Notes
Chapter 5. Conga Paso Franco: Heirs to El Tivolí
Introduction
Conga Paso Franco's institutional identity hinges on its status as the direct successor to La Conga del Tivolí, the group which many believe to be Santiago's first conga; Paso Franco and Los Hoyos continually dispute this claim. As mentioned above, Paso Franco and El Tivolí competed against each other in the 1938 carnival before the latter disbanded, a fact that complicates the origin story equating the two groups. When the new group was founded, it was more than a simple name change. They moved to a nearby neighborhood and changed their musical style, adapting Los Hoyos' conga-pilon as their main groove while occasionally playing conga-columbia as a sonic tribute to El Tivolí.
Within a few years, Paso Franco, whose leadership included the revered Eladio “Tatica” Pérez, began to declare its connection to El Tivolí with comparsa titles such as La coronacion del Tivolí (The Crowning of El Tivolí) in 1949 and El origen del Tivolí/Oriundo del Tivolí (The Origin of/Native of El Tivolí) in 1950.[1] Tatica, who directed Paso Franco until his death in 1991, thus played an important role in building the group's identity as the direct successor to El Tivolí.
Memory on display: Commemorating 1911
As discussed in Chapter 3, the founding year of La Conga del Tivoli may have been 1909, 1911, or 1913. Which date is correct? We can easily equivocate by saying that this group was founded between 1909 and 1913 and that the exact date is unknowable. But to insiders, the stakes are higher. A specific founding date is easier to disseminate and allows for commemoration: “Founded in the early 20th century” is not a very catchy phrase for a banner or a social media post. The leadership of Paso Franco has settled on 1911; this year is cited by the current director, Rubildo Hylton Hardy, and it is disseminated in media accounts, parade banners and the group's pilón (the biggest and most visible drum). See Figure 5.1.
Figure 5.1. Carnival Banner, Conga Paso Franco. Photo by Andres Cobas Martens.
Paso Franco's connection to La Conga del Tivolí is sometimes reiterated until the distinction between the two groups blurs and their founding dates merge, giving Paso Franco greater longevity. In 2021, the group's 110th anniversary was publicized in state media such as La Jiribilla and TVSantiago: “La populosa e histórica Conga de Paso Franco surge en 1911 como un desprendimiento de El Tivolí . . . (The populous [popular] and historic Paso Franco Conga emerged in 1911 as an outgrowth of El Tivolí . . .)” (Lara González). This imprecise statement shows how a community's collective memory can influence official memory, especially when a more exact version would be more complex and less media friendly.[2] As is the case with the link between Los Brujos de Limones and La Conga de Los Hoyos (see Chapter 6), a more distant past conveys deeper roots and additional prestige.
In the following clip, Rubildo considers Paso Franco's connections to La Conga del Tivolí and honors its founder, the innovative comparsero Felicano Mesa:
The Paso Franco Sound: Pa' Guarachar
Paso Franco is known for its tempo which is generally the slowest in Santiago, slightly slower than that of Los Hoyos. Hylton, the group's director since 2006, described this relaxed pace as para guarachar (“to party/get down”), allowing revelers to comfortably enjoy the group's beat (6 January 2025). As successors to El Tivolí, this group's sonic identity is closely identified with the columbia groove. Like Los Hoyos, their main groove is conga-pilón but they often play brief renditions of columbia and mason.[3] On recordings and videos, Paso Franco plays the pilon-columbia-masón cycle less consistently than Los Hoyos.
Paso Franco incorporates a unique pattern called el zapatón (“the big shoe”) which is played on the lowest bokú. As mentioned in Chapter 2 and shown in Musical Examples 2.5 and 5.1, this pattern is almost identical to one used in the Afro-Brazilian styles Congo de Ouro and Maculelé, perhaps indicating common Congo roots.[4]
In many of Paso Franco's performances, the tambora players use a “one stroke basic” pattern when not improvising. The one or two stroke tambora pattern makes the paan accent stand out, creating a more startling effect than the fuller four or five stroke versions (see Musical Example 4.6 and this clip).
Musicians of Paso Franco
José Ramon Camacho “Monguito” (c. 1920–c. 2010): quinto de largo camino (long distance quinto).[5]
Monguito is fondly remembered in Paso Franco and Los Hoyos as a virtuosic and award winning quinto player. After starting out with Conga San Pedrito in the late 1940s, he joined Paso Franco a few years later and remained with the group until around 1990, when he switched to Los Hoyos; his musical legacy is discussed in Chapter 7. Monguito is one of many musicians who moved between Paseo Martí (the site of Los Hoyos' headquarters) and Trocha (Paso Franco's home base). Other notable players who did so include Chino Negro (see Chapter 6), Andrés Quiala Cisneros (see below), Richard Ferrera González “Kiki” (see below) and Vladimir Ibarra Paisán (see Chapter 6).
