Carnival in Santiago: a deep tradition
Since at least the 17th century, carnival in Santiago has been celebrated in June and July, centered around July 25, día De (day of) Santiago Apóstol, the patron saint of the city. This festival was traditionally called the Fiesta de Mamarrachos (“Festival of Buffoons”) or Dias de Mascaras (“Days of Masks”); by the early 20th century, it became known as carnaval.
The African presence: Cabildos de Nación
Until the abolition of slavery in 1886, neighborhood-based comparsas (carnival troupes) made up of free and enslaved people of color paraded in the streets to rhythms rooted in West and Central Africa. Many of these comparsas were affiliated with cabildos de nación (ethnically based mutual aid societies). Cabildos were institutions where people of African descent re-constructed and maintained ethnic identities based on diasporic cultural, religious and linguistic practices. Throughout Cuba, there are documented examples of cabildos that enslavers, and later scholars, have grouped into broad “meta-ethnic” umbrella categories:[1] Congo (Congo River basin region/speakers of Bantu languages); Carabalí (Cross River Delta region/Southeastern Nigeria/Southwest Cameroon); Lucumí (Western Nigeria and parts of Benin and Togo/Yoruba speakers), and several others. Most scholars agree that the Congo and Carabalí groups were predominant in Oriente (Eastern Cuba, the region which includes Santiago) (Calderon et al.; Lachatañeré 80-81). In addition, free and enslaved French and Creole speaking people of color, many of whom arrived in the region from Haiti during its revolution, formed cabildos called tumba francesa (“French drum”) societies in the 1800s. These societies included members born in Haiti, Africa and Cuba, creating uniquely hybrid music and dance forms that are often called “Franco-Haitian,” but better described as “Afro-Franco-Haitian-Cuban.” Many cabildos were active in the struggle for Cuban independence and the abolition of slavery. In 1888, the colonial regime, in an effort to suppress and monitor such activity, required cabildos to register under the Law of Associations and affiliate with a Catholic saint and local church. This requirement and other factors led to the demise or consolidation of many cabildos, but Afro-Cuban culture continued to thrive and evolve despite elite efforts to repress or eliminate it (Millet 6, other cite ?).
By the time Cuba became independent in 1902, the predominant carnival genres and types of comparsas in Santiago were: carabalí (vocals in Spanish and African/Afro-Cuban dialects and percussion, associated with the above mentioned cabildos), tajona (vocals in Spanish with percussion, linked to Cubans of color in general, but sometimes associated with tumba francesa societies), and paseo (guitars, maracas and voices, associated with all races).[2] At this time conga was a musical style played by Black comparsas in Western Cuba, principally Havana and Matanzas.[3] Between 1902 and 1908, Santiago's government banned the tajonas and carabali comparsas because of their inclusion of Afro-Cuban drums.
Rival Congas: El Tivoli and Los Hoyos[4]
In 1913, a new comparsa that would become known as La Conga del Tivolí emerged in Santiago’s Tivolí neighborhood under the direction of Feliciano Mesa. According to Galis and local oral tradition, the group was influenced by the conga dance and music genre its members had seen in Western Cuba and incorporated that style into its carnival parade, bringing sartenes (percussive frying pans) a Bombo (bass drum), and hand drums (very similar to conga drums) from Matanzas and incorporating two instruments from the neighborhood Carabali comparsa: a requinto (small tom-tom sized drum), and pico arado (a farm tool with a bell-like sound Ortiz). Among the musicians were two ex-soldiers[5] from Matanzas; the group's title that year was “Los Matanceros.” They dubbed their rhythmic style golpe de columbia (“the columbia beat,” which I will refer to as “conga-columbia” to distinguish it from other variants of conga) and won first prize in the carnival competition (Galis 186).
The following year, in response to its rival’s success, La Conga de Los Hoyos debuted its distinct brand of conga rhythm which they dubbed golpe pilón ("the pilón beat" or “conga-pilon”), a style with much less Western Cuban influence than El Tivoli's columbia. Instruments in this ensemble included the pilón (a large bass drum adapted from the Carabali comparsas) requinto, sartenes, a pico arado and several bokús (conical hand drums similar in sound and technique to conga drums). The bokú pattern in Galis' transcription, versions of which are still used to this day, is often referred to as uno y dos ("one and two") (Galis 188).
