Comments on The Unlikely Salsero - Don Baarns: Implied Clave in Non Latin Music

Listen to Blondie's 'Heart of Glass'. There's a v...

2010-01-20T15:50:16.150-08:00

Listen to Blondie's 'Heart of Glass'. There's a very clear 3-2 clave pattern at the start.

Tom, Dancing to slower music is a real challenge ...

2010-01-06T10:31:30.572-08:00

Tom,

Dancing to slower music is a real challenge and as a musician playing slower music is similar.

With a slow tune, everything you do is very exposed and obvious. When moving faster I can be a little less precise and it's harder to see if I was sloppy or miss some details.

One of the signs of a more mature dancer is the ability to handle slower songs well.

Don, thx, you understood what i was trying to say...

2010-01-06T05:03:59.297-08:00

Don,

thx, you understood what i was trying to say, and I get your answer..

about less is more:
There are some dancers out there who do not "dazzle"with a million turns and complicated moves (although i also like that sometimes) but simply dance beautifull. I especially like that on the "Salsa romantica". In an evening of dancing I like a good mix between fast music and the slow sensual music. In both, I observe that there are people who loook very good, by doing nearly nothing at the right time (timing is everything).
There are also very few followers (at my level at least) who have the patience and body controll to do a slow dance without being "too quick".(which does not mean that I am very good at this, just that i can observe when it it is not right)

Ah...., so many things to learn, its good that learning is fun :-)

Tom, Questions are always welcomed! I agree the...

2010-01-04T10:43:08.018-08:00

Tom,

Questions are always welcomed!

I agree the baseline doesn't provide a conventional latin/salsa feel. The implied clave is primarily in the bass drum. (I didn't mean to discuss the bass line directly, but it's a GREAT part.)

The bass line goes back and forth between a simple and complex feel, working directly with the bass drum (28 seconds into the tune), playing the same rhythm and laying out (being quiet) the second measure.

Then there are points where the bass line is almost a counter melody (starting at 37 seconds) and establishing a secondary groove both with the bass drum in the first measure and then playing an extended line way beyond the drums.

I suspect you're hearing the "zouk" feel in the extended bass line, and I can buy your feeling. (I'm not an expert in zouk, and I'd suspect that bass line has other influences as well.)

Both the bass and drum tracks also use lots of space (quiet) and it's a fascinating study of "less is more". (Many social dancers could use a stronger grounding in that concept.)

Gee... I suspect I should write an article on that ;-))

Let me know if I missed anything!

Don, at the danger of making a fool of myself in ...

2010-01-04T06:08:07.389-08:00

Don,

at the danger of making a fool of myself in front of you (a drummer and dancer) and the rest of the world :-).....
The "feeling" i get from this music and its (admittedly very catchy) bassline is more a zouk (fast kind zouklambada??, not zouk-love.
is it because there is a very strong first measure and then a "weaker"second measure in which the bass is only implied?

I love this type of article, getting into the musicality aspects...
thanks,
Tom