The most distinctive music
of Uruguay
is to be found in the tango & candombe; both genres have been recognized by
UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Candombe originated from the Río de la Plata region, from
music African slaves brought with them to the New World, from
their dances & from their percussion music.
Popular candombe musicians include Hugo Fattoruso & Rubén
Rada. Fattoruso has been a longtime part of the Uruguayan & Latin American
music scene. He was a member of the rock band Los Shakers who I will post
below.
The purest form of candombe takes place each Sunday night on the streets of Montevideo, where many
drummers assemble, playing their drums under the moon lit sky along the Isla de
Flores.
Candombe-beat
began in the late 60s with El Kinto, a band featuring Rubén Rada & Eduardo
Mateo. Emerging at the same time as Los Shakers, they forged their own identity
with very little Western influence.
Here for your edification are fourteen crucial tracks by these
Uruguayan legends. The band’s line-up included members of various
popular Uruguayan candombe bands. It also featured the compositional skills of
poet/panhandler & acid casualty Eduardo Mateo (Ángel
Eduardo Mateo López) along with his alter-ego, candombe legend Rubén Rada. El Kinto began their brief but eventful
life in music playing in the dark shadows at Orfeo Negro (Black Orpheus), a
night club near the Portones de Carrasco in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Inspired by the way Tropicalistas like Os Mutantes were transforming the pop
music of Brazil,
El Kinto embraced their own native music forms. They integrated candombe &
bossa nova into beat music, but they also added their own notion of 'psicodelics'. They experimented with new sounds from their guitars, new types
of vocal delivery, new ways of striking the drums (with little brooms, with
gavels, or their hands).
The beat of candombe formed the rhythm, bossa nova played a
large role in its chords & structure, as did traditional Uruguayan folk
music.
In 1964, Miguel Mattos formed the band
The Hit Fingers. After a few
personnel changes, Mattos changed the name to The Damned with Walter Cambón &
Eduardo Mateo on guitars, Ernesto Soca on piano, Mattos playing bass, &
Carlos 'Chango' Castro on drums. Between 1964
& 1966 they were active in Montevideo as
well as Buenos Aires.
In 1966 they again changed their name to The Knights
& recorded an album of original songs (sung in English) for the label Sondor.
Shortly after the recording was made Miguel Mattos left & Rubén Rada joined the group as singer & conga player with
Luis Sosa on drums & Antonio 'Lobito' Lagarde on bass. Ernesto decided to
go in a more electrified direction & once again the group changed its name,
this time to El Kinto Conjunto though they would be known simply as El
Kinto.
In 1968, Urban Moraes joined El Kinto, replacing
Lobito Lagarde on bass. At the same time Rubén
Rada left the band & Mario "Chichito" Cabral joined as percussionist.
This left an obvious gap on vocals, so Eduardo Mateo, Urban Moraes, & Walter
Cambón took up vocal duties.
When the group finally dissolved in 1970, the line-up was Mateo on guitar & vocals, Walter Cambón on guitar, Urbano
Moraes on bass & vocals, Chiche
Cabral as percussionist, & Luis Sosa on drums. After El Kinto called
it quits, Rubén Rada, Chiche Cabral,
& Lobito
Lagarde formed the band Totem. Walter Cambón
& Luis Sosa formed Limonada. Both groups
became very popular candombe-beat bands. Urbano Moraes went on to a successful solo
career. Eduardo Mateo died in 1990, having composed & recorded a
vast catalogue of fantastic music that is well worth seeking out.
As one journalist noted in 1969, "El Kinto, directed by the
brilliant Mateo, and amplified to the maximum... creates a frenzy of rhythmic
music in which—with force and conviction—pure wave ‘beat’ is synthesized with
the warmth of the African drums."
