point me in a direction...

[castles]

Traditionally, I'm play drum Kit, not percussion but I have borrowed my friends bongos and congas to have a fiddle.

Can anyone recomend or point me in the direction of some cool conga tutorials? (if any) or maybe recommend some music that i should listen to get inspired by?

[zaragemca]

What kind of music are you interested in?

[Ray]

I've heard the Giovanni Hidalgo book with Jose Quintana (Changuito) is pretty good. Our own forum host, Glen Caruba, has a good book on AfroCuban instruments. In videos, LP has some "for beginner videos" from Bobby Sanabria and others.

Is hard to recommend because it depends what are you looking for, i.e., you want to get the basics plus learn other things as well, etc, etc.. Most books or videos will cover a lot of principles of "afrocuban rhythms" like the clave and playing along with the other two instruments, conga and timbal.

Good records for congas....anything from Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barreto, Giovanni Hidalgo and Richie Flores will be good records. (For Richie check anything he has played with Caribbean Jazz Project). Also, Poncho Sanchez, that I do not follow too much, heard is pretty good. There is a great new record from Paoli Mejias that is outstanding.

Hope this helps!

Saludos!

[castles]

What kind of music are you interested in?

Hmm... I don't really know the styles I'm into.. I think mainly jazz and rock. I listen to TOTO a bit and alot of chrisitan music.


Thanks for the tips Ray, I will certainly check out your suggestions.

[Ray]

Castles,

The records I suggested are mainly in the latin jazz field and showcase those congueros (conga players). Therefore, what you will listen there will be variations of the conga playing for the different latin rhythms. (Get the tutorial book, DVD or CD first..It will help you understand much better what they are doing).

The basic of most conga books or tutorials is to play what is called, the standard "tumbao" which is the base for what is call today salsa which is guaguanco, rumba, etc. (Tumbao is the lingo in Spanish for the pattern or groove that you play). Once you have that, you could start venturing into rock, etc. By the way, in rock or "regular jazz" or any other non latin genre what you play in the congas is variations of the standard tumbao..

Toto??? Good choice for Lenny Castro that I know plays there. (Toto fan myself)....Other record rock records???? The best mix of latin with rock is with Santana....Raul Rekow and Karl Perrozo, their latest percussionists. Another good selection for rock is Pearl's own Marc Quinones with the Allman Brothers.Band ...(Check the latest Allman Brother's Live at the Beacon DVD with Marc playing...Highly recommended...Watching somebody motivates more than listening sometimes). Jazz...a lot of Spyro Gyra early records had a lot of percussion. Various percussionists there like Manolo Badrena and Marc Quinones...

I hope this helps!