by Martin Karakas - April 6, 2005

No en mi estadio

It’s playoff time in Cuba and everyone is baseball crazy. As with almost everything in Cuba, music goes hand in hand with baseball. The stadiums are full of drum and trumpet playing fans; on Cuban television there are no commercials, so during televised baseball games, in between innings, Timba music is played while the screen shows the players warming up on the baseball field.

After an incident at Industriales’ home stadium in Havana, El Latino-Americano, when fans started chanting bad words at the other team, a No en mi estadio (Not in My Stadium) campaign was started with El Tosco (José Luis Cortés) of all people at the helm. He has composed a very funny Timba song for the campaign, the female coroists singing: “Pa’ que te montaste, tu sabía lo que había,”with el Tosco providing the guías, “lo que había era disciplina y el espíritu deportivo.” Man I love the way el Tosco uses his female singers singing coros, using a sort of high pitched, raw, girls from the barrio style— very appealing. José Luis Cortés has been on the radio daily promoting the campaign and talking to listeners.

NG is still regularly putting out songs, with Tony Calá still singing leads, but they are no longer on the cutting edge. Nonetheless, given NG’s majestic past, one expects that at any moment NG will release some more groundbreaking hits. The last few years of NG have been full of pop music experiments, with a few notable exceptions like last year's scorching Timba piece El abuso. Given this stroll down pop music row, it is funny remembering El Tosco complaining about all the public concerts NG had to play, saying it was like being in a prison of popular music. Well, he seems to be the architect of those prison walls nowadays. The last time I saw him, January 1, celebrating the anniversary of the Revolution, on the Malecón, he had added a new young singer who sang Usher covers; previously, he was doing a number of pop ballads by Celine Dionne and the like. In addition to the No en mi estadio song, El Tosco has made up a few other funny baseball songs, supporting his team Villa Clara, where he was going to play a free concert if Villa Clara makes it pass the first round.

Mientras que el pueblo le quiera, hay Tosco pa’rato

Did anybody take note of last year’s El abuso? I am not exaggerating when I say it equals almost anything that NG has done, with all the classic elements of a NG song, plus the new great coro sound El Tosco gets from his 3 female singers. The song starts with a great forward moving piano montuno, with percussion from the batá sounding thump of the kick drum, the clave sticks, guiro and sparse snare. Then the female coros come in with “déjate del abuso, lo mío es nuevo, lo mío no tiene uso;” add the bass and the rest of the percussion, a classic sounding metales del terror riff, that gives way to Calá’s estribio and a very fast and interesting cuerpo. At 1:49, a great minusing of sound after the signal bloque performed largely by the metales, leaving the piano tumbao and the bass playing super fat bomba, with occasional cowbells and snares. Next, with the a shout from Calá “Oye pa’lante,” a wicked drum fill and a sounding of the trumpets and were back into the delicious coros, with Calá singing his emblematic guías.

Of course the song doesn’t leave out a rap by El Tosco, “oyé tu sabes que soy batanga, batanga, batanga…,” where he goes on about all his hit rhythms and songs, and about luchando in general. The song has a lot of double entendres of the usual themes, abusive relationships and luchando for money. El Tosco goes on about his struggle to make money with his music to support his family; he quotes the greatly loved Cuban entertainer Juana Bacallao, “mientras que el pueblo me quiera, hay Tosco pa’rato [as long as the public loves me, there will be Tosco for a long time].”

He goes on describing his career, “para pegar hay que mantenerse luchando y trabajando, reacuérdate, mira…[to make hit songs you have to keep struggling and working, let me remind you…],” and sings a long list of quotes from NG’s most popular songs. And a relevant reminder it is, at least to Cubans. He ends the list stating “and now I’m fighting with the rakarakachanga-discoteca(?).

Then there is a short bomba section with fantastic opera singing from the female vocalists that quickly bring the song to a feverous pitch with the next ripping coro from the girls, leading to more great Calá guías. Fit in some more hot coros, and El Tosco ending the song singing “aguanta el pueblo, estoy luchando todavía, ahh el negro está loco, a-ha oye no es un problema personal, solamente en la vida lo que tienes es que luchar, luchar y luchar y luchar [hold on Cuba, I’m still in the fight, ahh the black guy is crazy, a-ha look its not a personal problem, it’s just that in life you have to struggle, struggle and struggle and struggle].”

This song is a classic, Calá sounds totally in form, the metales de terror let loose some great riffs, great tumbaos from ex-Kini Kini and Isaac Delgado pianist Ernesto Prida, and lots of examples of El Tosco’s greatest new element to La Banda, the dynamic female coros.

