congaplace.com

hey everybody - thanks for the wealth of information on this site! i'm a new conguero (relatively) and am interested in your gigs - who do you play with, what sort of gigs do you play, and what sort of styles have you explored as a congeuro? i have played some in a christian worship setting - this has worked out well for me. looking for info on your experiences with the congas outside of latin/jazz/salsa type circles. rock? pop? any worship players out there?
best,
groovemanlars

welcome to the forum mate .Lots of experienced percussionists on here to share there experience .I have played congas in lots of different styles from , afro cuban , afro brazilain , african , pop , swing and even rockabilly and country

Wow. Rockabilly and country? Cool! Any videos to share?

groovemanlars wrote:what sort of styles have you explored as a congeuro? i have played some in a christian worship setting

Greetings groovemanlars. I have been playing with different worship bands and Christian groups for about 10 yrs now. From contemporary worship to Christian Latin jazz. I have enjoyed all of them but my favorite is Latin Jazz. I have found that for me it's more challenging to play contemporary Christian compared to Latin Music, I would say because my primary style of playing mainly involves Afro-Cuban rhythms but it's all good and fun, and most of all it's a blessing, by the way, welcome to the forum groovemanlars.

I play in a rock band and join in at the Latin Jazz Jam.

By far my favorite is playing for the Afro Cuban Folkloric dance class on Saturdays. Great for learning and perfecting all sorts of rhythms including those with one hand and a stick. The interaction with the dancers is just unbelievable. The biggest responsibility in my opinion though is to pay the various stick or bell patterns,... if only i had the cojones to play those more often.

Hey groovemanlars, I play at church sometimes and I also sometimes take one of my drums to salsa clubs and parties. I salsa dance so I alternate between dancing and drumming for good fun. In those circles I'll frequently bump into other players. Peace!

Thanks for the replies, folks. Those who play in church and rock bands - how do you apply the congas to these settings? Are you playing with a set drummer as well?

Here's a short clip of Ogun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE-oLUyJOIQ
I'm the Shaker player. Thom's far left on Iya (Greeley), Ritz (4 mile canyon) on the Caja/lead, Dave (Rollinsville) on tumbao, Eric (Boulder) on kachimbo, Scott (Boulder) on Bell, and Rapa (Georgia) on pulse Shaker.

And the entire 13 minute version of our last Bembe at our last performance. Next one's in Feb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2MEn4TQKqg
We're just a collective that plays Cuban folkloric, mostly benefits, parties and such.

I play the typical for congas, rumba and salsa, a little jazz and latin jazz, however one of the more rewarding and unusual gigs I get is playing for poets. San Francisco has an established and thriving poetry scene, accomplished and published poets and they seem to enjoy being accompanied by percussion. I usually get called a couple times a month for poetry gigs. Always interesting to accompany the poetry, it's never rehearsed so I just go with the flow.

With more than 30 different groups of different size, genre, personality....accoustic original rock, cover duo, classic cover rock, salsa, folk rock, straight ahead jazz, Chicago tribute, New Orleans jazz, original jazz/funk fuzion bands, reggae/funk, rock-fuzion, Dead-style groups, alternative/experimental and every genre mix in-between. Have played in 66 different venues in the the past 6 years all over the region. Some were holes where management treated us like crap, others where we were treated like royalty. Packed houses, almost empty houses, bar fights and drunks, high paying gigs and gigs for gas money. I'll be 69 in '11, and I plan on kickin' ass for a few more years before I gotta wear diapers and a bib. This forum has been a home where I sit and listen mostly to the wisdom of the pros, contributing only when I may have something of value-- which is not very often.

CT,

Your contribution is inspiration, Brother.

'nuff said

Dice

CongaTick wrote:With more than 30 different groups of different size, genre, personality....accoustic original rock, cover duo, classic cover rock, salsa, folk rock, straight ahead jazz, Chicago tribute, New Orleans jazz, original jazz/funk fuzion bands, reggae/funk, rock-fuzion, Dead-style groups, alternative/experimental and every genre mix in-between. Have played in 66 different venues in the the past 6 years all over the region. Some were holes where management treated us like crap, others where we were treated like royalty. Packed houses, almost empty houses, bar fights and drunks, high paying gigs and gigs for gas money. I'll be 69 in '11, and I plan on kickin' ass for a few more years before I gotta wear diapers and a bib. This forum has been a home where I sit and listen mostly to the wisdom of the pros, contributing only when I may have something of value-- which is not very often.

Wow. So much wisdom to be had around here... Glad I found it.

Last year the spanish rumba fusion band I was with split so myself and a two of the guys started doing smaller gigs in bars where we play spanish rumba, bossas, son and other tropical flavours. So I play mainly cajon, bongo or compact congas with clave and bells attached which was interesting and whilst limiting was great to be able to carry such lightweight and catch the tube to gigs.

Welcome to this great forum Wrongero, where are you based?

Dice
BTW excellent handle

Hey groovemanlars!

I mainly play in a funk band. But I practice to alot of afro-cuban stuff. You need to find inspiration from wherever you can and hopefully it will translate into your playing as you play different styles. Here's my band http://www.youtube.com/user/thebackbone ... lru6qGlpZ0

Here's my personal channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/MrTconga#p/u/1/7zbDQ1-w73k

Enjoy.