Guarapachangueo - history and rhythms

[Tone]

Hi All,

what is the guarapachangueo exactly? Is it a rhythm, a style, a combination of styles, the modern version of rumba?
I find different and conflicting informations around.
The other day I went to play some rumba with a group and they say they played guarapachangueo and they played all those beats I had never heard before...What's the deal brothers?

tone

[ralph]

Guarapachanguero is like variations on rumba...to hear guarapachanguero in essence, get "La Rumba Es Cubana" - Gregorio Hernandez, there is a song by Los Chinitos called "Guarapachanguero"...you'll hear a cajon playing an offbeat rhythm as opposed to your usual tres golpes pattern, really that cajon pattern is after the tres golpes and lands on the one of the clave...guarapachanguero was further developed by Maximino Duquesne on two drums (Rumberos de Cuba, Obba Ilu, Rapsodia Rumbera), Pancho Quinto (Pancho adding bata, bells and cajon to the mix, and spoon!)...also if you listen to Gregorio "El Goyo" Hernandez, and his work on tumbador with Los Munequitos, this also can give you the essence of what guarapachanguero is all about...the main thing that stays the same in guarapachanguero is the clave and cascara...the tres golpes also usually plays its usual rhythm although this is not always the case, the main difference is in what the tumbador is doing whether it be on cajon, bata or tumba...also the tres golpes can also alternate between cajon and conga....this is in essence guaguanco though...i think the most important thing is that guarapachanguero is constantly evolving and many groups don't play it the same way so you will hear variations upon variation...but it is identifiable
some good examples or groups to definitely listen too:

Yoruba Andabo
Clave Y Guaguanco
Irosso Obba
Rumba Eriera
Eddie Bobe (Central Park Rumba)

DVD's:

Rumbon Tropical
Rumbambeo



Edited By ralph on 1132759470

[ricky linn]

Hi Tone

I have studied with the main man, Amado Dedue, from Clave y Guaguanco in Havana and have covered some guarapachangueo. I have a group in Scotland who play Rumba etc.. Who are the guys in London that are playing Rumba?, I would be interested to know.

Ricky

[Luyanò]

Hi, i'm a yong italian percussionist, I've studied guarapachangueo with Irian Lopez (los chinitos) and he's brother Pedro Lopez...
Pedro is the man who invented Guarapachangueo...
Now in cuba every rumbero play Guarapachangueo...in different ways...
The first guarapachangueo was invented to accompany boleros songs (becouse the melodic line of guaguancò was inadequate for that kind of songs) and...for requirement to play rumba in four persons...infact the Lopez brothers were four...
Forgive my poor english...
bye

[ralph]

Hi, i'm a yong italian percussionist, I've studied guarapachangueo with Irian Lopez (los chinitos) and he's brother Pedro Lopez...
Pedro is the man who invented Guarapachangueo...
Now in cuba every rumbero play Guarapachangueo...in different ways...
The first guarapachangueo was invented to accompany boleros songs (becouse the melodic line of guaguancò was inadequate for that kind of songs) and...for requirement to play rumba in four persons...infact the Lopez brothers were four...
Forgive my poor english...
bye

this is it...the Lopez brothers also play on the song i was talking about on "La Rumba Es Cubana", letting you in on the original played by the originals...

This other fact i did not know but it makes sense if you look at Clave Y Guaguanco, there are four drummers usually...instead of the 3 drummers (tumba, conga, quinto)

[Isaac]

Greetings Luyano.
Do you know the names of the other two Lopez brothers?
When I was in Cuba I studied with two other
congueros named Lopez - Guillermo and a younger brother,
Miguel. I wonder if it's the same family..
~ ISAAC ~

[Luyanò]

Pedro, Irian, Reynaldo( the singer) and Wertico or Albertico( el Mokongo)...
Dont forget my first batà teacher Piri"Manley"Lopez son of Pedro...A mamber of "Raices Profunda" and a batà monster...Do you now Abbilona?
bye :laugh:

[davidpenalosa]

Ralph:
"…also if you listen to Gregorio "El Goyo" Hernandez, and his work on tumbador with Los Munequitos, this also can give you the essence of what guarapachanguero is all about..."

Hey Ralph and all,
I remember reading someone in one of the e-groups (sorry I don’t remember who) saying that the Munequitos conversations were the inspiration for guarapachangueo. I don’t have any corroborating evidence to back this up, but I do have what I think is an interesting anecdotal story. Several years ago I was playing rumba with Miguel Bernal (Raices Profundo). I was playing tumba variations which I had picked off of Munequitos records and Miguel made a point of saying "you are playing guarapachanguero". I replied that I was playing Munequitos variations and he reiterated that it was guarapachangueo. I had been introduced to an arrangement of guarapachangueo some years earlier, but never considered myself all that adept at playing it. Whatever insight I had into how to play those parts I attributed to my familiarity to the Munequitos inventos. Those Munequitos tumba variations go back to the mid-50’s.

