RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It's time for our monthly chat with Alt.Latino about Latin music, and Felix Contreras is with us. But Felix, this does not sound like Latin music.
FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: Hey, Rachel. Well, you know, this month Alt.Latino is about Cuban music and its influence on music made here in the U.S., and this is the most famous example. Check it out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BO DIDDLEY")
BO DIDDLEY: (Singing) He better not take the ring from me.
CONTRERAS: This is known as the Bo Diddley Beat.
MARTIN: Yeah.
CONTRERAS: The guitarist had a hit with it in 1955. And it's actually based on the Afro-Cuban clave. Listen, this is how it goes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BO DIDDLEY SONG, "BO DIDDLEY")
CONTRERAS: (Imitating beat). That's the three-two clave. It's a fundamental beat in Afro-Cuban music. And it's also used by tons of other people, including Buddy Holly and The Grateful Dead.
MARTIN: Obviously, things have changed between Cuba and the U.S. recently. Does that mean we're going to hear more examples of what you're talking about?
CONTRERAS: Absolutely. There's a long history of intercambio, or musical exchange, and Bo Diddley is just one example. And, you know, it never stopped, even after the break in diplomatic relations in 1961.
MARTIN: OK, so how long are we talking about here? How far back does this exchange go?
CONTRERAS: You know, there are traces that go back to the 19th century. But for me, the high watermark was the creation of Latin jazz by Cubans in Havana and New York in the late 1940s. Now, there was a chill after the revolution in 1959, but the guardians of Cuban culture could not stop what was already started. Now, during my recent visit to Havana, I interviewed pianist Carlos Alfonso. And he told me that he was studying in a music academy in 1964 when he heard the Beatles for the first time, which was tricky because music from the U.S. and other, quote, "imperialist countries" was not exactly allowed.
MARTIN: Yeah. I mean, these things only existed on bootlegs and kids listening to stuff on the down-low, right?
CONTRERAS: Exactly. So what he told me was that those who secretly wanted to hear music from outside of Cuba developed a curious workaround. This is him explaining it.
CARLOS ALFONSO: (Speaking Spanish).
CONTRERAS: What he's saying is people who wanted more than what they were told to like, they climbed up on top of roofs clandestinely and picked up signals from radio stations from Florida with small homemade antennas and a little hard work. And eventually, they even pulled down television signals. That's where they were able to hear things like "American Bandstand." So what Carlos Alfonso did was he took that interest and affection for music made in the U.S. and mixed it with Afro-Cuban folkloric music and jazz. And in the 1980s, he started a band called Sintesis.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ASOYIN")
SINTESIS: (Singing in foreign language).
CONTRERAS: This is a track from their first album called "Ancestros," and this track is called "Asoyin." And you're able to hear all of these influences thrown together.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ASOYIN")
SINTESIS: (Singing in foreign language).
MARTIN: Cool.
CONTRERAS: Very cool.
MARTIN: So, you know, this is a conversation about this musical cross-pollenization (ph) between Cuba and the U.S. I've noticed you have mentioned the word jazz twice in this conversation, though.
CONTRERAS: You know, jazz has often been the vehicle for musical cross-pollination. And the most recent example is Yissy Garcia. She is an amazingly talented young percussionist. She's in her late 20s. She studied jazz drumming in the academies there, and she started a band called Banda Ancha. Now, I want to play a track from her album. This is a trifecta of cross-influences, OK? Number one, there is a deejay using hip-hop techniques, so things like sampling and scratching. Number two, she got the idea from American musician Herbie Hancock and his music from the early 1980s. And number three, she mixes in Afro-Cuban Santeria influences. All of that on a Miles Davis tune called "Tutu." Check it out.
(SOUNDBITE OF YISSY GARCIA SONG, "TUTU")
CONTRERAS: There's a Santeria (imitating drums). Those are bata drums.
(SOUNDBITE OF YISSY GARCIA SONG, "TUTU")
MARTIN: When you were setting up that cut of tape from Yissy Garcia and her band you said hip-hop, which, of course, was born in the U.S.
CONTRERAS: You know, it has influenced the whole wide world 'round. And in Cuba, it also mixes with Afro-Cuban music. Now, the deejay in Yissy Garcia's band is also a hip-hop producer. His name is DJ Jigue. He says that Cubans will continue to receive North American culture and it will flow the other way as well. Then and now, he says, it has resulted in new sound and aesthetics and a transformative spirit that is a direct result of this musical exchange. And I think the lesson here, Rachel, is that the politicians should be taking lessons from the musicians, right?
MARTIN: Indeed, indeed.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ME QUEDA VOZ")
GOLPE SEKO: (Singing) Oh la la, oh la la, oh la la (ph).
MARTIN: You can hear lots more about this on Alt.Latino, NPR's music show about Latino arts and culture. Hey, Felix, thanks as always, my friend.
CONTRERAS: Of course. No problem.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ME QUEDA VOZ")
GOLPE SEKO: (Singing in foreign language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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