the first musical instrument of mankind was its own voice the second one perhaps a stone rythmically hit against another stone
wood branding iron star, and later, it found resonance in a hollow tree-trunk that day mankind invented percussion the language of percussion, simple at first,
became gradually more complex in african music and so they came to master a large variety of rythms and the body followed that rythm through dances that are a permanent tribute to fertility and to life men and women originally from the western cost in africa arrived to peru as slaves since the start of the spanish colonization.
chronicle writters like guaman poma and martãnez de compaã±ã³n give a graphical testimony of the life conditions to which thousands of people were submitted to, forced to fulfill the most humble and risky tasks. the economy of the colony which was based on mining and agriculture was heavily dependent on the hands of black slaves africans arrive to peru after 1532 they are hence treated as slaves
they come in very precarious conditions and they come from the western coast in africa from senegal until a bit before south africa. they were comming mostly from guinea, congo and angola. it is only later that a few from tangania and mozambique.
they also worked in the sugar plantations and on the vineyards as well as on the construction of the colonial cities. very soon, spred among the shed and the fields, in the kitchen, the yard of the master and the religious congregation the descendents of lucumians congans or banduans elaborated
new forms of expression the meaning of percussion in africa is not a soloist concept, but it is actually something carried out as a comunity. each drum plays a part, serves a function, it is like a coir each beat, each counterbeat says something. it is like a language, a very accurate language. but beyond every day language they learned the poetical spanish structures they mastered the couplets with great versatility,
the sonets, and especially the "decimas" but these forms were not used for declamation, but for singing: "the guitar calls the cajon the cajon calls the main voice in turn..." and singing needed instruments so then the guitar and the cajon accompanied the human voice
i remembered when my grandfather played he would play in the parties in the fields in "el carmen" with butter cans they needed nothing else they would play anywhere but they played percussion. it is as if they were born to play percussion chapter two musical instruments of the afroperuvian coast
the main african musical instruments in america are the membrane drums, and the marimbas. however in peru, because they were baned and there was little wood available in the coast they were no longer manufactured. the singing and the drums give you power power to withstand difficulties if it were not because of that,
the black race would have become extinct in peru there are things that help one to become stronger to forget about pain. the drum is the main instrument in african music. there are so many drums, and they are like families african descendents
played in anything that could make a sound they have played in tables in chairs with wooden spoons even the charity box at the church became a musical instrument or in the boxes where the "kerosene" cans were packed in and those are the predecessors of the cajon as we know it today that has a great importance in the peruvian "criollo" (indian/spanish) culture
with new materials and instruments they replaced their old drums that is how the pumpking "checo" was born, as well as the angara, a larger pumpking tribute to augusto ascuez (peruvian musician and singer) the wits of african people, allowed the rythmical patterns of the old drums were stored in their memory through dancing it is very likely that the rythmical patterns that were played on drums, were transferred to
body rythmics, and even to taping a decisive factor for the creation of instruments different from the drum was a law promulgated in the 17th century that forbidded the use of drums, and the performance of the "panalivio" a singing form that denounced the abuses against slaves there was in deed a restriction regarding the place where they performed their songs and their dances because they were considered noise, so it was forbidden here in lima
that they had their parties in the neighborhood main squares the african slaves took part in the wars for freedom they would runaway from the households granting themselves freedom that is, they became cimarrons many of them joined the libertary movements of tupac amaru bolivar and san martin in spite of what was promised, slavery abolition became a reality only 33 years after
the independence of peru when in the second half of the 19th century the president ramon castilla abolished slavery he had to pay the masters for their slaves' freedom by that time, the cultural presence of the african descendents was profound and meaningful. 300 years of slavery allowed them to create a new culture that was a fusion of their values with the ones of their new homeland. the cajon cajon players: pititi, chocolate and cotito i need to carece my instrument else there is no joy
no purity the instrument's sound would be too stiff,rigid, clumsy. it would have no life. when you hit, there is an eco as if it was alife, as if it was being reborn therefore i say: "echo". there is a sound there and so our conversation begins. the cajon is like... it is like for people, there are things that are part of your life
like getting dressed, like eating. that is the cajon, it forms part of my life. it takes part in everything i do one of the oldest references to the cajon as we know it today can be found in a text by manuel atanasio fuentes published in the middle of the 19th century the cajon apears in peru due to the demise of the skin drum the last reference we have to the skin drum is in 1813 after that there is a period of silence
and the cajon appears after 1850 and for sure after the war with chile lando lando, lando of relief. my grandparents danced it, my grandparents played it today my sons play it, and my grandchildren shall do so too. sensual lando, strong lando, lando from mother africa lando i bring to you, with the peruvian...
