RED HOT + CUBA FRI, NOV 30, 2012 BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
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RED HOT + CUBA FRI, NOV 30, 2012 BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Music Direction by Andres Levin and CuCu Diamantes Produced by BAM Co-Produced with Paul Heck/ The Red Hot Organization & Andres Levin/Music Has No Enemies Study Guide Written by Nicole Kempskie Red Hot + Cuba BAM PETER JAY SHARP BUILDING 30 LAFAYETTE AVE. BROOKLYN, NY 11217 Photo courtesy of the artist Table Of Contents Dear Educator Your Visit to BAM Welcome to the study guide for the live The BAM program includes: this study Page 3 The Music music performance of Red Hot + Cuba guide, a CD with music from the artists, that you and your students will be at- a pre-performance workshop in your Page 4 The Artists tending as part of BAM Education’s Live classroom led by a BAM teaching Page 6 The History Performance Series. Red Hot + Cuba is artist, and the performance on Friday, Page 8 Curriculum Connections an all-star tribute to the music of Cuba, November 30, 2012. birthplace of some of the world’s most infectious sounds—from son to rumba and mambo to timba. Showcasing Cuba’s How to Use this Guide diverse musical heritage as well as its modern incarnations, this performance This guide aims to provide useful informa- features an exceptional group of emerging tion to help you prepare your students for artists and established legends such as: their experience at BAM. It provides an Alexander Abreu, CuCu Diamantes, Kelvis overview of Cuban music history, cultural Ochoa, David Torrens, and Carlos Varela. influences, and styles. Included are activi- ties that can be used in your classroom BAM is proud to be collaborating with and a CD of music by the artists that you the Red Hot Organization (RHO)—an are encouraged to play for your class. De- international not-for-profit organization pending on your needs you may choose dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop to use the guide in its entirety or select culture. Founded in 1989 as a response sections that directly pertain to your class to the devastation wrought by AIDS on exploration. The overall goals of this guide a generation of New York artists and are: to connect to your curriculum with intellectuals, the Red Hot Organization standards-based information and activi- and over 400 artists, producers, and ties, to reinforce and encourage critical directors have contributed to over 16 thinking and analytical skills, and to pro- compilation albums, and related televi- vide you and your students with the tools sion programs and media events to raise and background information necessary donations totaling more than 10 million to have an engaging, educational, and dollars for HIV/AIDS relief and awareness inspiring experience at BAM. around the world. Introduction2 The Music Salsa In the 1970s, looking for a way to integrate and promote Latin music, STYLES OF CUBAN MUSIC Izzy Sanabria began using the word “salsa” to identify the infectious Cuban Son rhythms and sounds that were taking Son is by far the most popular and the city by storm. Since then it has influential musical style to come out of become a mainstream term for popular Cuba and the oldest national form. Son Latin dance music. means “sound” and as a style it incorpo- rates both Spanish and African influences Timba in its instrumentation, rhyme-scheme, Timba is the latest evolution of Cuban and the way it uses call and response. music. Since its emergence in the early Although son dates back to as early as 1990s timba has become the most popu- the 16th century, modern son first lar style of dance music in Cuba. It com- appeared in the eastern part of Cuba bines various types of Cuban music with in the late 19th century. hip-hop, rap, American funk, and R&B. The first style of son was the changüí, Listening: which was lively and syncopated and Teachers are encouraged to play the featured the tres, a type of guitar that enclosed CD containing music from originated in Cuba, bongos, the African many of the artists performing at marímbula (a thumb piano), maracas, BAM’s Red Hot + Cuba. and a metal scraper called a guayo. As the son developed and spread beyond Track 1. Havana, the African marímbula was No Me Importe (Pa Mi Gente), replaced with bass, guitar, and claves. Alexandar Abreu y Havana D’ Primera Rumba Track 2. Rumba is a unique blend of rhythm, Pasaporte, dance, and poetry. It begins with a Alexandar Abreu y Havana D’Primera soloist chanting a series of meaning- Track 3. less syllables called dianas, and as it Habaname, Carlos Varela progresses it is held together by a clave beat and Congolese drumming with Track 4. traditional