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Posted: **Mon Jan 02, 2006 1:55 pm**

When friends last visited cuba they attended tambors that mixed bata and guiro together.Incredible sound with amazing energy.I have seen been to some great guiro ceremonies in cuba and got some beautiful recordings of them.

Posted: **Mon Jan 02, 2006 5:30 pm**

Thanks David for clarifying so eloquently what I was trying to explain. I'm really not looking for patterns, but for some videos or DVD's to rip some licks from. I've got some good cd's including the smithsonian, chango leye and of course the grandmother, top percussion. Can anybody recommend some other good Guiro (agbe) cd's to rip some licks from?
Thanks
PC

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:34 am**

Thanks for the acknowledgement Onile. PC, I assume you are looking for master chekere playing, not the caja (lead drum). Besides the aforementioned "Agbe" from "Drum Jam", there's the CD "Olufina Baba Mi" which features three chekeres and bell, with the caja played in the old style. It’s very solid and basic. Grupo Afrocuba de Matanzas has a great agbe performance. It’s recorded on their "Raices" CD. Los Muñequitos has one agbe on their CD "Ito Iban Echu".

I find Julito Collazo's chekere performance on "Top Percussion (Tito Puente) to still be some of the clearest and most creative. I think that's because Julito used the chekere as a professional performing instrument. He was hired to play it on various live and studio dates. You can also hear him play the chekere on "Kowo Kowo" from Cachao’s "Dos".

I’ve seen home-made video footage of the Terry family in Cuba using the chekere and naked gourds in some of the most creative ways. However, the absolute best chekere playing I have ever seen was performed by Women of the Calabash in their 1987 television documentary. I taped it off of my local PBS station. I found the film on-line:
http://www.eai.org/eai/tape.jsp?itemID=677
…but it costs mucho bucks to rent. Each member of this all-woman ensemble takes a solo on the chekere. The group’s leader (don’t remember her name) has taken the chekere technique to a new level. Watching this video revolutionized my own playing, freeing me up to be able to play the instrument in nearly any context. I found their "Kwanza Album" on itunes and downloaded the only chekere piece for 99 cents, but alas, it’s only 36 seconds long and does not feature their extraordinary skill. If you are ever able to locate a copy of their television documentary with the chekere playing, check it out.

In general, I’d say apply the bembe/abge caja variations and iya variations from ñongo to your lead chekere vocabulary. That’s basically what’s happening with that instrument.

By the way, I also still find Francisco Aguabella’s caja playing on "Top Percussion" and "Afro-Roots" (Mongo) to be some of the best out there. I imagine you agree.

-David

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 1:31 am**

Actually, I'm looking more for caja licks. Especially for the interplay between the songs and the led drum. I agree with you though, the lead playin (both iya and caja) on top percussion and afro-roots is incredible!
PC

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:56 am**

check out a cd entitled OJAJARA EGUE, GUIRO A LOS ORISHAS. descarga.com has it..

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:20 am**

PC,
The caja playing on the CDs I mentioned is also top-notch.

-David

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:57 pm**

davidpenalosa wrote:However, the absolute best chekere playing I have ever seen was performed by Women of the Calabash in their 1987 television documentary. I taped it off of my local PBS station. I found the film on-line:
http://www.eai.org/eai/tape.jsp?itemID=677
…but it costs mucho bucks to rent. Each member of this all-woman ensemble takes a solo on the chekere. The group’s leader (don’t remember her name) has taken the chekere technique to a new level. Watching this video revolutionized my own playing, freeing me up to be able to play the instrument in nearly any context. I found their "Kwanza Album" on itunes and downloaded the only chekere piece for 99 cents, but alas, it’s only 36 seconds long and does not feature their extraordinary skill. If you are ever able to locate a copy of their television documentary with the chekere playing, check it out.

the groups leader would Madeline Iyayodele (if i haven't spelled it wrong), she is well known in the NY scene...she actually makes chekeres as well

Ralph

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:18 am**

Thanks Ralph,
I wonder if you mean "Iyalode"; a Yoruba term (Iya Lode) reserved for female orisha and women of high status?
-David

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 6:36 am**

$100 per night to rent it? WTF??? ??? ??? ??? ??? Does it come with a free set of steak knives or a free car wash or something?
Seriously... I think I will pass.

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 7:18 am**

I hear ya. I think it was a film webpage set up perhaps for television stations or theaters who rented films. They weren't renting VHS or DVD copies.

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 7:58 am**

Ah.. me see's.... Wonder if the artist is being paid any royalty money for the rights of screenplay/airplay...

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:29 am**

It's hard to say with a documentary like this. I think they may have been way less known back then (1987), so I kinda doubt it. Regardless, I doubt anybody's making any money off it these days. My sense is that it's held in this archive just in case anybody wants to show it again. There's a very small nitch market out there for these kind of things in VHS or DVD format. Still, I always appreciate it when someone thinks it's worth their while to release it commercially, as in the case of "Routes of Rhythm".
-David

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 10:56 am**

"Routes of Rhythm".

I have been going nuts trying to get that documentary David!
It is not available anywhere here locally and since I cant purchase over the net due to security risks on my pc I cant get it.

I am of the understanding JC was a consultant on that production.

Edited By ABAKUA on 1136372221

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 3:35 pm**

You can get it through Amazon.com. You can't make purchases through them? If that's the case, contact me privately.
-David

Posted: **Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:48 pm**

davidpenalosa wrote:Thanks Ralph,
I wonder if you mean "Iyalode"; a Yoruba term (Iya Lode) reserved for female orisha and women of high status?
-David

it shows up like this on the sight:
"Madeleine Yayodele Nelson"

so i was wrong...but she's the one, her shekere's are very nice i might add...

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