Videoclave #3 Conga! (updated)

Conga! Comparsa! Carnaval!

Back in the old days they celebrated Día de los reyes in Cuba on January sixth, thirteen days after Christmas, which started the time of carnaveral (goodby to meat). Cuba was never a place of deep catholicism but as early as in the 18th century this was an occasion for partying in the streets. In the festivites the Cabildos de naciones were also allowed to participate. These was a mutual aid societies for blacks from the same ethnic group. They include both slaves and free people of color like negros curros (such societies existed primarily in towns and slaves in plantations were of course not included). However the inclusion of members from the Cabildos de naciones made an african element to enter the festivities traditional processions, comparsas.  In Havanna the largest Comparsas took place at the dia the los reyes but comparsas could take place at several holy days. In Santiago de Cuba they were primarily held at the day of the San Tiago (St James) in the end of july. In Santiago de Cuba the comparsa was also called Fiesta de Mamarachos or de Máscaras or masquerade balls. Being disguised and wearing masks was as popular then as it is nowadays. In the video, the Folklore ensemble of Cutumba gives a feeling of what it might have looked like.

The music in theses comparsas came to be called conga if it had african roots, a nickname stemming from many people of color had a Congo heritage. Congas were also a procession of its own especially in Santiago de Cuba were bands of Conga-player started playing in the streets around midsummer attracting growds of dancers to the annoyance of the authorities. 

In the beginning of the 20th century the conga comparsas had grown to such a popularity (recall that the slavery was abolished in reality as late as 1889 in Cuba) that it annoyed the authorities who especially disliked the drummings and prohibited conga in the comparsas. But conga was popular and the people did not comply. When segregation laws were abandoned in 1940s the parades exploded in expressions and style. Every barrio had at least one comparsa, named after african totems like La Culebra (Cerro) or referring to colonial times like Los Mosqueteros del Rey (La Timba) or just kiddin like the Los Dandys from Belen. Somos los Dandys was a hook which the big conga star in the 1940-ties Chano Pozo had composed. Pozo a rumbero and magical at inventing cachy hooks, Blen blen blen, Seven seven  could be sung by the conga parades in never-ending loops. I bet if you listen to a Conga potpuri at least one will one of Chanos. In the fantastic book “Cuban Music from the first drums to the mambo”, Ned Sublette describes how Chano Pozo was the cigar producer Amado Trinidad’s bodyguard and working as a lift boy in Trinidad’s radiostation RHC Cadena Azul. Here in the reception area he used to do some drumming and got picked up to join the big band for the broadcastings. Chano emigrated to USA and there he was the one of the central persons inventing the Cubop Jazz. Search the youtube on Chano and you will find Dizzy Gillespie telling you how the mambo “Manteca” (lard), a Cubop hit, was composed.

Back to the conga. Conga became popoular as a party dance as well and turned into an almost necessary thing to have once every night in a night club. However this buzz came actually from the US. In Ned Sublette’s book mentioned above you can read how, in the early 1940s, Desi Arnaz started the conga craze in USA in a Miami club when lacking a suitable band but having drums. Desi, himselft not a drummer, is otherwise know as the Cuban guy who married Lucille Ball (Lucy Show). He was also the guy who brought the conga into the clubs like you see in movies like Mambo Kings, and why not the Mask with Jim Carrey.

When Cuba tried to achieve  10 million tons harvested sucar cane in 1969 the moved the january comparsas to end of july. The 26 of july is the Moncada garrison attack which started the rebellion against the Batista coup détat of 1952.  Under the the periodeo especial in the beginning of the 1990-ties there were no comparsas at all but in 1996 the reopened and on the traditional days.

In the next clip you can see how it might look in Santiago de Cuba nowadays.

Now conga can be presented in many ways. In the final clip you can listen to Sur Caribe’s hit “Añoranza por la conga”, meaning “Longing for the conga”, which gave them an award for the best tune of the year by Cubadisco in 2006. My own special memory of that song is how we danced like maniacs to it at the Tropicana in Santiago de Cuba.

Radioclave.se, Cumbe.se, and Club El Benny arranged at three occasions “Conga in Kungsan” (the park of Kungsträdgården in Stockholm) in 2008. We plan to repeat the party 2009 so tune up your conga steps, because there might also be a contest!

Sources:
Maya Roy “Cuban Music”
Ned Sublette “Cuba and its Music -from the first drums to the mambo”