Oi Braulio, Los Papines, the Abreu brothers, right? Yes, I know of thier work. You know, this could become a very complicated thread, now! I must be very careful not to try to speak beyond my means but I will venture a little further out on the subject of Rumba. What is the worse that can happen? I will be corrected and then I will know more about a subject that is not so easy to learn about in the US.

So when I think of Rumba, I do think of it first in the folkloric sense. Groups such as Munequitos de Matanzas, Yoruba Andabo, and Afro-Cuba de Matanzas. And within this family of rumba there is yambu- slower, maybe for the older folks, guaguanco- maybe younger and sexier and columbia- faster, rhythms in 6/8, athletic even. And this music is for interacting with the orichas. I think I should stop there. I may have offended someone already!

Next I think about how a sacred music such as Rumba can influence a culture and wonder if something like guaguanco was popularized in more secular settings. For example, I am not a truly trained bata drummer but I can play different forms of guaguanco on the congas. Two congas or three congas, guaguanco matanzas style or guaguanco Habana style.

So, in my simple mind guaguanco in a traditional sense exists within the Rumba family. And, a different form of guaguanco may exist as a rhythm that you may here played within a modern line up such Maraca y otra Vision or in a group like Geraldo Piloto's, Klimax.

Ha ha... now for my own punch line... I read what I just wrote above and think what a typical American condition I have; the tendency to have to slap a label on everything, paint it into a corner like it can only be understood as how we define it here. It makes me think back to the days when I was studying with my friend Yorvanis from Habana- after too many questions from me he would get frustrated and say "Man, you think too much. Just play and dance. You'll understand more by the experience than by all your questions". Smart dude that Yorvanis!

I hope there is some truth to my understanding because I have worked hard to learn about these things. It's very hard to find people in the US that can appreciate the beauty and importance of these art forms. You folks in and around San Francisco are blessed with communites of people that know this. In my part of the country you have to learn from scraps.

So Braulio, I saw a challenge in your original post on this. I'm glad you posted what you did. It made me think a little harder, again. But I still say that when I hear "Cuban" music it makes me happy, gives me hope and makes me want to party.

Cheers!

when i hear son or timba, i feel this deep peace, yet like dancing. Ecstatic. I listen to adalberto alvarez as i write this and god, it's gonna be hard to stay home and do homework tonite rather than go out and dance. Maybe just for a little while...

It makes me feel in love with the world.