Episodes

  • The latest in Cuban reparto
    May 24 2024

    Back by popular demand, Mike Levine joins Rebecca again to speak about the latest happenings in Cuban reparto, including a recent controversy related to the genre's popularity in Peru.

    Check out the new "Fan Mail" option to send Rebecca a message about the episode!

    Songs played:
    Reparto, DJ Yus, Wampi, Nesty, Wow Popy, Un Titico, JP El Chamaco
    Por Ustedes (Pornosotros), Wampi
    Toma que toma, JP El Chamaco
    Birribiri, Harryson

    Wampi live in Lima
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVOxxbOe4Lo&t=4s

    Official video for "Reparto", the response to the controversy, with reparto dancing
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TesmP7wL3wM

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    https://theclavechronicles.buzzsprout.com

    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Pérez Prado in Mexico
    May 10 2024

    Scholar and singer Hannah Burgé Luviano joins Rebecca to discuss the career of the "King of Mambo," Dámaso Perez Prado. Unable to achieve much acclaim in Cuba because of his unique compositional style, Pérez Prado struck gold after relocating to Mexico in the 1940s.

    Songs played:
    México Lindo
    Mi Gallo
    Mambo Politécnico
    Pianola

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    https://theclavechronicles.buzzsprout.com

    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Cuban art music before and after the Revolution
    Apr 26 2024

    Musicologist Marysol Quevedo joins Rebecca to speak about Cuban art music composers of the mid-20th century, such as Harold Gramatges, Juan Blanco and Argeliers Leon. As she details in her recent book, although their works largely relied on classical music structures and forms, they brought in elements of Cuban popular and folkloric music.

    Pieces played:
    Tres preludios a modo de toccata, Harold Gramatges
    Sonata a la Virgen del Cobre, No. 2, Argeliers Leon
    Quinteto No. 1, Juan Blanco
    Cirkus Toccata, Juan Blanco

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    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • The many musical lives of Roberto Borrell
    Apr 12 2024

    Cuban dancer, musician, and educator Roberto Borrell speaks with Rebecca about his incredibly versatile career, spanning popular and folkloric styles. He talks about growing up hearing the legendary bands of the 1950s like Orquesta Aragón and Chappottín y Sus Estrellas, and attending the Black social clubs that were eliminated in the early years of the Revolution.

    Songs played:
    Linda cubana, Orquesta de Antonio Maria Romeu
    Mambo, Arcaño y Sus Maravillas
    La engañadora, Orquesta América de Ninón Mondéjar
    El bodeguero, Orquesta Aragón
    Pare cochero, Orquesta Aragón

    Roberto Borrell dance videos:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHSJFOefUBE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiwhNdxKndY

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    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • The angst and rage of punk cubano
    Mar 29 2024

    Punk cubano emerged during the Special Period crisis, giving young disaffected Cubans an outlet to express their angst and rage, often toward the Cuban government. Carmen Torre Pérez joins Rebecca to speak about the counter-cultural genre and its DIY ethics.

    Songs played:
    Jodidos y perdidos, Rotura
    Eres tú, Eskoria
    Azul, Akupunktura
    Esta no es mi puta guerra, Eztafilokoko
    Ruido en el sistema, Pólvora Soxial

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    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    1 hr and 1 min
  • ICYMI: The poetry and politics of nueva trova
    Mar 22 2024

    (Rerun of nueva trova episode, first aired in July 2023)

    Nueva trova is one of the few Cuban genres that is for listening and reflecting instead of dancing - it's sung poetry, much like other Latin American singer-songwriter genres, namely nueva canción. Rebecca has an in-depth conversation with independent scholar and former Cuban diplomat Eva Silot Bravo about the major figures of nueva trova and how it came to be closely identified with the ideology of the Cuban Revolution. The genre's relationship with the government shifted in the wake of the economic crisis of the 1990s, as newer artists began to openly critiqued the preferential treatment given to foreigners, as well as emigrate abroad.

    Songs played:
    Pablo Milanés, Mis 22 años
    Silvio Rodríguez, Sueño con Serpientes
    Xiomara Laugart, Paria
    Carlos Varela, Foto de Familia
    Gema y Pavel, Se Feliz

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    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Tonada Trinitaria & Guarapachangueo
    Mar 8 2024

    Ethnomusicologist and percussionist Johnny Frias joins Rebecca to speak about one of the lesser known Afro-Cuban folkloric practices, the tonada trinitaria, from the central Cuban city of Trinidad. We then delve into the rumba percussion style that has become dominant in recent decades, guarapachangueo, created by a group of brothers from the outskirts of Havana known as Los Chinitos.

    Songs played:
    Una corona al General Maceo, Conjunto Folclórico de Trinidad
    Plegarias, Grupo Abbilona (Los Chinitos)
    Caridad, Pancho Quinto
    El conflictivo, Humo + La Liga Rumbera

    Learn more about guarapachangueo in Rebecca's book: Geographies of Cubanidad: Place, Race and Musical Performance in Contemporary Cuba

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    If you like this podcast, please subscribe and give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

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    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Afrocuba con Su Ritmo Batarumba
    Feb 29 2024

    Afrocuba de Matanzas is widely considered one of the best preservers of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and dance on the island, but the group also created one of the funkiest and most exciting musical innovations in 1973 when they blended rumba percussion and batá drumming to create batarumba. As the years went on, batarumba became even more complex and versatile, as Afrocuba musicians added in instruments and rhythms from son, Abakuá, Iyesá and adapted the songs of Celia Cruz to a batarumba format.

    Songs played:

    Tambor, Afrocuba de Matanzas
    Baila Mi Guaguancó, Afrocuba de Matanzas
    Caridad, Afrocuba de Matanzas
    Rinkinkalla, Celia Cruz & Sonora Matancera
    Rinkinkaya, Ritmo y Canto

    Learn more about batarumba in Rebecca's book: Geographies of Cubanidad: Place, Race and Musical Performance in Contemporary Cuba

    Send us a Text Message.

    Support the Show.

    If you like this podcast, please subscribe and give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

    Follow The Clave Chronicles on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @clavechronicles
    https://theclavechronicles.buzzsprout.com

    Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

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    40 mins