ILEANA SANTAMARIA ORCHESTRA - NOW TIMBA SON RUMBA (AS OF 2007): What I Want

Ileana Santamaria Orchestra - NOW Timba Son Rumba (as of 2007)

What I Want

© 2006 Ileana I. Santamaria (837101210706)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

From the main stages of Jazzfests to your living room, Mongo Santamaria's youngest daughter Ileana and her band of world-class musicians take you on a musical journey-she belts and croons her way through Afro-Latin musical idioms with ease and authority.

try this

genres you will love

By Location

Recommended if you like ...

notes

About WHAT I WANT:

This versatile offering features a number of Afro-Latin classics in genres ranging from Cuban timba and 6/8 to Brazilian bossa nova (Mayeya, Desde que o samba e samba), alongside refreshingly original takes on these traditions (Hmmm...delirio, I What What I Want, Nadie como tu) written by lead vocalist, songwriter, and bandleader Ileana Santamaria. The by turns powerful and gentle songstress weaves the common thread of African diasporic rhythms through the set of songs, all the while bringing out their specificity and diversity (Aguacero e'mayo). She does so with the help of a formidable crew of musicians, such as Cuban percussionist and vocalist Pedro Martinez of Yerba Buena, Puerto Rican bassist Hector "Maximo" Rodriguez of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Conjunto Clasico, Cuban master drummer Ernesto Simpson, and saxophonist and arranger Paul Carlon. Carlon's original arrangements on a number of the tracks capture the essence of the musical mix of tradition and experimentation on the album and demonstrate a profound understanding of and appreciation for all things Afro-Latin. On the Paul Carlon arrangement that closes out the album, Ileana's songwriting shines through as she pays tribute to her legendary father, Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria (Cancion para Papa), aptly bringing the set of songs full circle and back to the Cuban birthplace of both father and daughter, its traditions, and the source of Ileana's inspiration and motivation to explore the many sister musics throughout Latin America. This CD is but the first chapter in what promises to be a lifelong journey in doing so, and it has proved an auspicious start.


The Players:
Ileana Santamaria - Lead vocals, songwriting, creative direction, production
Paul Carlon - Tenor saxophone, musical direction, songwriting (on track 2), flute, arrangements (on tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, and 10)
Pedro Martinez - Percussion, drumset (on track 2), vocals
John Stenger - Piano, arrangement (on track 8)
Hector "Maximo" Rodriguez - Bass, vocals
Ernesto Simpson - Drumset
Alex "Pope" Norris - Trumpet
Mike Rodriguez - Trumpet (on tracks 2, 3, and 8)
Jhair Sala - Percussion (on tracks 2 and 5), party vocals (on track 1)

Guest artists:
Jorge Bringas - Bass (on track 3)
Armando Gola - Bass (on track 6)
Wolfgang Barros - Colombian percussion (on track 6)
Pete Smith - 9-string guitar (on track 4)
Octavio Kotan - Electric guitar (on track 9)
Gilmar Gomes - Brazilian percussion (on track 9)

Guest arrangers:
Yosvany Terry - on track 5
Samuel Torres - on track 6

Kamilo Kratc - Sound engineer
Sam Amato - Assistant sound engineer

SUMMER 2007 UPDATE:
NEW YEAR, NEW OUTLOOK - Ileana Santamaria Orchestra becomes...

Timba Son Rumba!!!

Ileana Santamaría and Pedro Martínez, both founders of the Ileana Santamaría Orchestra (est. 2004) and co-producers of its debut release, What I Want (2005) continue to build on the original material and arrangements of that album, with the following purpose in mind:

Representing contemporary Afro-Cuban popular and folkloric music, and proving that there is a continuity and indeed a symbiosis between forms traditionally relegated to the "folkloric" rubric, like Rumba and Santeria/Yoruba music, and more commercially marketed "popular" forms like Timba and Son/Salsa. All are descended from the same rich Afro-Cuban rhythms, songs, and traditions, and the best Cuban music comes into being when musicians are fully versed in ALL these African-descended traditions and can therefore draw upon all of them.

