Afro-Caribbean Practical Playalongs - review in Modern Drummer magazine, March, 1998 issue

Afro-Caribbean Practical Playalongs for the DrumSet

This package features a 74 minute CD and 26 page booklet that allows students to investigate some Afro-Caribbean grooves in a real playing situation through the use of "music minus one" tracks. The nine tunes are recorded with and without drum tracks; this allows the reader to first check out how the tunes can be played, and then provides the opportunity to put on the headphones and give it a try without the drumtrack.

Seven Afro-Cuban grooves are included in the styles of songo, son montuno, mozambique (New York style), 6/8, chachacha, and mambo. Two Brasilian grooves, the bossa nova, and the jazz samba, are also included. Chuck gives some brief background information on each groove, which helps in conceptualizing where these rhythms come from and how to play them. The bossa nova chart is particularly good for the beginning reader, being straight-ahead and focusing on keeping good time with no major kicks. It provides good practice at following charts, making all repeats, and taking the DS al coda.

The chachacha, "La Orquesta", is much more involved, bringing to mind Ray Barretto's band from the 1970's with its hard drive and clever cierres (breaks). The son montuno track, which is a basic repetitive groove (it does not include a chart), is also an excellent way to practice solos on timbales, congas, bongo, and drumset. The same hold true for the mambo and chachacha loops.

Overall, this CD/book package provides a good source of groove practice and reading chart material for drummers, and can also be used by timbale players, congueros, and bongo players as well.

Victor Rendon

Drumset Artists Of Cuba - review in Modern Drummer magazine, January 1998 issue

Chuck Silverman has provided an enormous service to the world drumming community by capturing four of the finest Afro-Cuban drummers performing in their native land of Cuba (with the exception of the performance of the group Sntesis, filmed in Montreaux, Switzerland).

Although we are correctly warned that the audio and visual quality of this video are sub-par (camera angles are highly restricted), the wealth of ideas and techniques displayed are worth straining your eyes and ears for. Drummers Raul Pineda (SĖntesis) and Jimmy Branly (NG La Banda) open with an astonishing Roach vs. Rich-style drum duet, displaying the influences of Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Steve Gadd on this new generation of Latin/jazz drummers. More "traditional Latin"-sounding in their technique are Jos Manuel Sanchez with his band Rojitas and Samuel Formell with Los Van Van.

All four drummers are shown performing with their bands, and each incorporates Latin percussion in their drumkits, providing groundwork for new and very challenging ideas to explore. Though there are a few short lesson segments, without the accompanying mini-booklet the majority of this information is nearly impossible to digest, especially since none of the drummers speak English. (Silverman does supply subtitles for the lesson segments.)

DCI would be well served to expand on this concept and really dig into the heads of Raul Pineda and Jimmy Branly; these two young monsters should soon be joining the ranks of Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez in deification by the drum community.

Mike Haid