MAYUTO CORREA

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MAYUTO CORREA

Postby Anonimo » Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:54 pm

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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby JohnnyConga » Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:39 am

I remember when he was in NYCity never saw him at all live though he was playing all over and in the studio a lot...one of those unsung greats of percussion!....a very 'avantgarde' player and unique in his time....
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby jorge » Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:39 am

He may be a great conga player, but that solo did not demonstrate it.
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby Anonimo » Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:42 am

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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby Omelenko1 » Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:22 pm

I agree with Jorge, a good "by the book" conga player he is not, he looks more like a tabla, middle eastern player. Compare his video to a Tata Guines, Mongo or Ray Barretto video. Those guys are real conga players. This Mayuto guy does not lay down a solid foundation which is what a conguero has to do, I only see him doing very unorthodox riffs. He doesn't lay down a solid "masacote". No substance in what he did. My 2 cents.
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby Anonimo » Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:08 pm

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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby JohnnyConga » Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:08 pm

I get kick out of some of you here...If he's not playing Tumbao he cant play?....You guys have no idea of his contributions to "percussion' he was a "Fusion percussionist" not that I would expect some of you to know what that is, cause "Fusion" music isn't a popular genre of music like it was in the late 60's and 70's...this cat played with Miles Davis...one of the hardest guys ever to work for..and with Miles all he wanted you to have was EARS to play his music...and let;s also remember that Miles created 'Fusion Jazz"...How many of you have heard of MTUME?....another 'fusion percussionist'...Hey guys not everything is Cuban when it comes to playing the drum..so you really cant compare him that way..and I also hope to be able to play at the age of 80 if im still here...Bravo Mayuto!....
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby jorge » Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:37 pm

Playing with jazz groups he sounds a little better than that solo. He has played with a lot of big names in jazz. Plenty of energy, but more riffs, effects and accents than solid rhythm. I don't believe that guy is 80 years old in the NAMM 2011 video. Actually, on another website, his birthdate is given as March 9, 1943, which would make him 68 years old, not 80. I guess only his hairdresser knows for sure.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=14621
Also on that website are quotes from critics calling him the "best conga player in the world", the "John Coltrane of congas", and Billy Higgins calling him "the best performer from Brazil since Carmen Miranda".

I agree with Omelenko that he is not in the same league with Tata, Mongo, or others of his generation or older, not to mention Giovanni, Anga, Vizcaino, Joaquin Pozo or some of the other younger guys out there playing Latin Jazz today. As far as straight jazz, very few groups have had a regular conga player without going into Latin Jazz. Ray Barretto and a few others played most of the jazz recordings in the past 50 years. They played mostly the same swing tumbao jazz pattern with a few riffs. In live jazz, those conga patterns sound good on occasional songs but not every song in the set. Most conga players with jazz groups have all kinds of bells, shakers, and other "toys" because all of them, congas included, are just add ons for effect, and are not completely integrated into the foundation of the music. 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.
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby JohnnyConga » Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:57 pm

There is another name for a guy like him a "multi-percussionist" like Airto..who also is not a conga drummer...if it wasnt for guys like Mayuto and Airto, Mtume , Manolo Badrena, Steve Thornton... WE wouldnt have become 'multi-percussionists"(like myself) who were influenced by them...we were just conga drummers...so when we saw these guys playing a multitude of percussion it was very exciting and it also taught me that 'versatility' is the key ....learn it all if you can...let's not be so critical because he don't play rumba or salsa conga....JC
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby JohnnyConga » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:27 pm

Jorge Im going to assume you havent heard the recording..Kenny Burrell introduces Candido...where in a trade off with the drummer (I believe it's Kenny Clarke,) the drummer started copping Candido's licks, because Candido was ripping some great phrases in his solo...Candido was way ahead of everyone using 'rudiments' on the Conga drum,in Jazz, before anyone...
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby JohnnyConga » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:39 pm

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..
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby Omelenko1 » Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:15 am

I have a friend who took a master conga class with the late Francisco Aguabella. My friend is a percussionist who uses congas but doesn't play Latin music, he mostly plays world music the likes of Flamenco, folk music, soft rock, some R & B......(JC you know him). Francisco asked him straight up to play a tumbao pattern, my friend can not play a proper traditional tumbao pattern. Francisco thanked him for attending and kindly gave him his money back, stating "if you want to play conga drums, the tumbao is the first and most important rhythm, after mastering it you can begin to experiment with deviations from the tumbao". He got his money back, thanked Francisco and left.
In my opnion, you can applay the tumbao to a variety of different music like funk, R & B, Brazilian, flamenco, blues....., then you can modify the tumbao depending on the type of music. My 2 cents.
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby jorge » Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:57 am

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...
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby JohnnyConga » Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:31 am

It's true your not as well schooled in Jazz or you would know there are more styles then 'straight jazz' as you call it...I mentioned the conga drummers in my comments above yours..look at their names and look up the groups or bands and chek them out...chek Percy with the Quartet Tres Bien from the 60's.and the others...chek out Big Black on youtube....and like I said Candido..nobody is comparing these guys to Mongo Tata or the others...someone else started.that thread..they are in a different league and of course I also know that too..im talking Jazz Conga....once again not Afro Cuban or Salsa style drumming....just cause you may never heard Jazz Conga doesnt mean it never existed...and when I tell you there were guys totally unknown in NY when i was growing up and they were totally incredible as Jazz Conga players...Ritchie Pablo Landrum(former teacher of mine) another one...and the brother Ramon that played in Stan Kentons Orch back in the 70's....give me more time and I'll get you some more names...just start with these first...and Jorge I have much respect for you, just so you know...paz y rumba...JC
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Re: MAYUTO CORREA

Postby jorge » Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:52 am

Thanks JC. YouTube or website recordings we can listen to for free would be great, but if you can suggest some outstanding CDs I am old skool enough that I still buy CDs. Have you heard Buck Clarke's recording as a leader? I used to work for his ex-wife Jeannie (BowWow Productions) but haven't really heard his work as a leader. And yes, I do know there are different types of jazz and crossovers with latin jazz, I am just trying to differentiate between latin jazz and north american jazz.
Last edited by jorge on Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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