by congastu » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:59 pm
hi yoni and abakua
to try and qualify what i was saying, anga was playing with cachaito on the first occassion, but the band and vibe was very similar to the later date. i think this is because of angas influence on the direction of the bassists debut album, and he was actually bandleader each time. Interestingly, cachaito was supporting afrocuban allstars on that date and it was amazing seeing both back to back- same roots but explored in such different ways!!
although a great musician for the allstars and also irakere, anga seemed like he was establishing his own voice and legacy with cachaito and in some ways, echu mingua is the sequel or realisation, like he was saying THIS IS ME, THIS IS HOW I SEE IT. All the little things like melodic trade offs between bass and congas, transposing a piano composition to the drums, integrating classical, west african, jazz, hiphop in a CUBAN style.
i think a lot of ideas took place or came to fruition between "cachaito" and "echu mingua" thus the looseness or perhaps more accurately freedom of expression, like someone who is totally at one with themself. In both 2001 and 2006 he had moments of playing hard, but there was a difference. As has been posted he was in peak physical condition around 2000, in 2006 he was at what unfortunately turned out to be a musical peak. Even up to his death, he was pushing the boundaries- the choice was to do it in a musical sense rather than developing rudimentary technique where he was already an incredible virtuoso. He said himself he didnt want to be a rival to hidalgo, i feel lucky to have seen both geniuses and dont see the competition between them- they exploded congas in completely different directions and its gutting that one of them left us prematurely. Its not just how he played but who he chose to play with and why that is really interesting, perhaps unique among famous congueros [as abakuas resume showed]
Abakua, you were one lucky ####### to get to jam with him!!!!!!! LOL