Nosotros, La Musica (1964)

This feature legnth film offers a survey of Cuban music. Conga footage at 38:50. Group is not credited in film, but is probably La Conga de Los Hoyos. Sound is heavily edited but seems to have mostly been recorded at time of filming. Includes two corneta chinas and coro/lead vocal at end.

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Rogelio Paris' 1964 film Nosotros, La Musica (literally, “We, the music”) contains a three minute clip of conga that appears to be in its typical context: a joyous parade in Santiago, possibly during summer carnival season. This clip, despite its flaws, includes sound and imagery that are somewhat representative of a "typical" conga procession.

It seems that some of the audio was recorded simultaneously with the film shoot. The music is in sync with the footage until an abrupt audio edit takes place, shifting the rhythm from conga to a rumba-ish groove and back, with the corneta china providing some continuity. Unlike most of the named performers in this film, the ensemble is rendered anonymous; it is generically described in one VHS edition’s credits as “Conga santiaguera.” This is one of many examples of the anonymity in which conga ensembles and their members have often resided, especially when viewed from Havana or anywhere outside their immediate community. In an interview, Humberto Hernandez, the film's producer, alludes to this scene's staging and mentions “Comparsa del Cocuyé ” from Los Hoyos, leaving little doubt that this was La Conga de Los Hoyos (Castillo 2018,19).

The clip’s essential rhythmic elements are, to my ear, quite similar to those present in today’s conga. But it does include two corneta chinas playing in harmony, a practice that is uncommon in more recent conga performances. In addition, we hear a brief example of a “microensemble” that sometimes forms within a conga procession: a lead singer accompanied by a chorus. This fairly common practice is rarely captured by microphones due to the much higher volume of the percussion and corneta. The refrain, “aé un solo golpe na’ ma” (“Just one stroke/hit”) is alive and well in today’s conga; its possible meanings include references to the campana de un solo golpe (“one stroke bell”) or the conga’s signature tambora (bass drum) accent (see Millet et al. 1997, 275).