... cajon. and it goes like this: lando! historical documents show is that its presence was important in the festivals of the "pampa de amancaes" that took place until the first decades of the 20th century. i have heard for example carlos aire play at valle bajo ("the low valley"), in canete he plays in the maner of the vasquez family: ta-ta, tan.
ta-ca-ta-ca-tan, ta-ta, tan. ta-ca-ta-ca-tan and in barranca they play: ta-ca-ta-ca-tan. so who knows how many ta-ca-ta-ca-tan have been lost the cajon was indispensable in hip dances like for example in the "zamacueca" from which the "marinera" originates and was progressively incorporatedinto every music form in the coast.
already by the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century marineras and zamacuecas were played and the presence of the cajon, the king, was indispensable, because it carries the rythm "let's start, reynaldo barnechea!" "that is a very nice touch you have, mr reynaldo" "and they told me that in the old days" "it was not the guitar the called the cajon" "but the cajon called also the guitar" "and then you have the clapping too"
"the dancers got excited" "and the party started" "let's go then. yes, that's how it's done!" "marinera from lima, from the national winds of south america" "there is nothing like the marinera that we dance in peru" "i am poor, for i have not got" "the joy of the powerfull one" one must point out with the cajon that in spite of its modest looks, and of its aparent simplicity as an instrument
i think it has a very great, a great versatility and it can be used for practically any musical gender. around 1950, we find it also in the waltz giving the waltz a more playfull, party-like touch and by the end of the 20th century it accompanies also some ancient genres like the huayno. (huayno music in the background) "jose antonio, jose antonio"
"why did you leave me here" "we shall meet again" "in june, with a drizzle" "i will cuddle behind you, underneath your "poncho"", "and in the ribbon at the top of your hat i want to see" "the amancaes flowers" "that you picked for me" chabuca granda works in such a fine maner the melody, harmony and rythm of the waltz that she quickly transforms it.
i think that in the history of "criollo" (indian/spanish) music the presence of afroperuvian rythmics becomes stronger because chabuca granda includes its rythm in her repertoire. "how shall my skin be besides yours" "thistle or ashes?" she incorporates the afroperuvian influence, and works close to
ronaldo campos, pititi, and caitro soto (peruvian cajon players) "with this merry tribe i have" "with this guitar of felix casaverde" "with this cajon of carlos soto" "with the "cencerro" (cow bell) of rodolfo arteaga" i have great respect for the black race because i think they have given back to us that virtue of rythm and goodness
queremos la acciã³n "if i shall fuse my space to yours..." "how shall your body be as it goes along mine, and how..." sometimes when the wood arrives from the wood house it can be like this,a bit curvy or with a hole that is why you do this, so that it is straight and only then you can work along its wide the wood will be 47cm high
it is the part that stands upwards along the cajon you use wood from the cedar tree;it yields a better sound the wood is brushed on its two sides the inner and the outer sides. the outer part shall be brushed afterwards,the inner part is brushed now because once you build the cajon it is difficult to brush it there are several methods to make the teeth there is a type of teeth where you get like a toothed wheel and you set the pieces together
this fits in here and it prevents it from detaching with use. the teeth can be hand made with the "milano tooth" as it is called but you also have machines to do this. now we shall insert the bottom side. that is, the bottom will not be resting upon the sides but we are going to make a cut here instead all around the perimeter so that the bottom side is fixed.
thus we have a slot to fit the bottom side to now we shall make the hole at the back side we find the center point first the hole shall have 11cm of diameter after fixing the top side, you brush it here, and you sand the whole thing and finally you apply the "dedã©". the "dedã©" is a type of varnish that is very strong and consistent, much better than lacquer so the cajon does not wear out with the strokes the cajon will look like this. this is a finished cajon
this is how you make a cajon. chapter threethe cajon masters "my rider is so handsome" " so elegant and gracefull" "as he holds the red and white silk reins." she was the first one to make me play the cajon with a symphonic orchestra.
