Me pasé de copas

Manolín works the crowd into a frenzy with El puente and you can feel their anticipation as it ends with the same a capella coro that began Disc 1. He times the entrance of the next song perfectly. [audio example 28] Me pasé de copas is almost too good to be true. It starts with one of Timba's sweetest piano tumbaos, a passage that I couldn't stop listening to as I drove around Northern California in a daze after my first trip to Cuba. After hearing the live version, however, the original intro seems surprisingly tame. Aside from the obvious tempo difference, the Chaka monster, now on synth, is pounding out a riveting new contratumbao on teclado which is perfectly balanced by Barroso's guitar on the other side of the mix.

Another major improvement is that the studio version's salsa-esque horn intro is removed and replaced with a stroke of arranging genius. When I first heard it, the clever adaptation of material from later in the song sounded so natural that I didn't realize the arrangement had changed and I attributed the greatly enhanced thrill factor to the increased tempo. It wasn't until I'd listened a few more times that Dr. Bu's mecánica began to dawn on me. First of all, listen to the mambo itself, which receives a fuller treatment later in the song. It repeats a simple, clavified blues phrase 4 times, changing the underlying harmonies each time, with Reinier's snare hitting the backbeat, but of course, only on the 2-side of the clave. Then, as the horns answer the repeated motif with a tag phrase, the coro comes out of the blue and leapfrogs their entrance. The horns reply with a single punch on the backbeat of the 2-side which is simultaneously the perfect answer for the coro and the perfect setup for the horns to begin again. When they do, a slow descending countermelody in the synth adds a new layer of emotion. On the second repeat, the last phrase of the horns is omitted and the coro line, y qué le voy a hacer si ayer, is replaced by the beginning of Manolín's cuerpo, y qué le voy a hacer.[audio example 28b]. Incredible arranging. This idea of inserting later mambos and coros into the intro is common in Timba, but in this case they're altered in a clever and effective way to fit their new role. Most important is the improved flow. If you compare this to the studio version, the entrance of the cuerpo seems much more natural and satisfying.

The next excerpt features another brilliant Luis Bu mambo which sets multiple horn figures off against countermelodies in the rhythm section and coro. [audio example 29] The bloque at the end of the mambo is also a nice example of the huge influence of the Arce brothers (Los Pututi) on Manolín's arrangements, and on Timba in general. Alexis and Angel were Manolín's drummer and timbalero on all four studio records and at least half of the bloques on this record were invented during their tenure with the band. An endlessly fascinating aspect of "El puente" is the opportunity to compare the percussion on the studio CD's to Reinier & Tomasito's live versions.

Angel and Alexis Arce stayed in Miami on Manolín's first tour in '98 and Reinier entered when the rest of the band returned to Cuba. Finding Reinier after losing Los Pututi was an incredible stroke of luck for Manolín, and those residents of Miami who have heard this band with both Reinier and Angel Arce can consider themselves equally lucky. As far as I know, not even a bootleg tape exists from the handful of live shows which featured both of these prodigies. If anyone out there has one, you know my email address!

Like El que esté que tumbe before it and Pegaíto, pegaíto after it, Me pasé de copas gets a new coro and mambo. The mambo, [audio example 30], borrowed from a couple of English-speaking gentlemen named Dizzy & Bird, [audio example 31], fares better than the coro, which, like almost all attempts at using English in Timba (and most definitely Salsa), loses something in the translation. There are a few cases where a wee bit of the old English has produced a pleasant result (El solar de la California, Hey You, Loca), but Manolín's "ahm cohhhming frohhhm Habana, y traigo música, música cubana, my browwwther, my freeeeehnd" is not one of them -- although it's better than Paulito's "I seeeeey, I lowwwwwf yuuuuu beybeeee" from the otherwise solid Dejaría todo. But Manolín would have had to recite the entire Webster's Collegiate Dictionary to derail the groove of Me pasé de copas with its hilarious lyrics and unstoppable succession of mambos, bloques and coros. The English interlude notwithstanding, the energy is still raging as the inevitable climax of La bola is delayed for another nine breathtaking minutes by Pegaíto, pegaíto.