Conga (music)
Comparsas are large ensembles of musicians, singers and dancers with a specific costume and choreography which perform in the street carnivals of Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey, and Havana.
Congas santiagueras include the corneta china (Chinese cornet), which is an adaptation of the Cantonese suona introduced in Oriente in 1915, and its percussion section comprises bocúes (similar to African ashiko drums), the quinto (highest pitched conga drum), galletas and the pilón, as well as brakes which are struck with metal sticks.
[1] Congas and comparsas have a long history which dates back to the 19th century, with musical traditions being passed down from one generation to the next.
[3] They have been present for decades in the repertoire of many conjuntos, Cuban big bands and descarga ensembles, also having an influence on modern genres such as salsa and songo.
Apparently, these decrees were not faithfully enforced: “In spite of the prohibitive proclamation, the tumbas echoed loudly everywhere, including in the most central and heavily-traveled areas.
In reality, it was just a question of maintaining on paper that which could not really be enforced due to the express desire of the bourgeoisie, to whom these manifestations were a diversion, ‘something colorful’ and amusing.” (Pérez I 1988:179, note 13)Opponents to the conga in print outnumbered defenders.
The conga was a thing of the illiterate Afro-Cuban working people, while the writers of editorials and angry letters to the editor were upper-class Hispano-Cubans.
One prominent attacker of the conga, and perhaps the most florid in his prose, was the long-time mayor of Santiago, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz II (father of American TV star Desi Arnaz), who expressed the feelings of some upper-class Cubans in a newspaper article of 1925: “I will have you know that the initial days of our traditional masquerades – which have just passed – have left painful impressions in my mind.
In every way, the carnival has been a joyful celebration of the soul of the people, an exhibition of good artistic taste, a competition of original ideas, a contest in which thought and action have always vied in giving objective form to the perfect conception of Beauty and towards the noble intent of the dignification of society; Paris, Rome, Venice, Madrid and Havana itself offer in their carnestolendas lessons on how complaisant liberty ought to be used in those periods of fantasy in order to educate the wishes and aspirations of the citizen.
But here, in our city, in one of those scientifically inexplicable regressions towards a dark past, certain elements of our commonwealth seem committed – under the pretext of carnaval – to the repugnant task of checking human progress and causing harm to Civilization with their excesses.
I refer to the ‘conga,’ that strident group of drums, frying pans and shrieks, to whose sounds epileptic, ragged, semi-nude crowds run about the streets of our metropolis, and who, between lubricous contortions and abrupt movements, show a lack of respect to society, offend morality, discredit our customs, lower us in the eyes of people from other countries and, what is worse, by their example, contaminate schoolchildren, who I have seen carried away by the heat of the lesson, panting and sweaty, engaging in frenetic competitions in corporal flexibility in those shameful tourneys of licentiousness.” (Pérez I 1988:337)On the other hand, an opinion poll of 1936 on the conga elicited the following comments: “…Let the hours, the minutes and the seconds pass as they will, as long as they do so as quickly as possible so that I can slap that bocú... From today, it is only 18 days until the carnaval starts.
Later still, the frying pans were replaced by the campanas (automobile brake drums or other pieces of metal chosen for their distinct sound qualities).
[1] During the carnaval season, Los Hoyos performs a traditional event known as an "invasión," in which it marches around the streets of Santiago and visits the neighborhoods where the other famous congas[6] are located.
Los Hoyos also closes the traditional parades of the Carnaval of Santiago de Cuba (del Carmen et al. 2005).
Walter Goodman (1838–1912), an Englishman who lived in Santiago de Cuba from 1864 to 1869, left what may be the earliest written description of the instruments of the conga: “… an odd orchestra composed of drums, frying pans, tin utensils, graters and güiros (Pérez I 1988:102)."
The requinto (Brea and Millet 1993:198), first mentioned in writing as early as 1931 (Pérez II 1988:9), is shaped somewhat like a snare drum- about 50% wider than it is tall.
Although it was very difficult for anyone not standing within ten feet of the inspirador to hear him or her singing during a street performance, the trompetica china, due to its peculiar raucous and nasal sound, could usually be heard by the entire comparsa and its followers.
There are many variations on the basic step, as well as simple figures such as "kick," "single turn," "cutting sugar cane," "shining shoes," etc.
