Streetorgan ‘The Cuban’
Aventura musical con un organillo (Musical adventures with a street organ): salsas & merengues
CHANNEL Crossings CCS 15098 [57:40]
Trad Los algodones (merengue)
LECUONA-DAYRA Je t’ai vu passer* (bolero-cha)
PRADO Mambo nr.5 (mambo)
CORTES A la cumbia (cumbia)
Trad Lo que paso con mama y papa (cumbia)
LARA Maria bonita (rumba-cha)
RUBIEL Balle guaraguao (son)
CEPEDA Bombon de Helena (plena-son)
LEZA Reposta de segredo co mar (bolero)
BARRERA Amsterdam (danzon-cha)
RUBIEL Carbonera quema madera (son)
BROOKER-REID Shade of pale (pop-ballad)
MORAIS Anjo de crianca (samba)
PALACIO El barbuo (salsa)
Trad Juanita Morel (merengue)
KWAASTENIET Merengue sentimental (pambiche)
KWAASTENIET Merengue percusion (cascarengue)
KWAASTENIET Pambiche lento (pambiche)
TIZOL Lonely one (bolero)
CAMPOS Felices dias (danza)
DANSORGEL DE CUBAAN:
Jaap de Kwaasteniet organ | marimbula | percussion | vocals
Jos Oey percussion | vocals
Jochen Hachgenei percussion
with:
Wouter van Bemmel trumpet
Henk Koekkoek alto saxophone | sousaphone
Hein Offermans double bass
*with Gert-Jan Blom musical saw (Sandvik, model Stradivarius)
Liner notes by Jaap de Kwaasteniet. Strange noises at the end of some tracks are actually the remaining air escaping from the organ’s windchamber.
he barrel organ reached Cuba from Europe through Haiti, and was originally meant to play waltzes and polkas with its accordion-like sound. However, indigenous music soon replaced the Western repertoire and the organ began playing Carribean music. It was this irresistible rhythm that inspired Jaap de Kwaasteniet to combine the barrel organ with a range of percussion instruments to play music from the Carribean region, including mambo, son, bolero, merengue, chacha, and rumba. In this disc, the trio plays several arrangements in various dance rhythms (forms) and tempi, together with guest players on other instruments to add variety and colour.
The opening number gives a taste of this Latin dance-music. Beginning with fast syncopated chords on the barrel organ over a ‘bom-pa, bom-pa’ bass, the trio gets us into the mood with Los algodones, a short introduction to the exotic and infectious Cuban rhythm: feel your feet tapping and head bopping to the merengue. The other merengue in this recording, Juanita Morel, is an enjoyable reel with some singing thrown in, giving it a ‘live’ feel, as if the band is playing right next to the listener at a seaside Carribean cafe.
Gert-Jan Blom guest-plays with his musical saw in the piece Je t’ai vu passer: a slow love-song. A musical saw is just that – the metal tool we see in carpentry, ironically adapted for playing music. And I assure you that the sound from the saw is not the screeching that might be expected. In fact, it is just as musical as any instrument, and carries with it a certain vocal quality, not unlike a haunting soprano sans lyrics. And haunt it does, imparting a mystical and ethereal beauty to this lovely bolero.
Mambo No.5 should be familiar to many (including those from MTV-land) and this arrangement for organ and percussion, while being innovative with the instruments, does not lose the flavour of the mambo, combining fleet-footedness and accuracy of rhythm with an improvisatory flair and sizzling steam. Wouter van Bemmel plays the trumpet in Reposta de segredo co mar, a slow bolero in strict time, supplying the second voice with short improvisatory bursts, not showy but providing an excellent complement to the melody in the organ.
Shade of pale is an arrangement of the pop ballad for the organ with minimal percussion; the piping organ, however, lacks the dramatic sentiment that one would expect in a ballad. The “pambiche” is a degeneration of the word ‘palm beach’, where tourists to the Dominican Republic stay — they find the traditional merengue too fast, hence the invention of this slower rhythm. Merengue sentimental features Koekkoek on the alto saxophone, giving a rich tropical swing.
Baile guaraguao features Henk Koekkoek prominently on the sousaphone, and he gives a bright and buoyant bassline, almost stealing the limelight from the melody in the organ. He plays the melody excellently in Felices dias with a rounded tone and confident poise. This moderate dance rounds up the whole collection of various rhythms and dances, each with its own feel and mood (even though some of them may fall under the same category, like rumba-cha or son, the rhythm is always slightly different).
Founded in the Netherlands in 1991 by Jaap de Kwaasteniet, the trio Dansorgel de Cubaan comprises the three percussionists Jaap, Jos and Jochen which forms the backbone behind this ensemble. Though none are of Carribean descent, they are well-versed in the Cuban idiom, giving a convincing perfomance that could just as easily have come from the streets of Cuba. Hein Offermans provides a steady beat with his double bass througout the pieces, an integral part of the ensemble.
Several of the pieces have vocal contributions: after all, Cuban music is inseparable from her singers. As in the streets and cafes, the singers sing “folk”-style, and enjoy themselves peppering the pieces with spontaneity and a genuine feel for the music. Similarly, much of the playing on this disc comes from true enjoyment on the part of the musicians. After all, this music can’t be played with a straight face. And neither can the listeners resist swaying along.
