JohnnyConga wrote:PS I also Resent this statement...(The musical level of congas in jazz has never been raised to anywhere near the very high musical level either of trap drums in jazz or of congas in Latin Jazz.) This is also an 'untruth'...it has been raised by many..Start with Candido then Mongo, Giovanni, Anga(Irakere), El Nino(Irakere), Percy(Quartet Tres Bien), Buck Clarke,(Dizzy Gillespie),and many more that most of you have never heard of,or ever will, unfortunately..
I am the first to admit I am not as well (self) schooled in jazz as I am in afrocuban music, but I have heard a good bit of real jazz in my day. In fact, working as a cook in George Braithe's Musart Spiral Restaurant and hearing some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world play every night was what first inspired me to start playing congas in 1971. Even so, I do not hear conga players playing straight jazz (not talking about Latin Jazz) who play at the virtuoso musical level of a really good jazz trap drummer, talking back and forth with the bass, piano, horns, vocalists, etc on every tune. Like Leedy said, congas are ad lib additions to the rhythm section of traps and bass, if they are there at all, and congas have always been secondary instruments in jazz, "fusion percussionists" notwithstanding. Most times I hear congas in jazz, they play a few tunes but not most. I have not heard Candido play true jazz at the level of Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Roy Haynes or any of the great jazz drummers. Although he has done some nice things and gained a lot of respect in the jazz world, congas have not caught on in jazz and are still marginal instruments. James Mtume and others also have done some nice stuff on congas in jazz but again, it is additional, not the core of the music. Tata, Mongo, Anga, Barretto, Giovanni, El Niño, Roberto Vizcaino, and others have made huge contributions and upped the level of playing latin jazz, but rarely have played straight jazz. I have read that Tata played jazz with the house band at the Waldorf Astoria for a couple of years in the 50's but I have not heard any recordings of those sessions. The musical level of conga playing in Latin Jazz is far beyond the musical level of conga playing I have heard in straight jazz. So if you resent and disagree with my opinion, maybe you can post or suggest some more specific examples of virtuoso jazz conga players playing straight jazz. I'm all ears...