Cuban Rumba
Encyclopedia
In Cuban music, Rumba is a generic term covering a variety of musical rhythms and associated dances. The rumba has its influences in the music brought to Cuba by Africans brought to Cuba as slaves as well as Spanish colonizers. Rhythmically, rumba is based on the five-stroke pattern called clave (rhythm)
Clave (rhythm)
The clave rhythmic pattern is used as a tool for temporal organization in Afro-Cuban music, such as rumba, conga de comparsa, son, son montuno, mambo, salsa, Latin jazz, songo and timba. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms...

 and the inherent structure it conveys.

Rumba developed in the Cuban provinces of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

 and Matanzas
Matanzas
Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. It is famed for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore.It is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas , east of the capital Havana and west of the resort town of Varadero.Matanzas is called the...

 in the late 19th century. As an energetic Afro-Cuban dance, Rumba was often suppressed and restricted because it was viewed as dangerous and lewd.

Afro-Cuban rumba is entirely different than Ballroom Rumba
Rumba (dance)
Rumba is a dance term with two quite different meanings.In some contexts, "rumba" is used as shorthand for Afro-Cuban rumba, a group of dances related to the rumba genre of Afro-Cuban music. The most common Afro-Cuban rumba is the guaguancó...

, or the African style of pop music called rumba. Rumba developed in rural Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, and is still danced in Havana, Mantanzas and other Cuban cities as well as rural areas, especially those with a significant or predominant African community, although now it is infused with influences from Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and Hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

.

A Cuban Rumba song often begins with the soloist singing meaningless syllables, which is called 'diana(s)'. He then may proceed to improvise lyrics stating the reason for holding the present Rumba ('decimar'; span.: to make ten-line stanzas), or instead tunes into a more or less fixed song such as: "Ave Maria Morena" (Yambú, Anónimo), "Llora Como Lloré" (Guaguancó, S. Ramirez), "Cuba Linda, Cuba Hermosa" (Guaguancó, R.Deza), "China de Oro (Laye Laye)" (Columbia), "Malanga (Murió)" (Columbia)".

Cuban Rumba can be broken down into three types: Yambú (the oldest and slowest style), Columbia, and Guaguancó
Guaguancó
Guaguancó is a sub-genre of Cuban rumba, a complex rhythmic music and dance style. The traditional line-up consists of:* three drums, similar to conga drums: the tumba , llamador , and quinto...

 (the most popular style, which can be heard in songs such as "Quimbara" by Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...

).

Carlos Vidal Bolado
Carlos Vidal Bolado
Carlos Vidal Bolado was a Cuban conga drum musician and was one of the original Machito and his Afro-Cuban boys. Bolado holds the double distinction of being the first to record authentic folkloric Cuban rumba and the first to play congas in Latin jazz Carlos Vidal Bolado (1914–1996) was a...

 (better known simply as Carlos Vidal) was the first to record authentic folkloric rumba.

Rumba Yambú

Yambú is the oldest and slowest known style of rumba, sometimes called the Old People's Rumba. It uses the slowest beat of the three Rumba styles and incorporates movements feigning frailty. It can be danced alone (especially by women) or by men and women together. Although male dancers may flirt with female dancers during the dance, they do not use the vacunao of Rumba Guaguancó.

Rumba Guaguancó

Rumba Guaguancó is faster than yambú, with more complex rhythms, and involves overtly flirtatious movements between a man and a woman in the roles of "Rooster" and "Hen".The woman both entices and "protects herself" from the man, who tries to catch the woman off-guard with a vacunao—tagging her with the flip of a handkerchief or by throwing his arm, leg or pelvis in her direction in an act of symbolic sexual contact. To defend herself, she may cover with her hand, or use her skirt to protect her pelvis and whip the sexual energy away from her body. Guaguancó most likely inherited the idea of the 'vacunao' from yuca or macuta dances, which were both brought to Cuba by Bantú ethnic groups.

Musical Form of Rumba Guaguancó

The Rumba Guaguancó consists of two main sections. The first, the canto
Canto
The canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, meaning "song" or singing. Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Lord Byron's Don Juan, Valmiki's Ramayana , Dante's The Divine Comedy , and Ezra Pound's The...

, features the lead vocalist, who performs an extended text that is sometimes partially improvised. Underneath the vocal three interlocking rhythmic parts are played: one or two drummers playing on differently tuned congas perform an ostinato (recurring pattern), while another musician taps a pattern on the side of one drum with two hard sticks, called palitos. Another, usually the lead singer, plays a standardized clave part. This section usually lasts a few minutes, until the lead vocalist signals for the other singers to repeat a short refrain, in call and response. This signals the beginning of the second section, the montuno
Montuno
Montuno has several meanings pertaining to Cuban music and its derivatives. Literally, montuno means 'comes from the mountain', and so Son montuno may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente...

 which features the dancers, as they engage in their "rooster and hen" antics, and also the band, with extended instrumental solos. Cuban music group Vocal Sampling
Vocal Sampling
Vocal Sampling is an all-male a cappella musical group from Cuba. They are distinctive for their rich a cappella adaptations of traditional Cuban salsa music, son, and Rumba, such as their renditions of "El Cuarto de Tula" and "La Negra Tomasa", vocally imitating the piano, cowbell, conga, bass,...

 has performed an all-vocal version of Rumba Guaguanco on the song "Conga Yambumba".

Rumba Columbia

Rumba Columbia (not "Colombia") is a fast and energetic Rumba, with a 6/8 feel, which is often accompanied by a 6/8 (Spanish 'seis por ocho') beat struck on a hoe or a bell. It is assumed that the Columbia originated in hamlets in the interior of Cuba rather than the suburbs of the larger cities from where other types of Cuban Rumba stem. Solo, traditionally male, dancers provoke the drummers, especially the player of the smallest drum (Quinto, here also soloist drum), to play complex rhythms that they imitate through their creative and sometimes acrobatic movements. Men may also compete with other men to display their agility, strength, confidence and even sense of humor. All of these aforementioned aspects of Rumba Columbia are derived from a colonial Cuban martial art/dance called El Juego de Maní
El Juego de Maní
El Juego de Maní , "Maní" is an African word for war, sometimes referred to as Baile de Maní , el Juego de Maní con Grasa or Bambosa because of its smooth and slippery qualities is a martial art/dance that was brought to Cuba by the African slaves...

 which is similar in origin and execution to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian Capoeira
Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century...

. Columbia incorporates many movements derived from Congo dances as well as Spanish flamenco, and more recently dancers have incorporated breakdancing and hip hop moves. Women are also beginning to dance Columbia, too. According to Cuban percussionist, singer, composer and historian Gregorio 'el Goyo' Hernandez, who became widely accepted as a specialist in Cuban Rumba after his album "La Rumba Es Cubana: Su Historia" , Cuban Rumba Columbia has its origins in the drum patterns and chants of religious Cuban Abakuá traditions. Fact is that the 'cáscara' or 'palito' rhythm of Columbia, either beaten with two sticks on a piece of bamboo or on the rim of the congas, is the same as the one played in Abakuá chants, which is played with two small plaited rattles ('erikundi') filled with beans or similar objects. The drum patterns of the lowest conga drum is essentially the same in both Columbia and Abakuá as well.

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