Афро-кубинские барабаны бонго: история и особенности

Afro Cuban drum

Bongos (Spanish: bongó) are an Afro Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger hembra and the smaller macho , which are joined by a wooden bridge. They are played with both hands and usually held between the legs, although in some cases, as in classical music, they may be played with sticks or mounted on stands. Bongos are mainly employed in the rhythm section of son cubano and salsa ensembles, often alongside other drums such as the larger congas and the stick struck timbales. In these groups, the bongo player is known as bongosero and often plays a continuous eight stroke pattern called martillo as well as more rhythmically free parts, providing improvisatory flourishes and rhythmic counterpoint. Bongos originated in eastern Cuba at the end of the 19th century, possibly from a pair of larger drums such as the bokú. These older, larger bongos are known as bongó del monte and played in changüí. The smaller bongos used in son cubano were popular across Cuba by the 1910s and reached the concert halls of the eastern United States in the 1930s. By the 1940s, bongos and congas were sharing the stage as son ensembles grew in size and Latin music began to cross pollinate with jazz and other genres. During the second half of the 20th century, bongos began to be played in a wide variety of genres, from bachata to Latin rock.

Bongo drums are about high and have diameters of approximately and The shells of the drums and the bridge (the small block that joins them) are usually made of wood, although fiberglass is also common. The heads are typically made of calfskin and attached to the shells via steel hardware that enables their tuning (lug tuning). Originally, metal tacks were used, so the skins had to be tightened by heating the skins with a flame and loosened with water or by striking them vigorously. but many players use beeswax instead.

The origin of the bongo is largely unclear. Its use was first documented in the eastern region of Cuba, the Oriente Province, during the late 19th century, where it was employed in music styles such as nengón, changüí, and their descendant, the son cubano. According to Fernando Ortiz, the word bongó derived from the Bantu words mgombo or ngoma, meaning drum. He hypothesizes that the word evolved through metathesis and by similarity with another Bantu word, mbongo. As explained by eastern Cuban informants to Benjamin Lapidus, the oral tradition among changüí musicians in Oriente is that the bongó originated as a replacement for pairs of bokús that were slung over the player's knee. Ortiz's hypothesis for the origin of the bokú is that their tall unusual shape was the result of a purposeful avoidance of "African looking" drums by Afro Cuban musicians at a time when most drums of that sort were banned. Less supported hypotheses for the origin of the bongos, largely based on their superficial similarity to other twin drums, include the Cuban pailas and timbales (descended from European tympani), the Arab nakers, the North African tbilat (called "African clay bongos"), the Indian tabla, etc.

In the 1920s, bongos were first played in the United States during the recording sessions of Cuban son ensembles such as Sexteto Nacional, which recorded in New York City for Columbia Records. Among the tracks recorded in their 1927 sessions was "Viva el bongó", a song about the instrument itself which—unlike the stylized Cuban son popular at the time—brought percussion to the foreground. Since these recordings were mainly sold in Cuba, they did not have any cultural impact in the US. Things changed one Saturday afternoon in April 1930, when the Havana Casino Orchestra directed by Don Azpiazú debuted their live show at the Palace Theatre in New York. Featuring José "Chiquito" Socarrás on bongos, Don Azpiazú's successful performances and recordings of "El manisero" gave rise to a dance craze known as "rhumba" (in reality based on Cuban son) which led to the widespread use of the bongo among Latin bands in New York. In the early 1930s, Cuban orchestras proliferated in New York, featuring the bongo as key percussion instrument, including those directed by Antonio Machín, Alberto Socarrás, Pedro Vía, Antobal, Enrique Bryon, etc. However, apart from Chiquito Socarrás, who was also a singer, there were no bongoseros of renown and the instrument did not yet permeate American music styles. Spearheaded by the iconic conguero Chano Pozo, the late 1940s saw an exodus of Afro Cuban percussionists from Cuba to the United States. Among the leading bongoseros of Cuban origin in the United States were Armando Peraza, Chino Pozo (unrelated to Chano) and Rogelio Darias, who had a long career in Las Vegas and was known as the King of the Bongo. Many others, however, would become primarily conga players, such as Mongo Santamaría, Sabú Martínez and Cándido Camero. The Latin music scene of New York, and the US in general, was primarily constituted by Puerto Ricans, and many influential bongoseros were Puerto Ricans who learned from Cubans. An early example is Rafael "Congo" Castro, who arrived in New York in 1924 and had a long career as a bongosero in Chicago until the 1980s. In New York, many Puerto Rican bongoseros would go on to join the pioneering Afro Cuban jazz ensembles of the time such as Machito and his Afro Cubans, whose singles "Tangá" and "Mango mangüé"—considered the first examples of the genre—featured José Mangual Sr. "Buyú" on bongos. Mangual's prolific career was continued by his sons José Mangual Jr. and Luis Mangual, who played in a variety of salsa groups in the 1970s. The two biggest Latin orchestras of the 1950s in New York, led by Tito Puente and Tito Rodríguez, were home to two generations of bongoseros represented by Johnny "La Vaca" Rodríguez and his son Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez, of Puerto Rican ancestry. Other Puerto Rican musicians who made a name for themselves on the bongos were Richie Bastar of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Ralph Marzán of Johnny Pacheco's charanga, "Little" Ray Romero, Frank Colón and Roberto Roena. On the other hand, American master bongoseros include Jack Costanzo and Willie Bobo (of Puerto Rican origin), the latter more active on timbales. Other bongoseros who had more impact as timbaleros were Manny Oquendo, Orestes Vilató and Nicky Marrero. American novelty rock acts such as Preston Epps and Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band capitalized on the popularity of the instrument as well as its exotic and rhythmic qualities.