VIDEO THREAD - POST ALL VIDEO's/CLIPS HERE!!!!!

[niallgregory]

I find it difficult to play congas with drumset players at the best of times due to volume etc Clinic at a local music store i had the chance to try and compete with 2 of them ha ha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnIrYQSMpMQ

[roberthelpus]

I find it difficult to play congas with drumset players at the best of times due to volume etc Clinic at a local music store i had the chance to try and compete with 2 of them ha ha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnIrYQSMpMQ

I was going to say that you did a good job of holding your own what are you complaining about until the I'm going to do a roll on every drum that I have in front of me behavior started Too many folks don't realize that silence is part of music as well

[niallgregory]

I find it difficult to play congas with drumset players at the best of times due to volume etc Clinic at a local music store i had the chance to try and compete with 2 of them ha ha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnIrYQSMpMQ

I was going to say that you did a good job of holding your own what are you complaining about until the I'm going to do a roll on every drum that I have in front of me behavior started Too many folks don't realize that silence is part of music as well

In fairness to them it was the last bit of the clinic and was meant to be a bit of a chop fest as a finale . 2 very good players .Its a very difficult thing to find a drumset player who knows how to play along with a conga player but thats for a thread all of its own i reckon

[Dicemanb]

Niall,

Dont get me started

[CongaTick]

Nor me. Truer words never spoken

[Victorius]

I think these are Skin on Skin cherries...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSGZ5Zg ... u_in_order

[niallgregory]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24cS6J9G ... r_embedded

a very moving video about the plight of the central pk rumberos

[windhorse]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24cS6J9G4GQ&feature=player_embedded

a very moving video about the plight of the central pk rumberos

Good one! Nice documentary!

[jorge]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24cS6J9G4GQ&feature=player_embedded

a very moving video about the plight of the central pk rumberos

Why do you say "plight"? Those were the GOOD old days. There were a few years the rumba was shut down due to corruption of police and politicians under the Giuliani adminstration, but the corrupt politicians were eventually caught and the rumba started up again in full force. The last few summers have been great, we are hoping it is warm enough tomorrow to squeeze one last rumba out of the park. This is not a plight, it is a cultural tradition.

[RitmoBoricua]

Jorge,

<<This is not a plight, it is a cultural tradition.>>

True Dat!

I assume during the cold season you guys move the rumba indoors somewhere.
Que Siga La Rumba.......

[jorge]

I assume during the cold season you guys move the rumba indoors somewhere.
Que Siga La Rumba.......

Yeah, we are still looking for a place for this winter. Bars and clubs usually last a few weeks to a couple months before they figure out they aren't going to make any money and kick us out. The Brecht Forum got a grant to support the rumba a couple years ago and lasted over a year. Any ideas?

[niallgregory]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24cS6J9G4GQ&feature=player_embedded

a very moving video about the plight of the central pk rumberos

I said plight because the impression the videos gives is that the rumberos in th pk are gettting shut down by the law . I posted it up as a show of support for whats going on in the park . You obviously know better if you play there .I didnt mean it any other way man ! This forum is getting very touchy lately .

[jorge]

OK, Niall, I see what you were referring to, no problem. The "plight" did happen in Central Park in the late 1990s, as in many other times and places through history, but it got resolved as soon as Giuliani left office as mayor. At the risk of being accused of politics (although the history of the drum is inherently political), I can tell you a bit of the history from my perspective as a participant who lived through it. For about 5 years the cops would come and shut down the rumba about half the days we played, always in the middle of Sunday afternoons. As the video shows, several of us tried to get the permits that they demanded for any group over 25 people that was playing music. We usually had between 30 and 200 people at the rumbas, although only about 15 or 20 actually played, sang or danced. To get a permit you had to agree to be the responsible party if anyone was caught urinating in the bushes, drinking beer, littering, smoking pot, selling drugs, etc. Clearly a big liability to take on at a rumba, so no one ever signed on the dotted line to get the permits. At the end of the Giuliani regime, the parks commissioner Henry J. Stern was accused (among other things) of trying to privatize the parks. He set up a scheme where all musical groups that played in the park had to pay into a fund, often they paid $20,000 up to $1 million that Sting once paid to play a concert in the park. It turns out that to make that scheme work, they had to have the police shut down all free music in the park, as much as possible. So the rumba and many other small groups and street musicians all got shut down frequently. They threatened to arrest us, confiscate our drums, etc. Now, the cops let us play until 10 pm on Sundays, and then come at the same time every week with the story that they are getting noise complaints from people living in apartments on Central Park West (about a half mile away as the crow flies). At least we can play in the afternoon and evening, and, quite frankly, it is a good time to end for those of us who work on Monday morning.

In fairness, this is not new and is more than just North American racism. Even in Cuba open rumba is not allowed in the streets. One day in 1985, after a Sabado de la Rumba in Havana, I was hanging out talking with Pancho Quinto and asked him to show me a cajon part. He got very nervous, and sent about 4 guys to look out for police coming in all directions, then showed me a part for about 5 minutes. He told me you can't just play in the street, you need a permit to have a rumba, tambor, bembe, or anything involving drums in Havana. Things seem to have lightened up a bit since then, but repression of the drum and African and Afrocuban music is a recurrent event through centuries of history, in many countries. From Tiempo de España in Cuba to the banning of the bongo under Machado, to Central Park under Giuliani we see the same response over and over. "El amo no quiere que yo toque el tambor".

[GuruPimpi]

Nice documentary and a sad story about the authorities who see problem in such non-violent activities. Where are we goin'?

[ABAKUA]

Things seem to have lightened up a bit since then

Damn Jorge, that wouldve been tough times.

Well I can say things have lightened up alot since then, having had friends return recently, rumba is everywhere on the island, especially in Havana. No dramas these days, even into the early hours of the morning in a patio or some back street. Great stuff.

Im off to Cuba in a few weeks, will let you know how I find the situation.