Matthew Smith Bata - Ritmo Bata

[ralph]

Fellow congaboard member Hugo (i can't recall his congaboard name) gave me permission to post some pics of his bata, that he emailed me last week...they are beauties....



Edited By ralph on 1195072191

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[ralph]

#2

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[ralph]

#3

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[ralph]

#4

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[ralph]

more...

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[ralph]

Hugo, decoratively strung the drums himself...although i don't know if the skins came as they did...care to elaborate Hugo?

[Whopbamboom]

What's the wood on those?

[ABAKUA]

They are a beautiful set of bata.

[kongo]

I picked up this set of bata from a guy in Philadelphia. He told me they were made by Matt Smith and used by "Peachy" Jarman.

I don't know what type of wood or skins were used.

I do know that they sound great and weigh a TON! I actually had to take some of the chaworo off the Iya to lighten it. They are really built like tanks.

I took a page out of Thomas Altmann's SONOC bata roping style at his website. It helps keep them from slipping off my lap.

I've had them almost a year through Chicago's hellish summers and arctic winters. It has not affected them one bit.

Some of you guys might know more about them than I do.

Mucho Ache!

[Whopbamboom]

How does the rope affect the sound, in comparison to when they didn't have the rope?

[kongo]

Thanks to Matt Smith the wood is very dense and it sounds pretty much the same (to my ears) with the rope or without.

Of course, fundamento bata are are supposed to be played with leather straps around them or they couldn't be played at all.

What really made the big difference in sound was the tuning and the amount of fardela (ida) on the enu side of the Iya and Itotele.

I hope this helps.

Suerte

[ralph]

conyo, these are Peachy Jarmin's drums...thats a good bit of info there, I just wish I had a little history about him...he is a known batalero, but I can't recall who he played w/ I know is that either he is from Philly or based out of Philly...Kongo hold on to those!

[Facundo]

conyo, these are Peachy Jarmin's drums...thats a good bit of info there, I just wish I had a little history about him...he is a known batalero, but I can't recall who he played w/ I know is that either he is from Philly or based out of Philly...Kongo hold on to those!

Hey Ralph,

I know Peachy very well. He is a Philadelphian and a former godson of mine. Of note, is the fact that he played bongos for Mongo's band back in the late 70's or early 80's although congas is his primary instrament. He started his bata playing with me and later after he relocated to LA he was initiated into Anya by either Coyude or Francisco Aguabella I am not sure which. While living in LA he made Ocha (Yemaya) with my godbrother Marcus in LA and is out of the Culo Verde line of Polo "Oshaweye". He traveled to Cuba and received his own set of Anya from Papo Angarica. Peachy has long since relocated back to Philly but no longer plays due to heath problems. His Anya is now kept with one of his godsons who also received Anya from Angarica.

Regarding the abericula bata in your photos, I do rememeber him having several sets but the hardware does not look like it was made by Mathew. Mathew has changed a lot of his work over the years so the set could be an early set he made for Peachy.

Facundo

[ralph]

Facundo..thanks for filling in the gaps. So Peachy is from Papo's camp...thats some good info, listen are you from the same house? I had a question I recently got Fundamento Yoruba 1, and been looking for 2, is it true that there is a Fundamento Yoruba 3? Do you know of did Peachy ever play w/ Pablo Landrum by any chance?

[Facundo]

Facundo..thanks for filling in the gaps. So Peachy is from Papo's camp...thats some good info, listen are you from the same house? I had a question I recently got Fundamento Yoruba 1, and been looking for 2, is it true that there is a Fundamento Yoruba 3? Do you know of did Peachy ever play w/ Pablo Landrum by any chance?

Ralph,

I am not sure if the Fundamento Yoruba 1,2 & 3 you are talking about is a set of CDs or what. Although Descarga http://www.descarga.com/ does not have it listed in what they offer. More info needed as I am interested as well.

Once Peachy started traveling with Mongo he also spent a lot of time in New York and may have played with Pablo but I doubt that very much. Pablo's hay day was much earlier than Peachy's entrance into New York's drumming scean. Pablo had his share of personal problems and fell out of the mix a long time ago. I had heard that he worked with Junior for a short time making drums. Never the less his name is one to be remembered among the New York drummers of influence.

No, Puntia is my Olubata and I am sworn on his drums. I stopped playing bata a long time ago due to my obligations as a Babalosha. Once I passed to Ifa there has been very little time to hold a day job, study Ifa and do that work too.
I know that Papo is an Oluo and I have no idea how he seems to do it all.

Facundo