The Bass Starts Singing

How the tumbao escaped the background and became a melodic, improvising and even singing lead voice.

The bass is easy to mistake for background, but in Afro-Cuban music it pulls the whole band forward through the tumbao: a syncopated line that anticipates the beat instead of simply landing on it. Arsenio Rodríguez demanded that it sing. Cachao made it converse and improvise, first inside the remade charanga and then in the descarga. Fruko gave electric bass a distinctly Colombian weight; Bobby Valentín drove the Fania era; and Oscar D'León turned playing, singing and showmanship into one role. In Cuba, Juan Formell used the instrument to help build songo with Los Van Van. The foundation became a lead voice.

Theme

instrument

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