Title: Mambo Music
Performers: Pacific Mambo Orchestra
Culture of Origin: Latin America
Instrumentation: Vocals, piano, bass, congas, bongos, timbales, trumpets, trombones, saxes
I believe there are a few creating music strategies from Campbell present in this performance. The most notable is the groove which Campbell (2004) defines as "the way ensemble musicians interact during performance" (p. 201). Throughout the video you can see visual communication, body language, and even speaking between members of the ensemble. In terms of the music, the percussion instruments keep the musical groove propelling through the entire performance. Campbell (2004) encourages people to improvise short rhythmic patterns based on the groove and this happens several times in the piece by a variety or performers on different instruments. The piano starts the piece with the groove. This also becomes one of the motives for the piece which Campbell (2004) also defines as a "melodic or rhythmic fragment used to construct a larger musical entity" (p. 203). This qualifies as a motive because Campbell (2004) says a motive should be "shorter than a theme (typically 4-5 pitches in an interesting rhythm)" and should be played "at several pitch levels" (p. 203). There is also a secondary motive which jumps around quite a bit and is a staple in many Latin American styles. This can be heard in the piano part at around 1:09 in the recording (under the bari sax solo).
Hi Matt! I'm going to comment on your blog since we didn't have a discussion post for this week.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great example of creation. I was particularly struck by your reference to musician interaction. This statement reminded me this is an important detail to maintain when creating and performing music from other cultures. Playing this song directly from a chart would not adequately convey the cultural context.
I remember joining a church praise and worship band in high school with a few friends. In our first few rehearsals, we tried to transcribe every note for performance. We were completely unprepared for the songs to keep flowing for close to an hour. Over time, we began learning the melody by ear and improvising with the flow of the music. We had joined this ensemble with our own culture of music (i.e.- always playing from written notation), but our experience in the ensemble changed when we learned to adapt to the culture we were in; we had to learn to use the melody as a guide and feed off the musicians we were performing with.
When considering the level of authenticity we want to give our students, we must remember musician interaction. We should consider if we are allowing them to dwell on their own island of music notation among an ocean of performance or if we are encouraging them to interact.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI notice a lot of parallels between our posts this week, as I chose a bossa nova performance to illustrate the creating music strategies of groove and motivic development. Latin American music lends itself well to teaching these elements. One aspect that my students always love in Latin music is the layering of rhythms to create complex polyrhythm. Starting at around 0:40 in the video, there is a great example of this that leads up to the bari sax solo. Creating a groove by layering simple motives is a great way to get our students creating world music. Great tune and video - thanks!