Afro Cuban drumming: the drummers of Chucho Valdes

Marc Gómez Masdeu

About this exposition

This research wants to be a guide of my personal and artistic process of how I have developed and improved my skills in Afro-Cuban music and Afro-Cuban Jazz through Enrique Pla, Rodney Barreto, and Dafnis Prieto. And how I have integrated this into my background to help me grow as an artist. The topic that has motivated me to do this research is my interest in Cuban music and especially in Irakere. Many Cuban drummers are worthy of in-depth study, but I have chosen these three because all three have played or currently play with Chucho Valdes. Talking about Enrique Pla undoubtedly leads you to the founding of Irakere; Rodney Barreto played in Irakere when they reunited again and Dafnis Prieto is his current drummer. The strategy that I followed is: Strategy: Case study and experiment of the exercises with other students. Methodology: Triangulation (analysis/transcription, feedback/reflection, interview). Experiment with the drummer’s feedback. The results of this research can be seen in the following categories: Personal: Results that have enriched me and my way of playing. Audiences: Elements that may interest the reader and the musician who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of Afro-Cuban music, in particular, its drummers and more specifically those associated with Chucho Valdes On a personal level, the most important thing has been this two-year process of studying these great musicians and everything that I have acquired musically, technically, and the transcriptions I made during the research. Readers of this research can appreciate the interviews I have conducted with these three musicians and other related Cuban drummers, the exercises I have created to develop these aspects of the music and repertoire in particular, and the transcriptions of compings and solos that I have made of them. I have learned many new skills and tips from these drummers and from listening more deeply to this music and this has enriched me a lot as a musician. Looking back to the results of this research, one of the important conclusions that I reached is that any drummer who wishes to gain an understanding of this music has to listen to and study the tradition of the Afro-Cuban percussion, all the styles, and the periods, and of course open mind and don’t be a slave of it since you also have to listen to the evolution of styles.

type	research exposition
keywords	Drums, Percussion, Afro-cuban Rhythms, Comping, Improvisation, Chucho Valdes, Enrique Pla, Rodney Barreto, Dafnis Prieto
date	19/09/2024
published	19/09/2024
last modified	19/09/2024
status	published
share status	private
affiliation	Codarts, University for the Arts
copyright	(c) Marc Gómez Masdeu
license	All rights reserved
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3014636/3014637
published in	Codarts
portal issue	Codarts Artistic Research Reports.
external link	www.codarts.nl

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Afro Cuban drumming: the drummers of Chucho Valdes (2024)

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name	Marc Gómez Masdeu - Artistic Research Report
copyright	(c) Marc Gómez Masdeu
license	All rights reserved
usages	pdf