Bembe is kind of the mother lode of hypnotic, trance-inducing rhythms. It embodies that polyrhythmic "is it in 2 or 3?" thing that draws you in with its ambiguity.
I have a long list of retirement projects that I hope to get to before I peg out. One of them is working through a short book of exercises based on the bembe bell pattern by Boston area drummer Jerry Leake, who has made a kind of one-man cottage industry of teaching people to work and play with multi-layered rhythms.
The pagan feminist author and teacher Miriam Simos (aka Starhawk) has said that magic is the "art of changing consciousness at will". I've found music to be one of the available vehicles for that.
2025-10-25 01:47:47
Thanks for putting this up, LJ! And thanks for adding the cubanet link, it's great reading.
We were supposed to go hear these fine folks this evening, but their visas were denied or cancelled.
As an aside, this is why we can't have nice things, episode 1,832,782. :(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN_iMIvPHLc
These folks are not at all traditional, more of a Cuban chamber music ensemble, if you will. But rumba is in almost everything Cuban, one way or another. Certainly everything that isn't purely or primarily European in origin. Espirales (the folks in the video) seem to bring an interesting blend of Euro and trad.
I think a way to think about rumba in Cuba is to compare it to blues in the US. Originally a folkloric style rising out of the people of the African diaspora, but working its way into every nook and cranny of American popular and traditional musics.
It is the demotic musical language of Cuba.
Good weekend to you all, and no worries if the videos make you dance around the room a bit. :)
OK, now I gotta check Opeth!
Bembe is kind of the mother lode of hypnotic, trance-inducing rhythms. It embodies that polyrhythmic "is it in 2 or 3?" thing that draws you in with its ambiguity.
I have a long list of retirement projects that I hope to get to before I peg out. One of them is working through a short book of exercises based on the bembe bell pattern by Boston area drummer Jerry Leake, who has made a kind of one-man cottage industry of teaching people to work and play with multi-layered rhythms.
Here's Jerry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G0qZsW481g
The pagan feminist author and teacher Miriam Simos (aka Starhawk) has said that magic is the "art of changing consciousness at will". I've found music to be one of the available vehicles for that.
Thanks for putting this up, LJ! And thanks for adding the cubanet link, it's great reading.
We were supposed to go hear these fine folks this evening, but their visas were denied or cancelled.
As an aside, this is why we can't have nice things, episode 1,832,782. :(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN_iMIvPHLc
These folks are not at all traditional, more of a Cuban chamber music ensemble, if you will. But rumba is in almost everything Cuban, one way or another. Certainly everything that isn't purely or primarily European in origin. Espirales (the folks in the video) seem to bring an interesting blend of Euro and trad.
I think a way to think about rumba in Cuba is to compare it to blues in the US. Originally a folkloric style rising out of the people of the African diaspora, but working its way into every nook and cranny of American popular and traditional musics.
It is the demotic musical language of Cuba.
Good weekend to you all, and no worries if the videos make you dance around the room a bit. :)