in any University in America today) for Conga drumming...that is why I was hired by no less than 5 Universities around the country...I have a 'methodology' which works...and a curriculum to back it up...question- How does a student choose to learn what he wants to learn, if he doesnt know what there is to learn?
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby Thomas Altmann » Mon Aug 18, 2014 5:16 pm

JohnnyConga wrote:question- How does a student choose to learn what he wants to learn, if he doesnt know what there is to learn?


Most percussion students (including myself) have at one time in their lives listened to music featuring percussion that inspired them to learn, in order to become a part of that music and produce this sound and rhythm themselves. If they knew from the outset "what there is to learn", most of them (not myself in this case) would turn away and choose something like pottery instead. It was my fate to never really get to finish my curriculum with any one of my students, mostly because they were more serious about some temporary rewards than they were about the challenges of the art form.

In Europe, students who are serious about learning Latin percussion turn to the Rotterdam conservatory in general, and I have no good reason to advise anyone against it, because undoubtedly Nils Fischer is a great percussionist who obviously does a good job as a teacher, too. Plus, you have a community of fellow students that makes you grow and exchange knowledge and jam together, which is an invaluable asset.

TA
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Re: Jerry Gonsalez

Postby JohnnyConga » Mon Aug 18, 2014 7:09 pm

Yes!..my man Nils..one of the few that can do both, play great, and teach great!...Tks Thomas for your response...
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