Robbie Ameen

[cjbdrm]

Hey Tombo,

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing. I wish more posts on this forum were like yours. I enjoy hearing about people's journeys. Everyone has a story to tell.

[Tombo 7/4]

Would you agree that Alex Acuna is one of the Pioneer drummers who incorporated the left-foot clave to the drums? I really dig how his left-foot clave sounds ... Actually Alex is one of those naturals... Always feels good to listen to...

Here's an Alex Acuna clip playing left foot clave in 1989:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdke8gkS ... re=related
I like Alex. Yes he was playing hip afro-cuban fusion stuff early on. Check his work on Chick's Touchstone from 1982; Dance of Chance is quite an impressive fusion bembe performance.

Bobby Sanabria is also good at LFC as well as Antonio Sanchez. But what do they have in common? They're latin americans. These guys also play the percussions and that feeds their kit drumming vocabulary.

And then there are cuban players who don't play LFC like Julio Barreto or Dafnis Prieto. When it's implied in your playing, it's not necessary to add it IMO.

P.S.: I forgot to mention that my Funkifying the Clave book has a dedicated autograph by Lincoln Goines...vintage 1st edition item! I had him sign it after a show of the Bob Mintzer Big Band in NYC (John Riley on drums). What a groupie I was.

[Juan Expósito]

Yes Tombo,
Ruben Blades LIVE is EXCEPTIONAL IN ALL SENSES !!

Songs, Music, lyrics, playing, drumming, band...E V E R Y T H I N G.

[Tombo 7/4]

Yes Juan,
From the little spanish I understand, Ruben seems to write intense socially and politically engaged lyrics.

Seis del Solar is Ruben's backup band and they have a couple CDs of their own.
If you want to hear great drums/percussion interplay, listen to these.
There's Robby plus a conguero and a timbalero. Each has a role in the groove and no one steps on the toes of the others.
I was more inspired by them than by the Santana rhythm section when I was playing in a Santana tribute band with two and sometimes three percussionnists.
Samples here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000003OUI/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_001?ie=UTF8&track=001&disc=001

[beat hit]

Check his work on Chick's Touchstone from 1982; Dance of Chance

Oh man... Do I ever love TOUCHSTONE... I first got the LP back in 1983 .. was a young dude then... I lended the CD version to a friend and never got it back since... Grrr..

Totally agree on Dance Of Chance... Kim Plainfield mentions this tune in his Advance Concepts method and (if I remember correctly) called it "the most efficient/dangerous latin 6/8 he's ever heard"... Without forgetting the amazing trumpet playing by Canadian Al Vizzutti!!

I also love "Estancia" from Touchstone. I would categorize this one as a "Songo"... At least that's how Alex named it at clinic I went to a few years back. I have incorporated its opening section in my vocabulary... With an Irish accent on the side...

[Tombo 7/4]

Yes I remember that we studied Dance of Chance as a 6/8 reference tune in Kim's Listening Analysis class at DC.
Estancia is more a songo/baion crossover in the sense that he always plays a kick on the downbeat. You hardly ever play a downbeat in cuban music and it's part of the challenge.