<What follows is a shameless promotion> For a clear recording of guarapachangueo check out "Guarapachangueo" from Drum Jam by Grupo Exploracion (Bembe CD 2026). Miguel Bernal arranged the cut and I produced the CD for Bembe. What’s unusual about this recording is that it features just the percussion, with no vocals. I purposely wanted to feature just the orchestra of percussion and so this is a great CD for drummers. You can hear all the parts clearly in Agbe, Iyesa, Guarapachangueo, Rumba Columbia, Changui, Vodu, Kanekela and Congo Oriental, as well as some experimental folkloric selections. You can get Drum Jam at Amazon.com, Bembe.com, or you can just download "Guarapachangueo" at http://www.latincoolnow.com for 99¢. <end shameless promotion>

-David

[davidpenalosa]

me again,
A funny thing happened technically regarding my last message. I wrote my response first as a word processing document and then copied and pasted into the post response. This bracketed sentence: <What follows is a shameless promotion> did not transfer. I'm guessing that bracketing had an effect. Anybody out there know how that works?

Anyway, the most important thing is I want to acknowledge when I shift from music opionator to self-promotor.

-David

[davidpenalosa]

jeez, it didn't transfer again (doh!) Here it is without the brackets:

What follows is a shameless promotion

[Isaac]

Thanks Luyano, it sounds like a different family.

Thanks David for the links.

~ ISAAC ~

[ralph]

Ralph:
"…also if you listen to Gregorio "El Goyo" Hernandez, and his work on tumbador with Los Munequitos, this also can give you the essence of what guarapachanguero is all about..."

Hey Ralph and all,
I remember reading someone in one of the e-groups (sorry I don’t remember who) saying that the Munequitos conversations were the inspiration for guarapachangueo. I don’t have any corroborating evidence to back this up, but I do have what I think is an interesting anecdotal story. Several years ago I was playing rumba with Miguel Bernal (Raices Profundo). I was playing tumba variations which I had picked off of Munequitos records and Miguel made a point of saying "you are playing guarapachanguero". I replied that I was playing Munequitos variations and he reiterated that it was guarapachangueo. I had been introduced to an arrangement of guarapachangueo some years earlier, but never considered myself all that adept at playing it. Whatever insight I had into how to play those parts I attributed to my familiarity to the Munequitos inventos. Those Munequitos tumba variations go back to the mid-50’s.

i think after you overlook it then look back at it, its obvious, Goyo is doing exactly what is done on cajon nowadays...the only difference is maybe it wasn't that evident and that repetitive...but that is the essence...i think with the additition and reemergence of the cajones in rumba, only makes the guarapachanguero more distinctive and identifiable...

Ralph

[davidpenalosa]

Ralph: "Goyo is doing exactly what is done on cajon nowadays...the only difference is maybe it wasn't that evident and that repetitive..."

Hi Ralph,
One difference between the typical Muñequitos tumba variations and the guarapachangueo tumba part I learned in the late 80’s is their relationship to clave. While they are nearly identical patterns, their relation to clave is opposite. That’s what confused me about me about Miguel Bernal’s identifying the Muñequitos tumba variations as guarapachangueo . See my "chart" below:

||XooX|oooX|ooXo|Xooo|| clave
||Mooo|ooTo|CooC|oMMM|Mooo|| Muñequitos tumba variation with segundo
||TooT|oMMM|Mooo|oooo|oooo|oMMM|Mooo|oooo|| guarapachangueo tumba

o = rest
X = clave strokes
T = tumba
C = conga
M = tumba muff

But yeah, the connection is obvious.

-David

[ralph]

Dave,

I see exactly what you are saying, the four beat variation on tumba is just in a different place...where in the Munequitos version you have the tumba come in after the tres golpes, on the other version you have the tumba variation come in place or with the tres golpes right after the second beat of the clave...i hope i'm reading this right, but i understand what your saying, it is just in a different place in relation to clave...

Ralph

[davidpenalosa]

Ralph,
Yes, the patterns are exactly opposite in terms of the sides of clave. The typical Muñequitos tumba variations, going back to their very first record, end no later than main beat 1. That made sense to me because the quinto’s primary pulse is the subdivision immediately following "one". So it all makes a rather nice puzzle. Please see the diagram below:

||XooX|oooX|ooXo|Xooo|| clave
||MQoo|QoTQ|CooC|oMMM|| Muñequitos tumba variation with segundo

o = rest
X = clave strokes
T = tumba
C = conga
Q = quinto
M = tumba muff

Note: I noticed that I wrote an extra beat in the "Muñequitos tumba variation with segundo " of my last post. Sorry about that. I just continued writing into the next "one". The example above is written in the correct cycle of four main beats.

Listening to Los Muñequitos’ recordings from the 70’s and 80’s, you can still hear these parameters (above) maintained amidst their amazing melodic inventions. That consistency helped me to understand and copy the tumba variations. When Los Muñequitos came to Arcata California in 1992 I expected to see what I had been listening to all those years. However, I was surprised to see Goyo play his muff variations on both sides of clave! Yet another rhythmic motif in rumba flipped from one side of the clave to the other. Ironically, the one drum part in rumba that has not been off-set or flipped since rumba was first recorded is the quinto. The most complex part can actually be more helpful in identifying where clave is. The other two drums' relation to clave seems up for grabs these days.

I’ve been privileged to witness rumberos make up stuff on the spot using all this and much more. It’s really taken off into an even higher artform I believe. Contemporary rumba reminds me of the freeness and creativity of jazz. These rhythms we are discussing are the beginning of that and my frame of reference for understanding them.

-David