[Tango-L] Canyengue as a musical term rather than a dance style.

[Carol Shepherd]

Wow!  This is some beautiful information :)

Thank you very much!!

Andrew RYSER SZYMAÑSKI wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> Canyengue, technically speaking in musical terms,
> means slapping the [double] bass, pioneered by
> Leopoldo Thompson around 1910:
> http://www.elportaldeltango.com.ar/english/orchestras/English/firpoingles.htm
> http://www.todotango.com/spanish/creadores/lthompson.asp
> It was also popular from around 1920 in jazz, mainly
> New Orleans.
> 
> Robert Farris Thompson tells us:
> "Canyengue in music is like the term duende in
> flamenco.  Like the term salanc in the folk music of
> Cataluña.  Salanc in Catalán, duende in Spanish, swing
> in U.S. jazz parlance, all of the above.  Canyengue
> means you know how to swing, you've got the flavor,
> you're culturally appropriate.  And the first
> historical notice – one of the first – Canaro, the
> great orchestra leader, Canaro had a black bassist – I
> call him the Cachao of tango, a big, powerful black
> bassist -- and his name was Ruperto [Leopoldo]
> Thompson.....  And Ruperto was famed for introducing
> [percusses] drumming the side of his bass.  And also
> striking, sometimes drumming, the strings.  And he
> started the tradition of canyengue, that is, the
> drum-izing, or turning melodic instruments into
> percussion instruments. And that is canyengue, when
> percussion begins to dominate at highly sophisticated
> levels, which is one of the definitions of swing, then
> you've got canyengue.  And if you dance with a kind of
> rhythmic flair, you have canyengue."
> 
> http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/86/Robert+Farris+Thompson-2005/
> 
> I haven't been able to hear the Piazzolla piece Igor
> refers to, but there presumably should be some
> bass-slapping on it. If not, Piazolla might be
> referring to the "social" meaning of the word, i.e.
> "sleazy-like, uncouth". Remember that Piazzolla
> constantly went back to the roots of tango, in
> reaction to the very polished stuff that was played at
> the time. 
> 
> http://www.planet-tango.com/lyrics/elchoclo.htm
> http://www.blackwellassociates.com/tangoterms.html
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Andy.
> 
> --- "Barnes, Bob" <BBarnes at mpr.org> wrote:
> 
> 
>>Hi-
>>
>>Canyengue is a whole can of worms when applied to
>>classical musicians.
>>Jazz musicians instinctively know how to swing and
>>how much or how
>>little to add depending on taste.  Your example of
>>Sidney Bechet (early
>>dixieland) and Glen Miller ("In the mood", about 30
>>years later) is apt.
>>The earlier music did not have as much swing as the
>>later ones.
>>Different musicians added different amounts of swing
>>to a phrase.  For
>>instance, check out the difference between Louis
>>Armstrong and Miles
>>Davis playing "Bye Bye Blackbird".  Armstrong's 8ths
>>are very linting
>>and uneven, where Davis plays much stratighter 8ths.
>> I'm sure dancers
>>would interpret both of them differently.
>>
>>In both Tango and Jazz, much of the musicality is
>>what is not written on
>>the page.  If you play the notes exactly as written,
>>it will sound OK,
>>but will miss some "spark" or "soul".  This is where
>>swing or canyengue
>>comes in.  To complicate things further, Tango music
>>is completely
>>arranged (w/ almost no improv) and Jazz relies
>>heavily on improv with
>>complicated arrangments occuring only on the "tops
>>and tails" (start and
>>end) of a tune.  In both tango and jazz arrangments,
>>the notes are
>>usually written "straight" and the players add
>>swing/canyengeu to taste.
>>The musicians devote years of their live becomeing
>>immersed in the
>>musica culture and instinctively know what sounds
>>right and what
>>doesn't.
>>
>>Now for the big wrench in the works: Classical
>>Musicians.  They may are
>>may not be familiar w/ swing, jazz or tango.  The
>>orignal question in
>>this thread refered to an orchestral piece by
>>Piazzolla.  Orchestral
>>musicians can not be expected to "swing" or
>>"canyengue", so the figures
>>are generally written out for them.  This also makes
>>sure that a section
>>of 20 violins swings or canyngues togheter.  The
>>marking "acanyengado"
>>would make more sense for a soloist than a section. 
>>
>>
>>Guardia Vieja groups play with less canyengue than,
>>say, late Pugliese
>>or Troilo.  Modern Tango groups (Color Tango, El
>>arranque, Tango Forever
>>Orchestra) tend to play with a lot of it.
>>
>>I'm sure someone could write a PhD thesis on the
>>musical concept of
>>canyengue.  Unfortunately, I'm not a musicologist
>>and I need to get back
>>to work now.
>>
>>I hope this make some sense.
>>
>>-Bob
>>http://www.mandragoratango.com
>>
> 
> 
> 
> Andrew W. RYSER SZYMAÑSKI,
> 23b All Saints Road,
> London, W11 1HE,
> 07944 128 739.
> 
> 
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Carol Ruth Shepherd
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