Songs journalist as well as broadcaster Gianluca Tramontana reviews the relevance of Changui music in the Guantanamo region of Cuba.
(SOUNDBITE OF TUNE, “CUIDAO DISADVANTAGE LA LENGUA”)
LAS FLORES DEL CHANGUI: (Speaking Spanish).
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
In the Guantanamo area of Cuba, there’s a design of music that’s been around for centuries.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAS FLORES DEL CHANGUI TRACK, “CUIDAO DISADVANTAGE LA LENGUA”)
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It’s called Changui.
GIANLUCA TRAMONTANA: Long before it became a category, Changui was words for pot.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: That’s Gianluca Tramontana. He’s a songs journalist, broadcaster and currently producer of a new box set, “Changui: The Audio Of Guantanamo.” He invested over two years traveling to Cuba, recording the typical audios.
TRAMONTANA: It came out of the country hacienda communities of eastern Cuba, primarily the Guantanamo region. And on Friday, after workers would certainly work the areas, they would certainly start playing music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CUIDAO DISADVANTAGE LA LENGUA”)
LAS FLORES DEL CHANGUI: (Vocal Singing in Spanish).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Tramontana stated the artists needed to improvise their tools.
TRAMONTANA: You recognize, in remote rural areas, you didn’t have limitless tools. So it was homemade, spontaneous songs. They would perhaps order a machete and also a machete sharpener and also scrape that to make a guayo audio. They could obtain a couple of dried gourds for the maracas. Or they may even get a cow skull, and the jaws – the teeth and also the jaws rattle, and also they could shake that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CUIDAO CON LA LENGUA”)
LAS FLORES DEL CHANGUI: (Vocal Singing in Spanish).
TRAMONTANA: It’s riff-based. It’s different than many Cuban music. Generally talking, Cuban songs gets on the clave. It’s straight time on the beat. Changui is extremely different. It’s syncopated. It swings, and also it’s call-and-response.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CUIDAO DISADVANTAGE LA LENGUA”)
LAS FLORES DEL CHANGUI: (Vocal Singing in Spanish).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Tramontana says as he searched for the sounds of Changui, he located a great deal of modern versions. However he truly wished to get to the origin of the music.
TRAMONTANA: So ultimately, I just needed to go out to Guantanamo City myself. And what I located was a living, breathing culture. Changui is not actually something you do. Changui is a life. You live as well as take a breath Changui. The Changui musicians, they’re birthed right into it, as well as they’re Changuiseros from the cradle to the tomb.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Such as this team, Las Flores del Changui.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CUIDAO CON LA LENGUA”)
LAS FLORES DEL CHANGUI: (Singing in Spanish).
TRAMONTANA: They’re an all-female team, as well as they all originate from the Changui life. They all grew up in remote country communities, as well as they all matured around three-day Changuisis (ph).
(SOUNDBITE OF TRACK, “CUIDAO CON LA LENGUA”)
LAS FLORES DEL CHANGUI: (Singing in Spanish).
TRAMONTANA: Floridia, who’s the bandleader of Las Flores, discovered to play tres from her grandmother, who was a tres gamer. As well as Floridia’s daughter is in the band, too. So she’s continuing a four-generation tradition.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Tramontana’s recordings include a number of Changuiseros. However most of all, they record the spirit of what makes the music from Guantanamo so unique.
(SOUNDBITE OF TUNE, “INSPIRACION DE LOS PUEBLOS”)
GRUPO FAMILIA VERA: (Singing in Spanish).
TRAMONTANA: It’s public. It’s inclusive. It’s largely improvisated. If you have something to sing as well as if you want to get involved, you can participate in and also sing and get involved, and everybody playing the songs will certainly comply with.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: That’s Gianluca Tramontana. He generated package set “Changui: The Noise Of Guantanamo,” out on July 30.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “INSPIRACION DE LOS PUEBLOS”)
GRUPO FAMILIA VERA: (Vocal Singing in Spanish).
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