even though i can't read music i composed, played the cajon, singed taped and i am even singing in one of chabuca's records in the one that says "every song for a reason"which we produced in spain there i am singing two of my songs, and it is me who sings them "the bull kills, the bull kills" (toro mata)
"the 'rumbambero' bull (quarrelsome, dancefull) kills" i met her in 1980. when celia cruz (cuban singer) was in peru she herd the "toro mata" and then when we talked she says she would like to sing it herself "well, it would be an honor for me", i replied "that would be great" "and i really apreciate it",
that a star like celia cruz has recorded the song of a humble musician as myself. the cajon was my life. when i played the cajon i would fly away in such away that it looked like i was not myself anymore.i was possessed by another being "i walked out to the yard"
"steared towards the sky and sighed" the song is sad "where is my freedom?" "that i have lost being so young." aha! come on! like that! "now the devils dissapear in to silence" "the ancesters go back to sleep" "it was the echoes that invited us;the ancesters come to life once again." for me pititi
has meant a lot as a percussionist in my opinion pititi was one of the greatest cajon players i've seen in my life one of the greatest ones and definitely one of the most all-arounders he could play walz, tondero, marinera, afro-music, and he played everything very well everything he did very well
pititi, that rests now in heaven, was the best. i think that pititi is the sum of everything a musician could do with a cajon not only hold the rythm but also create suddenly, change the rythmical bases, with really devilish syncopations from what i have seen, pititi is the highest representative of the peruvian cajon. "the 'son' (sound) of the devils we came here to dance"
"and the little roghe of cachafaz will play the donkey's jaw" "the 'son' (sound) of the devils we came here to dance" pititi" the master" pititi in sweden "- the gecko bit me. - the mosquito stung me" "- the gecko bit me. - cursed be that mosquito" "- cursed the thing that bit me - that stung me, that stung me..." "- on the tip of my heart" - how did you learn to dance?
i was six years old, and i hung around with friends that knew what dancing was and non traditional music was danced but only nacional music,if one might say so waltzes every day music and there was also emphasis on learning taping ("zapateo") the vasquezfamily tradition "to mr porfirio vasquez.sung by nicomedes santa cruz"
"not only criollo" "but really criollo" "he sings in any tone you may reach" "they call him 'the super friend', his name, porfirio vasquez" "and it goes like this" "listen to me please, even if you do not want to" "oh how he sings marinera, i believe he is a troubadour" "i am his faithfull admirer" " i heard him and gave him a hug"
"i went step by step just to feel his melody" "i say from that day on, not criollo, but really criollo" "it is a fair adjective for a guitarrist, taper, decimist" "composer of fine taste" "i am sorry if i scare you, but please, don't stop me" "even if i bite my tung i shall repeat that this man is so clever" "that without trying hard he sings in whatever tone you may reach." when i met the vasquez family i understood that there were superior beings, privileged
special beings that bare the cultural traditions of their people all this family bares a tradition it is a loss for the living culture of our country and abelardo vasquez was a good example that reminded us of the continuity of the wonderfull afro-peruvian traditions. take the "carimba" (branding iron) outside you develish unthankful man, you shall not kill me and since the little black man was francisco,carin caracuera, carin caracua
take the "carimba" outside, you develish unthankful man, you shall not kill me oh carin caracuera, carin caracua abelardo vasquez"to the molina i shall not return" baba baba bababa para partirita samorengue yucca from san borja samorengue sa to got to sanha
so delicious it is. to go to zanha to the molina i won't return because they lash non-stop to the molina i won't return dear misses tomasa and dear mr pascual had 20 children oh jesus
that's something! that were slaves against their will because they were afraid of being slashed by the master because they were afraid that master would lash them. to the molina i shall not return,because there they lash non-stop. go! go, little donkey, go!
when i was 14 years old, in gatherings in my family's parties when i was 17 or 18 i began to do it as a profession. when we worked privately at different households we would do the party with the cajon walzes, polkas all sorts of rythms i started in that period when they all had died already
feliciano mendoza arciniega, pancho caliente they had all passed away already. - "and how about if we 'slide' a little bit?"- there i go parikita the caporala went to the prairies to work, she does not grind sugar canes, nor sugar, she does not have to fall in love pliriplipli, pliriplipla. i have a jug that is already half way empty i was nine years old and i many timesi left aside my studies, or playing as a child,
because i already loved criollo music, and i was standing at the door seing and hearing how the famous group ricardo palma played,and there i saw "gancho" arciniega it was from him that i learned. the instrument becomes a part of yourself i do not like to be beaten, that's why i don't hit my instrument either.i caress it. since i was a child i loved rythm whatever i heard i played striking the table, and i was so anxious to play
since she recorded her first long play in fono radio i played for her and i played in all of the long plays that came afterwards too absolutely all of them. we have worked a lot together, and traveled all over the world in chincha, especially in san jose, when there were parties but there needed not be a party for there to be someone i could listen to playing the cajon there was joy, they improvised poems with rym ("decimas") they coocked and danced, and day would tell me for example: "play the cajon while i cook", or
"play for me while i do this or that" my passion for african music began as a child the first instrument i learned to play was the cajon. i am a "cholo" (indian-spanish descendant) and i am proud of it and nobody believes that i played the black cajones in the recordings of barraza, or eva ayllon together with alex acuna i believe that it is the soul that plays.
