Practice times for me aren't given up easily. As instructor, student and former competitor, I appreciate full-well the value of high-quality practice as the life-blood of expertise. Yesterday I did just that because, sometimes, there are things that are more important.
Since Laloma's founding a question has hung unanswered, "How is Conjunto Laloma different from 4 de Diciembre?" It's to be expected really, since the five of us: Ana (bass, vocals), Catie (flutes), Jan (violin), Jeremy (tres, vocals) and myself (guitar, vocals) have been, or are still, members of 4de12. Thinking on it, I've got a pretty good bead on how the question came about.
{ Fade back to the past... }
When we started mid-November last year, I was absorbed in the mechanics of resolving scheduling conflicts, constructing a skills and repertoire development programme for the group, and personally coming to grips with an unfamiliar instrument. My background as an educator unabashedly informed the planning; a key concept of which was the quickest route to the State of Independence (see 'Teaching & Salsa').
I defined the State of Independence for Conjunto Laloma as being a short set of six numbers to performance standard; the idea being that there would be enough variety for the practice sessions, substance for a slot at festivals, and context to acquire a strong feel for Cuban music. The provisional songs were to be: Yo soy el sonero, Tributo al son, El tambor, Chan Chan, El carretero, and Monton de estrellas. With all of them having been played by Cuatro de Diciembre at some point in the past, and the first three currently on its playlist, getting to independence would have taken maybe eight weeks.
Luckily there came Christmas.
The break, as it turns out, through creativity and practice in an alternate context (see previous salsa blog posts), harboured the perfect conditions for stimulating a rethink.
Things began as an imperfect enthusiasm on the guitar - where although everything felt alright going through the guajeos of each song, it felt just... well... alright. It wasn't like, "hey! I'm really fired up about playing and learning new stuff!" Inspiration is a more vital key to learning than the State of Independence. It stood to reason that the latter had been built on an unsafe premise, and that I needed to pierce its veil for there to be life in the project long-term.
What is more, I kept finding myself drawn to songs not on the immediate shortlist: Son de la Loma and Lágrimas negras by Trío Matamoros; and Ya lo sé by Calle Real. I was snagged by an uncomfortable doubt: "Was it me being a spoilt brat?" "Was I reaching out for somethings else because they were new and shiny, and putting my wants ahead of the band's needs?"
The subconscious always has something valuable to say, be it softly spoken. I took care to listen.
I thought about the songs that had me intrigued. Why were they such Sirens? It was then that I realised my mistake, it was Thought. The three of them spoke of the Feel of Laloma in all of fresh spring-water's clarity: the State of Independence should have been about Identity, not Preparation. It should have been the answer to, "What is the most compact collection of songs capable of expressing, to the listener, the Essence of Laloma?"
{ Fade to the present }
I have it now... six songs to answer that question. That's why I forwent a valuable practice session so as to share this vision with my bandmates: Chan Chan (Buena Vista Social Club); Lágrimas Negras (Trio Matamoros); Ya Lo Sé (Calle Real); Monton de Estrellas (Polo Montañez); Son de la Loma (Trio Matamoros); and American Sueño (La Excelencia). Actually, I went a bit beyond that the minimum and projected down the line to a possible 14 songs.
The guys I play with are good, very good. And they're motivated self-starters who perform best with more information, not less. I selected cover versions over our originals for the opportunity to learn from the artistry of others; it was something that Ana particularly felt strong about. Originals are a sure way of establishing an unique identity, but I feel that having to reinterpret those beautiful covers as a charanga-based acoustic line-up will, nonetheless, go a long way to doing that.
They're all on board. Jan spoke for us all when he said that he liked the whole collection, albeit more than others. He's honest to a fault, which is something I'd like to believe we all have in common.
Experience of the tension between Identity and Preparation has been valuable to me in many more ways than one. I took it dancing the other night and watched it move about the hall. But that, I'll leave until the next post. In the meanwhile, a truer vision has already done what it was meant to - chart a more enchanting course with a surer hand.
Some sacrifices were meant to be made.
Loo Yen
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