Anniversary celebrations

NG will be celebrating their 17th anniversary Wednesday April 6 at the Tropical. NG’s anniversaries at the Tropical are not something to miss; this year’s being no exception. Listen to this lineup, estelar for sure!: Yumurí y sus hermanos, Clave y Guaguancó, Anacaona, Tumbaó Habana, Eddy K, Chispa y sus Complices, Bamboleo, Los Van Van, La Charanga Habanera and, of course, NG. All in the beautiful music sanctuary of La Tropical! So many bands on one stage; this will be an all night affair.

Azúcar Negro is also celebrating an anniversary, their 6th, with activities planned for an end of the month concert on the Malecón. Bamboleo is celebrating their anniversary with a concert at the National theatre next weekend, April 9th, with a whole pile of invitees.

This weekend’s 44th anniversary of the Organización de Pioneros José Martí (Jose Marti Pioneers) and the 44th anniversary of the Unión de Joven Comunistas (Young Comunists League) were suspended due the death of Pope John Paul II.

The several free concerts and activities planned around the city have been postponed to the weekend of April 8. The free concerts will take place Saturday the 9th as follows.

Ángel Bonne –who’s new album Por favor eschúchame, on first listen sounds ok if you enjoy Ángel’s nasally and throaty singing style; very rumbero sounding— will be playing in Marianao (124 and 45).

Minibanda and Ataché Habana are playing in Doble Vía, Los Ángeles de la Habana in La Vereda in La Lisa, Tumbao Habana and Explosión Latina in the Anfiteatro de Guanabacoa. In Alamar in the Plaza Africana –a nice laidback venue to take in music— are Azúcar Negra and Andy Cola y Colé Colé.

Baculeyé and Reyes 73 are in the Liceo in Regla, Hayla, Sol de Cuba, Yumurí y sus Herrmanos and Elito Revé y su Charangón all in the Plaza Roja in 10 de Octubre. Rounding out the concerts are Bamboleo, Tamayito y su Salsa and Oro Mixto in the Estadio Latinoamericano where the 2005 Serie Nacional Baseball playoffs will take place between Santiago de Cuba and Havana starting April 1.

The best line-up may be Klimax alongside Nelson Manuel y la Corte in the Reparto Electrico in Arroyo Naranja. Nelson Manuel’s new group sounds hot with some great female coro singers and a blazing new single out, this is a group to watch out for. Nelson Manuel has a very classic Havana sounding Timba, with a calm relaxed and unpretentious voice.

La Tropical: NG’s 17th anniversary bash

Official mourning for the death of Pope John Paul II ended just in time to celebrate the 17th anniversary of NG la Banda. The event was announced to start at 5pm, but this was probably a tactic aimed at trying to get concertgoers to arrive sometime before midnight.

The first group, Yoruba Andabo, came onstage at 9pm sharp, with a Tropical not even a third full. Expectations, amongst the planners where obviously much greater for this concert than for the last concert I saw at the Tropical. The whole stage area is partitioned off, no strolling on stage from the dance floor; there are at least 40 police, maybe more, draft beer and food stands all over the place and mobile 400 gallon aluminum water tanks on two wheel trailers, the Tropical is expecting a big crowd. In addition, the upstairs mezzanine (the third level) is back to being partitioned-off, either for dollar paying tourists or maybe musicians and guests.

A new change that must have been undertaken under the recent renovations, but which I had failed to notice before, was the replacement of the sound control room. Near the back of the first floor of the Tropical, there used to be a little shantytown-like tin roofed shack that housed the soundboard etc.; it has been replaced by a larger, glass-enclosed room.

Another regrettable change, that I had noticed, was a change in MC’s. For decades, the Tropical had the same charismatic MC welcoming people to the “salón más musical y más tropical del caribe,” and informing them of upcoming concerts at the Tropical.

“Caminando fui lo que fui”

Yoruba Andabo, one of the better known (and recorded) rumba groups in Havana took to the stage with a large group of 12, at times more, musicians: a half dozen percussionists singing, and a half dozen singers playing percussion.

Rumba is the ideal opening music for any Timba concert, as Timba’s rhythms are largely based on this venerable African musical tradition. After hundreds of years of existence -over 400 in a far off land- and thousands of kilometers traveled across the Atlantic, Rumba remains as vital and relevant as ever. Rumba is still very much played throughout the neighborhoods of Havana, with professional and handmade percussion instruments or with any receptacle, spoon, or other solid object.

Yoruba Andabo played a very tight set, showing Rumba’s adaptation to the Revolution era with covers of Silvio Rodriguez and later to the Reguetón era with a cover of Don Omar’s Pobre Diabla.

Si tu no me abres

Next on stage, shortly before 10pm, was Tumba’o Habana. Tumba’o Habana has a pretty good, classic, Charanga-style Timba song on the radio for over 6 months now, “Amanezca.” They started their set off with a long, funky keyboard entrance, long live all the great influences that Earth, Wind and Fire and other 70’s funk bands had on Cuban music -can you imagine what we’d be listening to now if P-Funk (Parliament/Funkadelic) had reached Havana?

