Latin Jazz percussionist, educator, and social activist John Santos is set to release a new album titled ‘Art of the Descarga‘ on August 7, 2020 on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Santos is a well known artist in the San Francisco Bay Area and highly respected in the Latin Jazz field. He has performed with iconic Latin Jazz and Jazz artists such as Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Max Roach, and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also the founder of the Machete Ensemble and has specialized in Afro-Cuban traditions.
John Santos talked to us about his musical background and the ‘Art of the Descarga.’
What are your fondest musical memories?
JS – Playing with elders and icons beginning with my grandfather’s band in 1967. Some of the lesser known elders: Pancho Quinto, Maximino Duquesne, Margie Baker, Dolores Pérez, Ricardo Abreu (Papín), Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Ernesto Oviedo, Alejandro Publes, Raúl de la Caridad González Brito (Lali), Conjunto de Clave y Guaguancó, Los Rumberos de Cuba. Well known elders: Cachao, Tito Puente, Armando Peraza, Flora Purim, Francisco Aguabella, Max Roach, Susana Baca, Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Eddie Palmieri, McCoy Tyner to name a few.
Also, family gatherings with marvelous, informal jam sessions in my grandparents homes, in my parents house where we grew up, in my own homes and other places.
What was the first song, melody or rhythm you learned?
JS – Don’t remember, as music was all around from the very beginning.
How did you become interested in drums and percussion?
JS – Rhythm has always excited me. When I played clarinet in the Boy’s Club Marching Band in the mid-sixties, the percussion always drew my attention. The great Soul, Motown, Funk and Rock we heard at that time was always drums and percussion driven. Then the Cuban percussive instruments and the Puerto Rican and Cuban rhythms played in my Grandfather’s band knocked me out!
What do you consider to be the essential elements of your music?
JS – Rhythm, justice, unity, and love.
How did your percussion style evolve over the years?
JS – From being exposed to so many different kinds of music: Funk, Rock, Blues, all types of Jazz, Cuban dance music, Cuban Folklore, Puerto Rican folklore, Salsa, Brazilian Music, etc, I’ve developed a great appreciation and love for each one and consider myself a student with a vast well from which to draw.
Your new album is titled Art of the Descarga, referring to a type of improvisation. How would you define a Latin Jazz or salsa descarga?
JS – The Descarga is a vehicle for improvisation traditionally based on Cuban rhythms without too much arranging. Beyond that, the sky is the limit.
Tell us a little about the Caribbean genres featured in Art of the Descarga.
JS – A dissertation can be written in reply to that question! Arará represents sacred Cuban traditions from the old West African kingdom of Daomé.
Rumba is a colorful, highly-expressive Cuban music and dance genre that originated in Havana and Matanzas, representing marginalized, working class black communities and is unquestionably among the most important forms of expression in contemporary Latin music of all kinds.
Conga de Comparsa is the exciting music and dance of the Cuban carnaval.
Son is the Cuban grand daddy of Salsa that came to international attention in the 1920s.
The Danzón, a 19th century musical invention by Matancero Miguel Failde, is the national dance of Cuba and gave birth to the charanga (chamber music format) orchestra and the Chachachá.
Mambo has many meanings and is a Cuban Kongo term having much to do with the irresistible polyrhythmic nature of the island’s dance music.
Plena is working class music from Puerto Rico featuring the islamic-derived, hand held frame drums known as panderetas.
Bomba is the oldest and most African music and dance from Puerto Rico. Música Jibara represents the fiercely independent Puerto Rican community of subsistence farmers.
Changüí from Guantánamo is a precursor of the Cuban Son and is defined by it’s highly syncopated rhythmic structures.
Son Jarocho is a traditional music and dance from Vera Cruz, México.
And of course, Jazz itself was born in the ultra-Caribbean port of New Orleans. One thing that unites every one of these forms is that they all must be considered music of resistance. They represent American history (in the true pan-American sense of the word) in the voice of the people.
Who plays on Art of the Descarga?
JS – The John Santos Sextet: Melecio Magdaluyo on saxophones; John Calloway on flute, piano; Marco Díaz on piano, trumpet; Saúl Sierra on bass; David Flores on drums; and John Santos on percussion, coro.
Special guests: Orestes Vilató on timbales; Jerry González on trumpet; Orlando “Maraca” Valle on flute; Anthony Blea on violins; Pedro Pastrana on cuatro puertorriqueño; Tito Matos on percussion; Juan “Juango” Gutiérrez on- percussion, coro; Alex LaSalle on percussion, coro; Héctor Lugo on percussion, coro; Orlando Torriente on vocals; Willie Ludwig on- coro; Julia Gutiérrez on coro; Sandra García Rivera on coro; and Rico Pabón on coro.
How many different percussion instruments do you play?
