Once a year, hundreds of Uruguayans of mainly southern European descent paint their faces black and play the drums alongside their Afro-Uruguayan neighbours.
This rhythm is call "candombe", an offshoot of rhythms brought to this South American country by African slaves. Slavery was banned in Uruguay in the mid-19th century In this country with practically no indigenous people and strong integration of the six percent of Uruguayans who are of African descent, what racial prejudice there may be is very subtle.
Socio-cultural integration is a central feature of the "llamadas" (or drum calls), the most important day of Montevideo's carnival for the descendants of African slaves. But what attracts 40,000 people to watch the parade all night is mainly this: fun.
In whatever time their white masters allowed, slaves communicated through drums and dance. The first Llamadas took place at this time. Some historians assert that the word Llamadas – “parade of calls,” refers to the drums Africans played to call out to each other in their homes.
Each tribe had a particular rhythm that could be identified from afar Carnival in Montevideo, the capital of a country of 3.2 million, lasts over a month, making it one of the world's longest, and has distinct historical roots. On the first Friday in February, the streets of Montevideo's Sur and Palermo districts, the neighbourhoods that have traditionally been inhabited by black people, throb with the drum-beats of the three kinds of drums that are used by "tamborileros" to produce the candombe rhythm: piano, chico, and repique.
The groups move along the city streets past the rhythmically clapping spectators, many of whom are seated in temporary stands set up for the purpose. Others pay high prices to local families to rent balconies and rooftop terraces along the street -- with a traditional barbecue included in some cases, as well as an escape from the constant rain of confetti.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W-8eoYiQEg
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/candombe-en-montevideo--comparsa/153222797
Candombe is a music that it is easy to get excited about < "when you hear that rhythm, you can’t sit still.You feel “transported” by the waves of rhythm; and indeed that perfectly captures the feeling one has. Digging deep down into a powerful funk groove, you are simultaneously lifted high, into something approaching trance, where you catch some small glimpse of the rhythmic revelation that is at the heart of all African-based musics"
Like all of the characters, the standard-bearers ("portabanderas") are an obligatory part of every comparsa. Carrying gigantic flags that are quite heavy together with the flagpoles, the men (and a few women) walk with some effort along the street, swinging the flags just above the heads of the applauding onlookers, giving the impression to the uninitiated that they are about to be beheaded, as the flags sometimes chop leaves and entire branches off nearby trees Next in line come sculptures of stars and the moon on poles, representing the animistic traditions of African ancestors, and the worship of nature and the elements. Three main characters lead the llamadas: the Mama Vieja (Grandmother), Gramillero (Old Doctor), and Escobero (Wizard).
The Gramillero walks with a cane as if he’s about to fall over. The Mama Vieja carries an umbrella attending to the Grammillero. The Escobero sweeps the ground with a great baton juggling at the same time with him The owners used to give slaves their cast-off clothes, which were far better than their own, and were used on special occasions only. The "mama vieja" (old mama), still wears a wide colonial-era hoop dress and bonnet and carries a fan in the parade. Despite the mama vieja's large size, she dances enthusiastically with the "gramillero" (herb or medicine man), who is dressed in a top hat and tailcoat, wearing glasses and a long, white fake-looking beard. Without bending his knees, this stiff-looking personification of the tribe's elderly medicine man performs impressive dances, with his stick and bag in hand Meanwhile, the "escobillero" (broom man) dances and twirls a headless broomstick.He walks in front of the flags to clean the bad spirits opening the way for the comparsa.”
Even young children form part of a comparsa: little boys who timidly beat their drums, and small girls who do a great job of imitating the adult dancers: Rows of women in scanty sparkling costumes who move their bodies at great speed to the rhythm of the drums. They are led by the vedettes, the main dancers, some of whom wear a metre-high feather headdress. The dancers and vedettes are the only non-original characters in the group, having been incorporated in the 1950s.
The backbone of the comparsa is formed by the lines of forty to seventy "tamborileros" who hammer the drums, the streams of sweat running down their faces a testimonial to their hard work, while blood can be spotted on the odd hand or drum.The drummers walk very slowly, barely separating their feet as they walk. This rhythm and style of procession is meant to symbolize Afro-descendants’ past and historical roots when their ancestors were made to walk with chains and shackles
Candombe as a cultural tool
Like the African associations of the early 1800s, the comparsas are inherently social, community-building organizations. And that group is in turn embraced and supported by the neighborhood it represents and to which it gives voice. During practice parades, local residents always turned out to clap, to dance, to greet the drummers and dancers and, perhaps most important, to greet each other.
The comparsas use the voices of the African drums to reweave and repair an urban social fabric raveled and worn by the multiple pressures of modern urban life. Some of those city’s Candombe troops feature more than 50 drummers and dozens of dancers. Each neighborhood has its own rhythm and style. In Barrio Sur, where slaves took the music underground in the 19th century, new Candombe troops are emerging today. Today Afro-Uruguayans number around 100,000, or about 6 percent of the population.
For many Uruguayans of Afro descent, Candombe is part of everyday life and resistance in a continually discriminating society. The Llamadas ispracticed all year long, not just during Carnival. Uruguayans have also adopted the increasingly popular Candombe music as part of their national identity. Especially in the past 30 years, the music has influenced White musicians. .
During the '60s the Candombe became a driving force in the development of Uruguayan popular music, combining with practically all musical trends and styles, such as folk music, rock music, jazz salsa, reagge, rap) .The music was used to express resistance to the repressive regime during Uruguay’s bloody military junta from 1973-1984.
Today, Candombe isn’t just heard in Montevideo but has spread to Uruguay’s interior and echoes in Argentina Afro-Uruguayan activists, however, say the modern forms of candombe are a kind of racism. The musicians who popularized the sounds were mainly white.