The result of the group’s tireless experiments is music have stood the test of time & still sounds fresh & engaging today.
decryption code in comments
Lado 1 –
Don Pascual
Muy lejos te vas
Voy pensando
Siempre vas
Estoy sin ti
Yo volveré por ti
Lado 2 –
José
Mejor me voy
Ni me puedes ver
Suena Blanca espuma
Dámelo
Principe azul
Pippo
=======================================================
Los Shakers formed in 1963 in Montevideo, at the
suggestion Hugo & Osvaldo Fattoruso’s uncle. Hugo Fattoruso - piano,
guitar, & vocals & his brother
Osvaldo Fattoruso - guitar & vocals hooked up with
Roberto ‘Pelin’ Capobianco - bass & vocals, & Caio Villa - drums.
They started out playing jazz &
avant-garde music at nightclubs like The Hot Club of
Montevideo for a while. However, Beatlemania was
sweeping through South America at the time,
& the lads wanted their own ‘Fab Four’ group.
The influence The
Beatles had on the group can be heard in their earliest releases & can be
seen in the photograph below, from early 1965.
They moved to Buenos Aires in search of a recording contract with a major labels &
almost immediately signed with the label Odeon Pops. In 1965 they released their first album, the self-titled Los Shakers.
For their second album Shakers
For You their playing was more sophisticated,
introducing new elements to the band's style, especially
psychedelia.
By the time they recorded their last studio album for Odeon
in 1968, La Conferencia Secreta del
Toto's Bar, their music had gone in a new heavier direction. On Toto's Bar their sound was that of psychedelic music mixed with candombe & tango
sounds. Odeon was not happy with the new direction & left the group without
any promotion or support. At this time the band broke up & Hugo &
Osvaldo went on to their own projects in Rio de la Plata.
Osvaldo died of cancer in July 2012.
The album Los Inéditos de… was released in 1977 after the
band had split up, but as the name implies, these were inéditos (unpublished or
unreleased tracks from the original band).
decryption code in comments
FAZ A –
Hasta Luego Cocodrilo
La Larga Noche
Dame
My Bonnie
Dejame Ir
Que Amor
Submarino Amarillo
FAZ B –
Esta es Mi Fiesta
No Fuimos
Solo Quiero Estar Contigo
Pelota de Goma Roja
Nena Baila Shake
Estoy Pensando
Quiero ser Tu Hombre
Enjoy,
NØ
Excelente, me llevo el de El Kinto
ReplyDeletegracias
Gracias por el comentario. Espero que estén disfrutando de El Kinto.
DeleteEl Kinto
DeleteszRckWAa-kq6mOUEHjik6kGt_rhTk-9kjY3A-H-bZmg
Los Shakers
au-tuI9WDYyYE4oOIARw8BzrUaSn8jlWMn4wtNbPywE
muchas gracias!! fue muy dificil encontar circa!
ReplyDeletefinalleeey
DeleteUstedes son bienvenidos. Me alegra poder compartir esa música fantástica.
Gracias por compartir. Es un disco muy difícil de conseguir (en formato físico y digital). Saludos desde Uruguay!
ReplyDeleteGracias por sus amables comentarios ti. Usted no ha mencionado qué banda (tanto?) Pero El Kinto es simplemente uno de mis favoritos (Rubén Rada). Me alegro de que podía hacer esto y gracias de nuevo.
DeleteChe no entiendo, cómo descargo?
ReplyDeleteCopie el código de descifrado de los comentarios para el álbum que desea. Seleccione el título debajo de la portada en el artículo anterior. Se le mandará a MEGA. Ellos van a requerir un código de descifrado. Pegue el código que ha copiado (simple corte y pegar) donde se indica y descargar a su ordenador.
DeleteMuchas gracias desde Brasil! Me gusta mucho este genero latino. Tenemos un similar en Brasil, llamamos a carimbó do estado del Pará. Estoy muy feliz de haber encontrado!! Ahora, voy a revelarla ;)
ReplyDeleteRealmente aprecio el comentario de Brasil. Una gran cantidad de buena música a partir de ahí abajo. Gracias por el comentario.
DeleteO link esta inválido .
ReplyDeleteDesculpe, não respondi antes. Eu tenho estado extremamente ocupado. Vou reenviar o arquivo o mais rápido possível e informá-lo. Por favor, seja paciente. Obrigado por me informar sobre o link quebrado.
Delete