Along with the funky keys, their first sound is heavily trombone laden and sounds good. After their funky intro, Tumba’o Habana break into their hit single, Amanezca, “Si no me abres la puerta, amanezco en el medio de la calle.”

Still sitting on the concrete bench that wraps around the back of the second level, the sound at the Tropical is phenomenal. The speakers located close to 100 metres away from me, in front of the stage are obviously very new. Tumba’o Habana play a very good, clean set, with good sounding coros, at least 2 of their 4 songs are good, here’s to getting to the next tier!

With all the bands scheduled to play, the sets are limited to about 4 songs each, with at least 20 minute intervals to change instruments. Shortly before 11pm, Clavé y Guaguancó come on stage with another scorching Rumba set. This is another one of the principal Rumba bands playing in Havana. Their set is more traditional than Yoruba Anadabo tonigh,t although they are known for doing some experimentation and cross over stuff for radio, as well as collaborating with several jazz and Timba groups such as Maraca and Anais Abreu.

Tamayito y su Salsa AM are up next; as the constant stream of people flowing into the Tropical for the last hour or so starts to have its effect filling the place up. In my comfortable perch in the second level, the classic sonero style of Tamayito arrives. Tamayito has a great voice and a pretty tight band that tends to play Salsa with little or no Timba.

Unable to tell whether it is the lush green tropical trees, the clear sky, warm air, streams of beautiful women, the rivers of rum, in short, the simply oasis-like atmosphere the Tropical always offers, or simply the great caliber of music in Cuba, but every group is sounding great. Just to make sure, I decide to get a closer look at the bands from the lower level.

Caminando pa' la Tropical

Next up is Bamboleo. Their latest single has me steaming for a number of reasons. First off, it has no Timba, or even Salsa, elements; it is 100% aimed at the Latin-American pop charts. This in itself doesn’t bother me; Bamboleo recently released another Latin-pop-charts-bound song, Mi negra tiene boom boom, of which I have no complaints –smooth catchy song with good vocals from Alain and good coros from the girls. I reiterate, I am all for pop music, but in Bamboleo case, it has been a long time since a good Timba pop song, El Chisme is the last I recall. This latest song from Bamboleo is one of most tasteless, uninspired songs I’ve heard in a long time. I haven’t heard it on Cuban radio the last few weeks, so let’s hope it has been pulled. The song is based on a Mexican Ranchero type of sound, with a plodding base line and lyrics that go a long way beyond stupid. The good news may be that the rapping in English is so bad –maybe the worst ever— it may signal the decadence and end of the compulsory rap in modern pop music.

Now that I’ve gotten that of my chest, I’ll say that I wasn’t expecting a lot from Bamboleo. During the last few years, when Bamboleo is played on the radio it’s usually hits from the last century. Nonetheless, Bamboleo is still a much loved band in Cuba and when they took the stage everybody in the Tropical lit up. What ensued was the hottest set of the night, Bamboleo was amazing!

Bamboleo started with a blazing opening, moving into some of their hits, Ya No Hace Falta. Liena, the lead female vocalist, was obviously having a great time playing at the Tropical as she lives and breathes reparterismo. Not to be left behind by some of the bad boys of Timba, she went on for a while about how much she loves black men,especially in bed, singing about how they must, “Tiene lo que tiene que tener (they must have what they have to have).”

The way Bamboleo is able to keep a steady flow of great, strong female vocalist is truly a testament to the richness of great female singers Cuba has. Liena sang Olga Tañon’s Cuando tú no estás, showing of her vocal prowess. The most interesting song was a long instrumental interlude that was so funky and 80’s inspired. This song just ripped, sounding totally retro, like a funky latin version of an 80’s talk show theme song or an 80’s show like Miami Vice theme song.

Bamboleo are also celebrating their 10 Anniversary this weekend with a free outdoor concert on Saturday and a gala show at the National Theater on Sunday. I’ll leave a more thorough review of Bamboleo when I cover their weekend concerts.

Nothing new from La Charanga

Next up, Charanga Habanera. Recently, the Charanga Habanera have been opening shows with Soy cubano, soy popular. Tonight they do the same. The song is deliciously tight, it sounds just like the recorded version; nonetheless I wish the Charanga would extend the song a bit more live. Damelo was next up from the Charanga’s first full foray away from Timba into latin pop. I thought for sure the Charanga were going to drop at least one new song from what is suppose to be a spring new album, reportedly a return to timba –to no avail. Charanga closed a very tight set with Hay Amores.

At these big shows in the Tropical, group sets are reduced to an average of 4 songs, and bands tend to play very high quality tight sets, tonight was no exception.