Andrés Quiala Cisneros (quinto) (b. 1978) is from a musical family. His first cousin is Rafael Cisneros “Manolo El Duque” (b. 1972), a master singer and percussionist and leading member of Ballet Folklorico Cutumba. Andres' father played for many years with Conga El Guayabito. After parading with El Guayabito as a capero (caped performer) at age five, he joined Paso Franco's children's conga around 1991 and soon won the prize for best quinto. Two years later, he joined the adult conga, replacing his mentor Diógenes Solomellava. After leaving Paso Franco in 2018, he played quinto with Los Hoyos and San Agustín, winning prizes with both groups. After leaving San Agustín, he became director of Santiago's premier rumba ensemble, Grupo Folkloyuma, in 2024.
In the brief quinto demonstration below, Andrés uses the phrases in Musical Example 5.2 between more elaborate passages. Galis attributes similar phrases to Los Hoyos' Albertico Makindó (214). This is one of many examples of phrases that have been broadly incorporated into the conga tradition, making it difficult to assign authorship.
Richard Ferrera González “Kiki” (b. 1974) grew up in a musical family on Paseo Martí in the heart of Los Hoyos. He performed with Paseo Sueño's children's group before playing quinto for Los Hoyos from 2001 to 2014. His quinto playing, like that of many players in Los Hoyos, shows Monguito's influence. In 2015 he joined Paso Franco, where he has served as musical director and won the prize for best quinto in 2019. Kiki also works as a professional singer and dancer with Rumberos de Hoy.
Andrés Cobas Marten (b. 1992) grew up drumming at his family's Bembés (Afro-Cuban religious celebrations). He began playing corneta china in 2008 as a member of the aficionado (non-professional) folkloric group La Ceiba. Within a few years, he won prizes for his performances in Los Hoyos' youth group and the new adult conga ensemble Los Muñequitos. Since 2012, he has played corneta china in Paso Franco, won prizes throughout Oriente and shared the stage with artists like Alexander Abreu and Omara Portuondo. Andrés is also well-versed in Cuba's diasporic religious traditions; in this video he shares a 21st century interpretation of “Choncholí se va pa'l monte.” Andrés’ son Andy currently plays corneta china with Corazón de Los Hoyos.l
Coros
Self-referencing coros are the easiest way to distinguish conga ensembles: most groups have songs which reinforce their sonic and institutional identities. One example, “Paso Franco al Carnaval” (also listed as “Paso Franco al Carnaval de Tivolí, despite the lyrics not mentioning the latter), appears on the Carnaval en Santiago album from around 1982:
En Paso Franco vamos a arrollar (bis)
Con su conga en este carnaval (bis)
[In Paso Franco, let's arrollar (parade/strut to the conga beat)[6]
With its conga in this carnival]
While these lyrics are fairly generic, the track and “Sirena Soy“ from the same album are noteworthy for their rare inclusion of a lead singer (uncredited on the album, as is the case with most conga recordings). “Sirena Soy” also includes a brief salute to the Los Hoyos and San Agustín, confirming the continued prominence of the “conga triangle.”
Other examples of “namechecking” refrains appear on the 1996 album Calles y Congas. Although I was able to find these examples on studio recordings, Paso Franco's refrains are much less legendary and emblematic than those which strongly announce the arrival of Los Hoyos or San Agustín. Without an obvious self-referencing coro, Los Hoyos and Paso Franco are difficult to distinguish from each other, except that the latter usually plays at a slightly slower tempo.
Conclusion
Time and logistical constraints prevented me from interviewing more of Paso Franco's musicians to learn more of the group's musical history. This chapter is based on Galis' and Rodriguez Lamarque's research and interviews with musicians.
Rodríguez Lamarque lists “Origen” and Galis lists “Oriundo.”
“Paso Franco was founded in 1911” is a much more succinct (and ready for mass media) than “Paso Franco is the successor to Conga El Tivolí, which was founded in 1911.” I am not implying that Paso Franco's leadership intended to mislead the public.
According to Hardy and Millet and Brea, the pilon-columbia-mason cycle has been essential to the group's sound since at least the 1980s. Galis Riverí cites their use of columbia as early as 1939 (205).
Santiago's best documented cabildo congo was in Los Hoyos but the Rodriguez Lamarque archive lists others in El Tivolí, Mejiquito, and El Guayabito.
as described by Lázaro (28 April 2025)
For a thorough description of arrollando and its relationship to African and diasporic movement, see Milstein, “Toward an Understanding of 'Conga santiaguera': Elements of 'La conga de Los Hoyos,'“ 246–247.