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Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:09 am
by davidpenalosa
Light Seeker wrote:I was just wondering if there was a relation between the two genres. Apparently there isn't.


Thanks for linking to that article. I wouldn't rule out a connection just yet though. There is at the very least, a possible common Carabali link between the tonada Trinitaria as described in the article and the rumba tonada from Trinidad on the CD Sacred Rhythms. The article shows a picture of a tonada Trinitaria drum that looks very similar to an abakua drum. The quinto on the rumba tonada plays in a manner very similar to the abakua bonko.

It's also interesting that the lead tonada Trinitaria drum is called "quinto" and the song "Pa'los mayores" is preformed within both the tonada Trinitaria and rumba traditions. I'm not saying that I know what it means, if anything, just that there are a few tenuous connections.
-David

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:10 am
by windhorse
Thanks Laurent, I downloaded the Clave Y Guaguanco album Noche De La Rumba, and it's awesome!!
Our Tonada is like their De Oya y Abacua on the second track.
Thanks again, psyched to have it!
And interesting discussion, thanks Dave and Light Seeker!

Dave

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:57 pm
by windhorse
davidpenalosa wrote:
Light Seeker wrote:It's also interesting that the lead tonada Trinitaria drum is called "quinto" and the song "Pa'los mayores" is preformed within both the tonada Trinitaria and rumba traditions.
-David


David, can you lead me to the CD and song for "Pa' los Mayores?" I have a special interest in that song.
Scratch that! Thanks Richard for jumping to help with that file!!

Dave

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:01 pm
by guarachon63
OK, I just got off the phone with Amado Dedeu, director of Clave y Guaguancó, and composer of the tune "Blasfemadores," which is recorded on the "Noche de la rumba" CD as a "Rumba Tonada."

According to Amado, Rumba Tonada is from the city of Cienfuegos, on the southern coast of Cuba, near Trinidad.

(I think José Pilar, our only other known source of information about this, is actually from Cienfuegos, not Trinidad as previously mentioned, which might explain his particular affinity for this music, and the lack of any knowledge of it among Tonada Trinitaria specialists.)

Amado doesn't know much about it, he says he heard it there once on a trip there, but couldn't really say anything about the origins, if anyone is still playing it, who are the major exponents, what is the repetoire. He has the impression that it is related in some way to the Tonadas Trinitarias and the Tonadas Spirituanas. Amado originally wrote "Blasfemadores" as a guaguancó and just sang it over a Rumba Tonada arrangement.

This is an extremely rare form about which very little is known or written. All I have been able to find is the liner notes to the Ilú Añá CD which David posted.

Anyway, it seems further information will have to come from José Pilar himself, or from someone who has contacts in Cienfuegos. I looked at various videos online of Ballet Folklorico de Cienfuegos, and others from the region, but found nothing that sounded like Rumba Tonada.

saludos!
Barry

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:22 pm
by davidpenalosa
Thanks for investigating that Barry. To my ears, the quinto phrases used in tonada are very close to those used by the abakuá bonkó. Mike Spiro attributes that to the slow tempo, but I think there's more to it than that.
-David

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:38 am
by Quinto Governor II
Congamasterclass.com has a performance of what they describe as a Tonada with 4 drummers, along with cata columbia pattern , 6/8 bell pattern, and columbia style vocal , which later switches to a columbia. Anyone here subscribe, and have seen it? The drummers play 2 drums each, or conga and cajon, or conga and bata drum (stood up hiting the Enu). Its a very funky arrangement. I'd like to hear what anyone thinks of It?

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 4:02 pm
by KidCuba
This topic is older, but I was just introduced to a Rumba Tonada yesterday during a local rumba.

I looked for the tonada video on CongaMasterClass with no luck, does anybody have an suggestions on which section to find it?

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Tue May 01, 2012 10:26 pm
by Quinto Governor II
KidCuba wrote:This topic is older, but I was just introduced to a Rumba Tonada yesterday during a local rumba.

I looked for the tonada video on CongaMasterClass with no luck, does anybody have an suggestions on which section to find it?




Go to Ensembles, then Oba Nile, then Columbia. At the beginning Jesus mentions that they will be playing a columbia that starts off as a tonada.

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2012 3:22 am
by jorge
Great drumming and singing, excellent demonstration of drummers playing together, listening to each other and talking back and forth. David, I agree some of the phrases come from bonko roots but the feel of the rhythm, although 6/8, is different from Abakua music. I am not sure how typical a tonada that is, given the many diverse influences these great drummers bring to the song.

Re: Rumba Tonada

PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:52 am
by daffodil1003
davidpenalosa wrote:You can hear a version of rumba tonado on the CD Sacred Rhythms by Grupo Ilu Aña (Bembe 2001). From the liner notes:

"..tonada, according to Jose Pilar...is a style that came to Cuba from Spain and gained popularity in Oriente province during the 30s and 40s. The tonada.. was originally an acapella form that was performed by trio or quartet of singers. It usually told a story, or took the form of a poem following a specific melodic and harmonic formula. These tonada groups often engaged in friendly competition in local bars or social clubs, the contestants being judged on cleverness of story line and musical originality. This is in many ways similar to the coro y clave groups of Havana and Matanzas provinces, or calypsonians of Trinidad and Tobago.

A rumba tonada is a hybrid of the original tonada that includes the introduction of drums and percussion. This particular rumba is performed in a style called Trinidad", because it comes from the town of Trinidad in eastern Cuba. A strong 12/8 feel with very simple parts and the middle pitched drum as the lead or solo instrument gives this style a distinctively 'laid-back' feel."—Michael Spiro, Scott Wardinsky, Andy Schloss (1995)

They use the standard 12/8 bell pattern and the quinto plays in a manner very similar to the abakua bonko, even more so than is typical of columbia quinto.

You can hear a faster rumba tonada "Tonadas Trinitarias" on the CD Songs and Rhythms. "Tonada Guaguancó Para Celina" by Clave Y Guaguanco on the CD Noche De La Rumba (1999) has a rumba tonada intro, but soon moves into a guaguanco. There are several examples of non-rumba tonadas on the CD La musica del pueblo de cuba.
-David


Thanks you for the post.

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