it has not to do with strength, or with hitting. "let us hit the cajon and just break it", no, it is not about that. it is an element. the cajon is an element. it has turned up to be a bit of a novelty there is always someone that asks in an interview "how is it that you became a woman percussionist?" it was a coincidence, i never decided to be a percussinist
but it is not so strange in other countries. internationalization of the cajon they told me very clearly in an interview at radio francia international when i went to promote my last record "what do you think about the influence of the flamenco cajon on afroperuvian music" and i replied: "the question should go the other way" "what do i think about the contribution of the afroperuvian cajon on flamenco music" and they told me: "no" "the cajon was invented in flamenco music"
"we have it in spain 20 years ago, every flamenco group plays it" and from there it traveled to peru. "unfortunately for you", i replied, "you are talking to a percussionist" that whitnessed the instant in which a cajon was given as a gift to mr paco de lucia so nobody is going to come and tell me stories. i once had to listen someone presenting me in france
a man that had a radio show, i can't remembered what it was called but he presents me we were performing to promote the disc "susana baca" the first disc with luaka bab and warner bross in france at one of the big disc shops there so we had a concert for the public there
and he presents us and starts talking about african polyrhythmics what we would play, our music and so on and that we have instruments inherited from spain such as the guitar and the cajon, so i had to interrupt him i understand a bit of french, so i interrupted him and said: "no, the cajon is peruvian" "and it is from peru that paco de lucia takes it to spain" and they adopt it
it was in 1973 or 1974 that the "feber" for the peruvian cajon in spain begins paco discovered the cajon at a party honoring chabuca granda in peru the spanish embassador invited us to have dinner somewhere in barranco so i took my instruments chabuca probably sang something,
and he was very aware of the cajon and then he tells me: "it has a very nice sound" and at the end he says "could you get me one of those?" and i said: "i shall sell one to you" "but this one i give to you as a gift" "the way in which he and all the other" "peruvian cajoneros sit in the cajon, it is as if they where apes"
"with such an elegance" "they are sitting in an instrument they are about to command" "and they will transport the public to a very high musical extasis" "that elegance" "who can take that away from them?" "you can make a patent if you want to" " but who can take that away from them?" "our peruvian cajoneros, no one can patent that!" "when cotito sits on the cajon, he is a giant"
"it looks like he was sitting on the ground" "when gigio parodi sits" "del solar, rony campos" "and felix" "and juanchi vã¡squez, caitro soto" "and mr ronaldo campos" "zambo cavero" "it's impossible!" "that is what i visualize when i sit on a cajon,all of them"
"i imitate them, i want to be like them" i was a part of the group peru negro (black peru), one of the founders we won the festival in buenos aires in the year 1969 we where with paco de lucia in a festival all around spain at the theater "la zarzuela" there was paco de lucia watching our group playing cajon
it is as my friend manongo says after paco de lucia came to peru, he got a cajon but spain saw eusebio sirio pititi and ronaldo campos play at that time i was playing the bongã³ and someone else was playing the congas and in the entire year i was in spain i did not see anybody play the cajon (box or drawer) not even the boxes they had at home there are some flamenco groups that play with the cajon
and when they create there fusions and explain how they make their fusions, their music and their instruments they refer to the cajon they say: "the cajon from somewhere in south america" which is actually peru but i don't know why they don't say it therefore i belive that we as peruvians must give the cajon its true meaning
not only as a synonym of "partying" (jarana) but also as a synonym of enormous rythmic possibilities for me it is the percussion instrument of the millenium. they included the cajon more or less 20 years ago as an indispensable instrument twenty years ago they came as part of one of their tours because they are touring all around the world they came to my place, since they are my friends,
they liked the sound of the cajon, they were very interested i gave them some classes about how to build a cajon and they have toured around the world with the cajon i would not be able to sing without a cajon it is like a heart beat it would be like if music was missing its heart the cajon means a lot to me it is a memory
it is something beautiful that accompanies the music i make so then, let it be very clear that the cajon is peruvian and the first one to take it to play flamenco was paco de lucia let it be very clear, i tell this to you and i have witnesses 10th of august 2001: the cajon national institute of culture declared the cajon as "national cultural patrimony"