The Timba Son Rumba story:

The Afro-Cuban musical and cultural consciousness is a family affair with these two, who have developed a family of their own in their band. Pedro and Ileana have worked together in various bands over the past six years, and they have become close friends in the process, or more like siblings, even. Ileana likens it to a big brother/mentor - little sister relationship, as she has had the privilege to study and learn a tremendous amount about the Afro-Cuban musical traditions that mean the most to her, specifically those of Rumba and Santeria music, up close and personal with Pedro.

At the young age of 34, Pedro Martínez is already a living repository of Afro-Cuban music, truly a master and a legend in the making. Pedro grew up in Cayo Hueso, a predominantly Black Cuban neighborhood where Rumba and Santeria music were part and parcel of one's musical education, acquired primarily on the streets of Central Havana. Pedro studied Bata drumming, Santeria chants, and Rumba drumming, song, and dance from the age of 12, and by virtue of his talent, dedication, and devotion to his craft, earned the opportunity to play and tour with such legendary groups and performers as Rumba institution Yoruba Andabo and the great percussionist Tata Guines. Since coming to the United States, Pedro began an illustrious career on the right foot by winning first prize in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute’s Latin Hand Drum Competition in 2000. He has spent the past seven years raising his profile through a steady musical and creative output, recording, performing, and touring with artists in a variety of genres, from Jazz (Cassandra Wilson, Stefon Harris) to Latin Jazz (Conga Kings, Jane Bunnett & the Spirits of Havana, Brian Lynch, Jerry & Andy González) to pop, funk, and fusion (Me’shell Ndege’Ocello, Michelle Rosewoman), and he is a founding member, performer, and composer in renowned producer and bandleader Andres Levin’s Grammy-nominated Afro-Cuban/Afro-Beat fusion band Yerba Buena.

As for Ileana, Afro-Cuban cultural and musical consciousness comes to her both by inheritance - her father being the late great Cuban percussionist, composer, Latin Jazz pioneer, and champion of Afro-Cuban heritage and roots, Ramon "Mongo" Santamaría, and by concerted effort: Ileana's Cuban mother Ileana Mesa's equal love and reverence for these traditions and constant investment in exposing young Ileana to opportunities to assimilate these traditions as her own, through trips to Cuba to study Afro-Cuban dance, attend concerts of premier Cuban dance bands since she was a child, and through plenty of good music - from Cuba, but also from Brazil, the US, and elsewhere in Latin America - being played at home. This sort of culturally rich and cosmopolitan upbringing set the stage for Ileana's later apprenticeship and collaboration with Pedro, that now culminates in their joint project, Timba Son Rumba.

What’s in a name? Timba Son Rumba as double meaning

Ileana came up with the name when she remembered an ad lib by Mayito “Van Van” Rivera, one of the best-loved and most Afro-Cuban rooted frontmen of the legendary Cuban dance band Los Van Van. The ad lib, or “soneo” (improvised response to a call, a Cuban tradition born out of the African call and response) says “rumba no son bolero, mambo no son cha-cha-chá”, which means “rumba ain’t bolero, mambo ain’t cha-cha-cha”, referring to different Cuban rhythms. The song, “De La Habana a Matanzas” (“From Havana to Matanzas”, the two capitals of Rumba in Cuba) is bandleader and composer Juan Formell’s tribute to the Afro-Cuban Rumba. In this particular ad lib, Mayito is quoting a popular Black Cuban saying from music, and a grammatical mistake, misconjugating the verb “ser”, figures prominently, reflecting the way some Afro-Cubans traditionally spoke Spanish. The correct conjugation would be “mambo no es bolero”, but the particular flavor of the old Afro-Cuban deformation of the verb, from es to son, lends itself to use in the double meaning that gives Ileana and Pedro’s band its new name. Yes, Mambo ain’t Bolero, and Rumba sure ain’t Cha-cha-cha. But what we can say for sure is that Timba, this contemporary Cuban dance music, and Cuba’s answer to New York & Puerto Rican Salsa – which is also rooted in Afro-Cuban rhythms like Son, Mambo, Rumba, Guaracha, and Cha-cha-chá – truly is Rumba in a sense. Timba es, or rather, Timba Son Rumba. For Timba gets its deep polyrhythmic matrix and “pockets” from its deep debt to Rumba clave and straight-up Afro-Cuban folkloric musical forms. Hence, Ileana’s idea – and deep conviction – that Timba indeed is Rumba, or Timba Son Rumba, that without Rumba, there would be no Timba. The dual meaning of the misused verb “son” (from ser, to be), allows the band name to shout out yet another important Afro-Cuban genre, the Son, which has also been the mother of contemporary rhythms like Timba and Salsa.

