The Tomás Cruz Conga Method, Vol. III - Softcover

Tomas Cruz; Kevin Moore; Mike Gerald; Orlando Fiol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786670797 ISBN 13: 9780786670796

Publisher: Mel Bay Publications, Inc., 2004

Synopsis

Volume III is the first educational product to tackle the complex subject of Timba, the new musical genre which has been played in Cuba since 1989. Timba represents a quantum leap for all the instruments of the rhythm section and especially the congas. The recordings of Tomás Cruz are considered the most advanced examples of Timba conga-playing and so fascinated the three coauthors that they sought out Tomás Cruz and spent a year and a half studying his style and meticulously documenting it before even considering the idea of publishing it. After many hundreds of hours of passionate research, this labor of love eventually reached fruition as Volume III. Volumes II & I were then written to trace the roots of the style and to understand the path Tomás took to arrive at his phenomenal level of technical mastery and rhythmic creativity.

Much more than a collection of patterns or exercises, Volume III analyzes Timba arrangements from beginning to end, explaining the role of the congas in each section, the relationship to the clave, and Tomasito's creative process, including an exercise which teaches the reader to invent his own Timba conga parts. It was the intricacies of the material of Volume III which inspired the creation of the Step by Step DVD Method, which enables the reader to learn these exciting new rhythms in a fraction of the time it would take working with only written music and audio recordings.

About this title

About the Author:

Tomas Tomasito Cruz was born and raised in Cuba in the middle of the musical revolution of the 90's. By the time he relocated to Miami he had become one of the top congueros in Cuba, playing in what most Cuban music experts consider one of the two or three best Timba bands ever assembled, the 1997-98 incarnation of Paulito FG y su Elite which recorded the groundbreaking CD, Con la conciencia tranquila. The creativity and drive Tomasito's conga tumbaos on that album put him in the very upper echelon of the most competive Latin music scene in the world. Similarly, it took Tomasito very little time to rise to the top of the Miami Latin music scene, playing with Manolin, el Medico de la Salsa, Willie Chirino, Celia Cruz, and many others. He also has a thorough mastery of bongo, Bata, and a deep understanding of Cuban music as a whole. In short, when we set out to write a book explaining the mysteries of Cuban conga playing, Tomasito was our first choice by a considerable margin.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0786670797
• ISBN 13: 9780786670796
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 88