JS – Couldn’t tell you. I own many dozens and play most of them.
Which is your favorite?
JS – The congas, as I find them among the most challenging.
Where do you get your drums?
JS – Myriad places. Cuba, Puerto Rico, New York, Venezuela, Europe, San Fransisco Bay Area, African and Brazilian importers.
In the United States, there is a widespread belief that in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean drums were banned. However, this doesn’t make much sense to me because Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Atlantic Venezuela and Colombia are full of a wide-range of drums of African origin. I’ve read books by Cuban and Mexican authors that indicate that drums were tolerated by the Spanish colonists. Why do you think the narrative is so different between history told by English speakers and the one told by Spanish speakers?
JS – That question is much more complex than what can be dealt with here. In general, drums were banned everywhere that slavery existed. Exceptions were made with the intention of getting more production from enslaved populations, not out of any sense of tolerance. Again speaking in general terms, most of the exceptions were made in Latin America. The narratives around genocide and slavery have always been distorted and rarely told from the perspective of the annihilated, the marginalized, and/or the enslaved. There is not one narrative from Spanish speakers and one unified version from non-Spanish speakers.
How is the Latin Jazz scene in the West Coast of the United States?
JS – Great talent and creativity. All threatened by commodification and consumer economics.
Do you think there is a difference from the Latin Jazz coming out of the West Coast and other forms made in the East Coast, Puerto Rico and Cuba as well?
JS – Very difficult to generalize, as the music from within each of those regions is not all alike. It is affected by cultural make-up of the inhabitants, commercialization, and mostly, by the vastly varying tastes and creativity of each individual artist.
Musicians from Cuba, Dominican Republic and Panama have embraced flamenco and have collaborated with flamenco musicians. Cuban bassist Yelsy Heredia has become one of the top flamenco bassists. Are you interested in flamenco?
JS – Flamenco is an important root in all Latin American countries and has been embraced throughout the hemisphere. Cuban genius bassist, vocalist and composer, Alain Pérez, is also a staple in Spanish contemporary flamenco. I LOVE flamenco music, but know very little about it. It’s deep and warrants a lot of study that I have not put. However, I have had the great honor and opportunity to perform and record extensively with the phenomenal Spanish Flamenco, Jazz pianist and composer, Alex Conde.
As a music professor, you must be encountering talented musicians. Are there any upcoming artists that we should pay attention to?
JS – Elena Pinderhughes, Samora Pinderhughes, Ashanti, Timothy Angulo, Dan Neville, Dillon Vado.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you in terms of work and livelihood?
JS -It’s been devastating, eliminating dozens of wonderful concerts, lecture series, workshops and music camps with no end in sight, misinformation and ignorance abounding and an utter crook and imbecile steering the ship.
What have been doing these days while there were orders in many countries to stay at home?
JS -Staying at home! And trying my best to keep two teenagers from jumping off a cliff. It’s a full time job!
You live in the San Francisco Bay Area and recently a group of protesters in San Francisco defiled a statue of Miguel de Cervantes, the most important writer in the Spanish-speaking world and beloved by literature fans. He had nothing to do with slavery and was never in the Americas. In fact, he was captured by the Turks and held as a slave in North Africa for 5 years. What do you think about this expression of anti-Hispanic hatred?
JS -I didn’t hear about that. But colonized minds have been successfully manipulated by the old divide and conquer techniques pitting oppressed peoples against each other when in actuality, there is one struggle against this berserk capitalism that supports white supremacy and makes the few rich at the expense of the working class. Radical unity, radical love and radical change are the solutions.
If you could invite musicians or bands to collaborate with, who would it be?
JS -Pavel Urkiza, Gema Corredera, Brenda Navarrette, Lakeisha Benjamin, Bobby Carcasses, Danny Rivera, Dwight Trible, Carolina Cohen, Alain Pérez, Rubén Bulnes, Kacho Montalvo, Christian Nieves, Alvon Johnson, Buika, Amarylis Rios.
Are there any other projects you are currently working on?
JS – Yes. Trying to produce and release Filosofía Caribeña Vol.3. Originally planned for a December release, the pandemic has knocked everything off track. It will be a double CD by my Sextet with the customary cavalcade of awesome, multi-generational guest artists. Here is a list of the musicians: Melecio Magdaluyo, Dr. John Calloway, Saul Sierra, Marco Diaz, David Flores, Ernesto Oviedo, Jerry Gonzalez, Orestes Vilató, Tito Matos, Willie Ludwig, Rico Pabón, Pedro Pastrana, Félix Samuel, Fernanda Bustamante, José Roberto Hernandez, Sandra García Rivera, Charlie Gurke, Anthony Blea, Jonathan Alford, Ismael Rodriguez and John Santos.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.