By midnight the Tropical is jammed pack, there is even a handful of foreigners. The draft beer hasn’t run out, nor the rum, and police have taken up their traditional stance, aligning one side of the spiral staircase that runs from the second level down to the ground level.

El Payaso

NG hits the stage with La Expresiva, and the Tropical is abuzz, everyone dancing and singing, this is what it’s all about. El Tosco, is dressed in orange with one of those orange traffic vests with the yellow stripe diagonally crossing the back –a sure sign that he’s going to lay the clown tonight.

After La Expresiva, El Tosco breaks into an a cappella rap of La Bruja. This is one of the songs I like to quote when arguing with Cubans in defense of NG La Banda. I have never been able to understand why there isn’t more support for NG in Cuba. At first I thought it was because Cubans had felt betrayed when El Tosco started experimenting too much with Jazz and Pop or because of the inability of NG in the later half of the 90’s to come up with monster hits like they had in the late 80’s and early 90’s. But it seems to go beyond that; most of the people I have talked with feel that even in their heyday, NG never was a topclass dance band like Los VanVan, La Charanaga Habanera, el Medico, or Paulito; that Tony Calá is an average singer; that the lyrics are vulgar and uninteresting. I’ve heard it all and seen the open mouths after having answered that I like NG more than Van Van. Uninteresting lyrics?!; here are some of the lyrics to La Bruja, which like many great works of art describes a certain place and a certain moment in history, better than any history book. Havana in full Special Period.

La Bruja

Salgo de mi casa aburrido, irritado
a buscar tu silueta desesperado
me encuentro a mí mismo,sólo y cansado
la vida es un circo todos somos payasos
todo me da asco y eso me pasa, porque faltas tú.
Tú te crees la mejor, tú te crees una artista
Porque vas en turistaxi por Buenavista
Buscando lo imposible
Porque a ti te falto yo también.
No arriesgues tu amor por diversiones baratas
El precio del espíritu, no se subasta
Por eso te comparo yo, con una bruja

Coro: tú lo que eres una bruja,
Una bruja sin sentimientos, tú eres una bruja.

This is a love song, but more importantly it is a song about how hard, depressing and spiritually corrupting the Special Period was. The writer writes about being bored and irritated, lonely and tired, everything disgusts him, life is a circus and we’re all clowns; his woman has left him to look for money in prostitution.

Back to the concert, El Tosco is on stage, rapping the full lyrics to La Bruja with no musical accompaniment then suddenly equates la bruja from his song with Don Omar’s pobre diabla, and the music starts up and were listening to the second cover of the night of Don Omar’s Pobre Diabla. But this is not a Salsa version of Pobre Diabla, it is as true to the reguetón song as possible, with three young singers on stage to do the vocals. The song switches back to El Tosco rapping La Bruja and back to Don Omar. Yes, El Payaso is up to his old tricks of reproducing pop music. Next up is Usher and Lil John covers, again not version, but covers as true to the original as possible. Everybody at the Tropical who was ready to dance with the classic sounds of NG is standing, arms folded, looking around or back to talking among each other.

During the pop set, references to David Blanco’s Pachanga and Paulo’s Fiesta y pachanga are made as if poking fun at their bublegumness. José Luis Cortés is reminding me of the comedian Andy Kaufman, on stage making jokes that are incredibly hilarious to him, but to no one else. Well, I found Kaufman quite funny and in the crowd with my friends wondering why I am laughing.

Recalling José Luis Cortés’ quote about all the commitments he has to fulfill by playing community concerts makes him feel like he is trapped in a popular music prison, I can’t help but think that this is some big joke on El Tosco’s part. As if he were saying, ok, you want pop, I’ll give it to you, here it is unadulterated. But this is HIS anniversary concert?

As I’m trying to understand it all, the band strikes up with Santa Palabra –let me tell you the metales de terror are still terrorizing people, boy they sound good— and the Tropical is back to being happy, dancing away while La Banda baptizes them. The song ends too quickly, going into Tú Maletín. Despite the fact that Tony Calá’s voice is off, breaking a few times, and that El Tosco is talking more, between and during songs, than Cuban President Fidel Castro during his weekly broadcasts, the crowd is delighted. Unfortunately, apparent sound problems lead to the premature ending of NG’s set.

If NG’s set was disappointing -and it was-, no worries, “the musical train,” Los Van Van, is due into the station next. By the time Los Van Van come on stage, it is while into the morning, somewhere around 4am. After hours on my feet, I have to sit down. During the first song of the set, from their new album, Jenny is complaining that no one is dancing, while Mayito is going on about how everyone must be loving the fact that Van Van is playing at the Tropical.

Van Van play four tight songs, but I am going to wait to give a full report on Van Van at the Tropical when they play their first full concert in years at the Tropical Sunday, April 17.

Just after 5 AM, the great night ends, with just two days to wait till all the free weekend concerts.