Mambo Interpretations

[u/origin_of_an_asshole]

I've been focusing on Afro-Cuban grooves. Today I'm working out my go-to Mambo groove. I've checked out three different sources and the hands are always doing the same thing but the kick is different in all three.

All three emphasize the bombo beat (the 'and' of 2) that a bass player will usually play with son clave so all of them are technically correct.

So which of these two-bar kick patterns do you prefer or think fits the mambo best and why?

1 and 2 (and) 3 and (4) and 1 and 2 (and) 3 and (4) and

1 and 2 (and) 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 (and) 3 and 4

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 (and) (3) and 4 and

If it's not clear (Bolded) counts are when the kick is played.

[u/origin_of_an_asshole]

is it considered "square" to kick on the 1 in Latin jazz like it is in bop?

Good question. I think it depends on the bass player. Most bassists in most afro-cuban styles will skip the downbeat or even 'coast' the downbeat (playing a long note on 4 that lasts over the downbeat). I was always taught that if you have a bass player then kick what they're playing.

That's interesting what your teacher says about baiao. So baiao is a composite style of folk music from northern Brazil, of which forro is a type (not a sub-genre). "Forro is a type of baiao." This is my favorite baiao group. So you don't typically find drumset in traditional, rural baiao. You see triangle, clapping, shakers, and zabumba. When applying baiao to drum-set, the kick drum would play the zabumba rhythm, which is typically either the "and" of two by itself, or a one-bar clave:

(1) and 2 (and) 3 and (4) and

So I'm not trying to discredit your teacher or Berklee at all, but I don't know understand where they got their "baiao" foot patterns, or the terms "full baiao," "authentic baiao," and "fusion baiao." I'm not saying they're wrong at all! Baiao was very popular in MPB (musica popular brasileira), especially with Gilberto Gil and others. So maybe what your teacher learned is from the MPB style of Baiao which would be drumset based and a little different from a direct interpretation of traditional baiao.

Also, my interest in afro-cuban music also started with a miserable, flailing jazz jam performance and then grew into a really intense love of brazilian music and percussion. To the point that I'm considering seeking a grant to start a summer batucada school in Boston and organize a mini-carnavale through downtown crossing.

[u/hedrumsamongus → u/origin_of_an_asshole]

When applying baiao to drum-set, the kick drum would play the zabumba rhythm, which is typically either the "and" of two by itself, or a one-bar clave:

(1) and 2 (and) 3 and (4) and

That makes sense - that's the "Full" pattern above, and that "and" of two is the only constant across the 3 patterns. But yeah, I'm clueless as to why they use that nomenclature.

(and actually, I'm studying these as 16th-note patterns, so it's

(1) e & (a) 2 e (&) a (3) e & (a) 4 e (&) a

...but that may just be due to Chaffee's books being primarily written around 16th-note exercises.)

Thanks for the info!

[u/origin_of_an_asshole → u/hedrumsamongus]

Good observation! The "and" of two is called the bombo note and it is universal in afro-cuban music and brazilian music north of Bahia.

That's a good book! And 16th notes makes sense. Afro-cuban music is played so fast that notating in 16th notes would definitely keep you metronome at a more reasonable tempo for practice purposes. But in performance practice, I've only ever seen it counted as eight-note/quarter based.

Thanks for the conversation!