ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: AFRO-CUBAN BATÁ DRUM AESTHETICS: DEVELOPING INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP TECHNIQUE, SOUND, AND IDENTITY Kenneth George Schweitzer, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2003 Dissertation directed by: Professor Robert C. Provine School of Music The Lucumí religion (also Santería and Regla de Ocha) developed in 19th- century colonial Cuba, by syncretizing elements of Catholicism with the Yoruba worship of orisha. When fully initiated, santeros (priests) actively participate in religious ceremonies by periodically being possessed or “mounted” by a patron saint or orisha, usually within the context of a drumming ritual, known as a toque de santo, bembé, or tambor. Within these rituals, there is a clearly defined goal of trance possession, though its manifestation is not the sole measure of success or failure. Rather than focusing on the fleeting, exciting moments that immediately precede the arrival of an orisha in the form of a possession trance, this thesis investigates the entire four- to six-hour musical performance that is central to the ceremony. It examines the brief pauses, the moments of reduced intensity, the slow but deliberate build-ups of energy and excitement, and even the periods when novices are invited to perform the sacred batá drums, and places these moments on an equal footing with the more dynamic periods where possession is imminent or in progress. This document approaches Lucumí ritual from the viewpoint of batá drummers, ritual specialists who, during the course of a toque de santo, exercise wide latitude in determining the shape of the event. Known as omo Aña (children of the orisha Aña who is manifest in drums and rhythms), batá drummers comprise a fraternity that is accessible only through ritual initiation. Though they are sensitive to the desires of the many participants during a toque de santo, and indeed make their living by satisfying the expectations of their hosts, many of the drummers’ activities are inwardly focused on the cultivation and preservation of this fraternity. Occasionally interfering with spirit possession, and other expectations of the participants, these aberrant activities include teaching and learning, developing group identity or signature sound, and achieving a state of intimacy among the musicians known as “communitas.” AFRO-CUBAN BATÁ DRUM AESTHETICS: DEVELOPING INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP TECHNIQUE, SOUND, AND IDENTITY by Kenneth George Schweitzer Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts 2003 Advisory Committee: Professor Robert C. Provine, Chair Mr. F. Anthony Ames Professor Jósef Pacholczyk Professor Juan Carlos Quintero-Herencia Mr. John Tafoya ©Copyright by Kenneth George Schweitzer 2003 To Francisco “Pancho Quinto” Mora ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many, many wonderful people who have supported and guided me through this project. I express my deepest gratitude to my family, teachers, colleagues, and friends for their words of encouragement, unquestioning faith in my abilities, and patience through what seemed like an endless endeavor. To this, I add a few specific thanks. I would like to thank all my batá teachers, especially Pancho Quinto, my padrino, for teaching me to play batá from my heart; Steve Bloom for nine years of unfailing support, and for paving my road with countless introductions both in the United States and Cuba; David Font, for keeping my conclusions and writing true to the Santería faith and for freely sharing his thoughts; and Pedrito Martinez, my first Cuban teacher, for hours of selfless instruction. Thanks also to Alberto Villareal, Angel Bolaños, Ezequiel Torres, Juan “El Negro” Raymat, Jesus “Cusito” Lorenzo, Rubén Bulnes and Michael Spiro. I would also like to thank the many other batá drummers I met along my path, some of whom I only got to know through correspondence, including Orlando Fiol, Elizabeth Sayre, Chris “El Flaco” Walker, Thomas Altmann, and Adrian Coburg. Thanks to all the families in Cuba that welcomed me into their homes and treated me like their own, especially Ernesto “El Gato” Gatell, Lourdes Tamayo, and their families. Thanks to all the orisha, especially iii Elegúa for opening my paths, Changó the owner of the batá, and Aña the voice of the batá. Thanks to the Washington DC Santería community, especially Michael Mason, Mark Corrales and Ekendra Das; everyone associated with Havana Select and the Latin American Folk Institute (LAFI) for fostering community awareness of Afro- Cuban arts, and providing venues where musicians and dancers can collaborate; and everyone who supported my work by editing, translating, transcribing, and providing me with video footage and still photography, including Linette Tobin, Raphael Monteagudo, Paula Marca, and Kevin “Buck” McRae. Thanks also to my fellow graduate students, Jonathan McCollum, Joanna Pecore, Natalie Sarrazin and Victor Vicente, for taking time out of their own taxing schedules to attend toques de santo with me, question my conclusions, offer fresh insights, and patiently listen to me say the same things over and over as I tried to coalesce my scattered thoughts. Thanks to the faculty and staff at the University of Maryland for guiding me through this entire process, especially my advisor Robert Provine whose interest and faith in my work were inspiring, and whose attention to detail was irreplaceable. Special thanks to my committee Jósef Pacholczyk, Frank Ames, John Tafoya, and Juan Carlos Quintero-Herencia for their guidance and patience; to Carolina Robertson and Marcia Herndon for providing me with the foundation for understanding the world through music; and to Ronald Barnett for giving me the freedom to explore hand percussion in addition to my classical percussion education. My final and deepest thanks are extended to my family: Mom and Dad, Margaret and Joe, my sisters and brothers, Granma (both for your edits and for iv keeping me on the prayer list for all these years), and especially Bonnie, my wife. As my toughest critic and closest advisor, I would not have been able to write a dissertation I could be proud of without you. It seems unfair not put your name on the cover, alongside my own. I hope you know in your heart that, in every way, I consider this final product as much yours as it is mine. Thank you, Bonnie, for all the sacrifices you made during the last nine years. v CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. xiv CONVENTIONS ..................................................................................................... xv INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 1 Outline ................................................................................................................... 6 Ethnomusicological Studies of Lucumí Music...................................................... 10 Percussion Performance in the University and Conservatory ................................ 13 The Batá in Contemporary Cuba and North America............................................ 15 Personal Experience and Fieldwork...................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 1. THE LUCUMÍ RELIGION AND ITS MUSIC.................................. 25 The Lucumí Religion: Santería or Regla de Ocha ................................................. 25 Music’s Role in Lucumí Ritual............................................................................. 27 Contexts for Performance: Secular vs. Sacred....................................................... 28 Sacred Context: The Structure of a Toque de Santo .............................................. 30 Meeting the Musicians: An Interview with Angel Bolaños ................................... 33 Conclusions.......................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 2. STRUCTURE AND FORM IN BATÁ MUSIC ................................ 44 Pitch and Timbre.................................................................................................. 45 Rhythm ................................................................................................................ 47 Form and Structure............................................................................................... 49 Conclusions.......................................................................................................... 54 CHAPTER 3. IMITATIVE FEATURES OF THE BATÁ REPERTOIRE ............... 56 A Traditional View: The Oro Igbodú and Toques Especiales................................ 57 The Oro Igbodú 59 Toques Especiales 60 Dividing the Repertoire between Oro Igbodú and Toques Especiales 61 Imitative Features Create A Fluid Continuum....................................................... 62 Linguistic Attributes............................................................................................. 63 Yoruba Language and the Yoruba Batá 64 vi Lucumí Language and the Cuban Batá 65 Direct Speech Form 66 Musical Speech Form 67 Song Form 70 Summary 72 Musical Metaphors............................................................................................... 72 Metaphors become Iconicity................................................................................