call-and-response in either Por Ti Seré, David Torrens flamenco or Moorish styles. Cuban Track 5. rumba laid the foundation for many Ni De Aquí, Ni De Allá, David Torrens other distinct styles of Latin music, such as Latin hip-hop and salsa. Track 6. El Bufón y El Trágico, Mambo David Torrens Mambo can be traced back to the Euro- Track 7. pean-inspired Danzón, a music style of La Conga De Juana, Kelvis Ochoa the late 19th century created by Miguel Faílde Pérez, and the dance form—a style Track 8. of European social dance—that accom- Calabozo, Kelvis Ochoa panied it. The Danzón began with an Track 9. Introduction (four bars) and Paseo (four Ilusionada, Kelvis Ochoa bars), which were repeated and followed by a 16-bar melody. Mambo Danzón, the Track 10. form of popular mambo still played and Echale Limón, NG La Banda danced to today, was created by Orestes Track 11. López in 1938 by adding elements of big Amor Cronico, CuCu Diamantes band brass to the traditional Danzón. Chachachá The chachachá is a type of mambo that was created by the Cuban violinist En- rique Jorrín in the 1950s. Jorrín created the chachachá by moving the accent from the fourth eighth note—where it was nor- mally found in the mambo—to the first beat, thereby making it easier to dance to. Introduction3 THE ARTISTS Photo by Mark Seliger Photo Courtesy of the Artist Photo Courtesy of the Artist CUCU DIAMANTES ALEXANDER ABREU JOSE LUIS “EL TOSCO” CORTES Born of Spanish, African, Chinese, and French heritage, CuCu Diamantes For more than two decades, Alexander José Luis “El Tosco” Cortés is a flutist is a fascinating singer-songwriter and Abreu has nurtured a behind-the- and band leader from Cuba. He is one actress from Cuba. Together with scenes reputation as one of the most of the originators of the Cuban musical producer and guitarist Andres Levin, sought-after studio musicians in Cuba. style Timba, a popular dance music Diamantes co-founded the sizzling-hot Today, he has finally stepped into the genre developed in the early 90’s de- Latin fusion band, Yerba Buena, and spotlight as a bandleader on a mis- scribed in his own words as a “rhythmi- was directly responsible for garnering sion: to rescue Cuban dance music cally dense, relentlessly energetic music major recognition and popularity for and recapture the thrilling energy from played by highly skilled musicians for a the band, including a Grammy nomina- its modern heyday during the 1990s. demanding dance-floor audience, with tion, and special request performances Three years ago, Abreu pulled together lyrics that draw from and become part with artists such as Dave Matthews, an ensemble of seasoned musicians of the language of the streets.” He is a Ray Charles, Juanes, and Celia Cruz. who had played with some of the best founding member of the group NG After 8 years as Yerba Buena’s principal bands of that exciting era, a golden La Banda and an alumnus of Cuban vocalist and songwriter, Diamantes age of contemporary Cuban salsa and super groups Irakere and Los Van Van. released her first solo record, “CuCu- timba. Concerned about the decline of Land” in March 2009 to much antici- Afro-Cuban dance music on its own pation. Smart, sexy, and fierce, CuCu home turf, Abreu decided to pick up Diamantes’s music is an intoxicating the standard once carried around the mix of NYC downtown funk and old globe by the bands he had played school Cuban glamour and passion— with, such as Paulito FG y Su Elite a dynamite combination which drives and Isaac Delgado. audiences to dance with joyful aban- don. Diamantes’s talented band is comprised of a full range of horns, percussion, and guitar, giving a big, electric sound to her live performances. Background4 Photo by Pedro Avascal Photo Courtesy of the Artist Photo by Lauren Volo DAVID TORRENS KELVIS OCHOA ANDRES LEVIN From the same generation as Habana Kelvis Ochoa was born into a very Abierta, singer–songwriter David Tor- (Co-producer) Andres Levin is a musical family in the eastern part réns is famous for his passionate and Grammy-winning record producer, of Cuba. He was the first member of fiery performances. Based in Mexico, band leader, filmmaker, and philanthro- the group Habana Abierta to record a but spending a lot of time in Havana, pist. With Cuban-American Grammy- solo album, in collaboration with Alejo his work is so fusioned that many say nominated singer and filmmaker CuCu Stivel. He´s best known for expressing it’s almost impossible to classify. Diamantes, he founded the band Yerba every-day themes in his music, such Aficionados talk about the seamless Buena. Levin has produced and written as love, social contradiction, nostalgia, movement between pop, rock, and for music greats including Chaka Khan, and family.