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • plz listen
    author: Anais flores

    it was great this is going to sound crazy ok me and my sis were adopted a told that mongo santamaria was our uncle now we are not looking for money or anything but we were wondering if maybe someone new this name ernesto santamaria was our dad my email is AnaVic30@gimail.af.mil i am 21 birthdate 12/12/86 my sis is barbra 22 and her birthdate is 12/4/85

  • Una Maravilla Musical! AfroJazz con Rumba !!
    author: Omar Cordova Zarate

    Una amalgama riquisima de musicalidad. Un disco para escuchar, para bailar y sobre todo un disco para admirar. Coleccionable!! Sonidos contemporáneos y originales es lo que tiene esta producción, pasajes de jazz, cumbia, salsa, funky y sobre todo la influencia Afro. Una banda poderosa!! Arreglos espectaculares!! Mis favoritos: Mayeya (que ya se baila en Descarga en el Barrio), Aguacero e' Mayo, Mas que nada... en realidad todas son mis favoritas. Sin temor a equivocarme esta maravillosa producción marca el inicio de una figura importante para la música: Ileana Santamaría.

  • Una Maravilla Musical! AfroJazz con Rumba !!
    author: Omar Cordova Zarate

    Una amalgama riquisima de musicalidad. Un disco para escuchar, para bailar y sobre todo un disco para admirar. Coleccionable!! Sonidos contemporáneos y originales es lo que tiene esta producción, pasajes de jazz, cumbia, salsa, funky y sobre todo la influencia Afro. Mis favoritos: Mayeya (que ya se baila en Descarga en el Barrio), Aguacero e' Mayo, Mas que nada... en realidad todas son mis favoritas. Sin temor a equivocarme esta maravillosa producción marca el inicio de una figura importante para la música: Ileana Santamaría.

  • ALMOST FORGOT MY FAVORITE SONGS
    author: Nicholas MAchado

    Samba tu quiere, rumba te voy a dar Mayeya & Aguacero e' mayo

  • loved the fusion...creating something modern while honoring tradition.
    author: Nicholas Machado

    If you love Latin groove with a soulful edge, this is a great CD. It is wonderful the way that traditional elements of Afro-Latin music were blended seamlessly into jazzy salsa's and post-modern funk to bring you something truly MODERN encompassing both the NEW WORLD and the OLD WORLD. I especially loved some of the interludes that broke up the songs and gave you a kick when they ended.

  • A Great Blend of International and Contemporary Sounds!
    author: Gabriela Richard

    This is a must CD for your international and contemporary music library. Ileana and the group seemlessly intertwine traditional Latin rhythms from around the world with a contemporary twist. It is a lovely blend of energetic and contemplative sounds that keep you entertained for the long-run! My favorities are Aguacero E' Mayo, I Want What I Want, Hmmm . . . Delirio, Mayeya, and Cancion Para Papa.

  • A Great Blend of International and Contemporary Sounds!
    author: Gabriela Richard

    This is a must CD for your international and contemporary music library. Ileana and the group seemlessly intertwine traditional Latin rhythms from around the world with a contemporary twist. It is a lovely blend of energetic and contemplative sounds that keep you entertained for the long-run! My favorities are Aguacero E' Mayo, I Want What I Want, Hmmm . . . Delirio, Mayeya, and Cancion Para Papa.

  • Miss Santamaria is a true heir of Mongo's musical talent
    author: Mercedes V. Gonzalez

    Miss Santamaria is a true heir of Mongo's musical talent and charisma - her voice, her compositions, her choice of music in this CD, are all very exciting and beautiful. I was very moved with "cancion para papa" and having had the privilege to know Mr. Santamaria, I know how proud he would be if he could listen and see his youngest child on stage. I am looking forward to hear more of her work.

  • Fantastic music and lyrics
    author: Francesca Lorusso Caputi

    What a fantastic cd. It is a must in our music libraries and it is worth to watch the group performing! My favourite: Cancion para Papá.

email

Please log in to email this artist.