by jorge » Fri Dec 31, 2010 3:12 pm
Geography is not on your side but there are other resources. Keep looking, you never know, there are Cubans in places you would not have predicted like Alaska, and Toto Berriel is in Calgary I think, there may be someone good near you. Playing with CDs you can play with the best, sort of. Find a local band that plays music you can learn to like, get some of their recordings and learn a few of their songs, and go see if you can go to their rehearsals or sit in at gigs. Travel. If you are into religion, find a babalao nearby and work through that network. Take workshops like in Humboldt every summer, rumbas every night for a week. Spend a few months in Cuba, you have easy access from Canada. There are trips occasionally that focus on Afrocuban folkloric music, or go on your own. If you can't find a teacher close to you, try CongaMasterClass.Com Excellent teaching at the beginner and intermediate levels accessible anywhere you have internet access for something like $20 a month.