In 1915, La Conga del Tivoli incorporated the suona, or corneta china (“Chinese cornet”), a double-reed instrument that had been brought to Western Cuba during the 19th century by Chinese indentured servants. This instrument was soon adapted by other ensembles, and its piercing sound became an essential and emblematic element of the conga and the Santiago soundscape.
Between 1914 and 1936, conga ensembles based in the Guayabito and Mejiquito neighborhoods performed sporadically, often under the direction of Victor "Vitué" Palacios. The only documentation that exists of these groups' style, which is somewhat similar to Los Hoyos’, is Galis’ transcription (197) (add audio re-creation based on transcription??). From 1914 to 1939, the conga santiaguera included two primary subgenres, El Tivolí’s columbia and Los Hoyos’ pilón; the latter was adapted by newly-founded conga ensembles San Pedrito in 1936, San Agustin in 1937 and Paso Franco in 1938 (Galis 202-204).
Further defining La Conga: Llantas, tambora and “paan”
Around 1929, La Conga de Los Hoyos[6] replaced the pico arado and sartenes with two llantas (resonant iron automobile brake drums). With this innovation, the conga incorporated one of its essential sonic signatures and further distinguished itself from its Western Cuban counterparts. Soon thereafter a third brake drum was added. The sound of the brake drums, especially that of the “mani tostao,” timeline pattern continues to be an important component of Santiago’s soundscape. [LB interview link w. sartenes and llanta]
In 1935, according to Galis, Lazaro [interview links] and local oral tradition, the conga incorporated another of its defining rhythmic elements. Santiago “Nanano” Guibert added a tambora (bass drum) accent just before the downbeat which he described onomatopoeically as “paaan.” The following year, Los Hoyos added a second tambora, which played the same pattern and added variations. In 1945, the innovative and influential tambora player Juan "Pililí" Echevarria joined La Conga de Los Hoyos. Pililí created a vocabulary of phrases for this instrument and is remembered to this day as a legendary improviser (Galis 200-208). One of my primary research goals is to uncover more information about Pililí and Nanano and advocate for their inclusion as prominent figures in the history of Afro-Cuban percussion.
With the addition of the brake drums and the tambora accent and variations, La Conga de Los Hoyos had clearly established its musical identity. With the demise of La Conga del Tivoli in 1939, the conga-columbia rhythm became far less prominent, and Los Hoyos' "conga-pilon" effectively became synonymous with conga santiaguera, with other ensembles introducing subtle variations but maintaining the same essential rhythmic structure. Since then, Los Hoyos and some of its rivals have continued to briefly play columbia and another variation, mason[7], but "conga-pilón" has persisted as the defining sound of the conga.
Jesus Guanche thoroughly analyzes these various categories and their features and flaws in Africanía y etnicidad en Cuba. The author proposes a geographic zone system to designate five broad areas from which African slaves were taken. It is worth noting that postcolonial African nation-states include many different ethnic and linguistic groups. ↑
Undoubtably, other styles existed at this time; the three categories mentioned here are the ones that are most prominent in written records and oral tradition. Santiago’s cabildo congo, which was located in Los Hoyos, is documented to have held musical processions as late as the 1870s. ↑
The Western style conga became famous outside Cuba in the 1940s and inspired the famous/infamous “one, two three, kick!” of the “conga line.” ↑
Galis' book “La percusión en los ritmos afrocubanos
y haitiano-cubanos and interviews which the author generously granted are my main source for the genre's musical history. In addition, Lazaro Bandera, La Conga de Los Hoyos’ musical director, shared a great deal of expertise. ↑According to Galis and Millet and Brea, these Black soldiers had been sent to Oriente as part of the Cuban government's 1912 campaign to violently repress an armed protest by the Partido Independiente de Color (Independent Party of Color); this tragic event must be considered a key factor in the conga’s arrival in Santiago. For more on the events of 1912, see Helg, Our Rightful Share and AfroCubaWeb. ↑
While Millet and Brea and others attribute this innovation to Conga San Agustin, Galis and Lazaro assert that it was introduced in Los Hoyos. ↑
In the "conga-masón" variation, the tambora changed its pattern to one adapted from the masón rhythm of the above-mentioned tumba francesa; all of the other instruments played the same patterns as in the pilón. The inclusion of a brief pilón-columbia-mason "rhythmic cycle" continues to be an important element of Los Hoyos' sonic identity; other ensembles seem to include it less consistently. See this blog post and this video for detailed descriptions and explanations. ↑