Content tagged with: Cuban Musicians

New Book on Serge Gainsbourg

“Latin” Gainsbourg and the Parisian Nightclub Scene

Sue Miller (Leeds Becket University)

That Serge Gainsbourg made use of Cuban music on recordings such as “Mambo Miam Miam” (mambo/chachachá), “L’Eau à la Bouche” and “Cha cha cha du Loup” (chachachá), and “Couleur Café” (Cuban son), is well known. Perhaps less explored, at least in terms of musical influence, is Gainsbourg’s background as a performer and musical director within the 1950s Paris nightclub scene and the important role his father Joseph Ginsburg had on his musical development. Both Joseph and Serge (Lucien) Ginsburg worked in Paris cabarets and the history of live music in Paris therefore holds a key to understanding Gainsbourg’s eclectic artistic output.

A Musico-Choreographic Analysis of a Cuban Dance Routine – Animation Demonstrations

This practice research by Prof. Sue Miller, Guillermo Davis and Dr Sarah Bowen is based on the analysis of a live performance on Cuban television of ‘Los Problemas de Atilana’ by Orquesta Aragón in the early 1960s, where musical gestures are shown to be embodied in the flute and dance solo ‘duet’ performed by Cuban flautist Richard Egües and dancer Rafael Bacallao. Through re-performance and re-presentation in the form of a recording and short animations, the many meanings embodied in the original performance are examined through analytical text, musical notation, visuals, recordings and animation film. The article will be published soon in the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Journal and below are some of the animations made to go with this article. Animations are by Cuban dancer-animator Guillermo Davis and the music is recorded by Sue Miller (flute) and her band Charanga del Norte.

NEW BOOK – Improvising Sabor – Cuban Dance Music in New York

Improvising Sabor: Cuban Dance Music in New York begins in 1960s New York and examines in rich detail the playing styles and international influence of important figures in US Latin music. Such innovators as José Fajardo, Johnny Pacheco, George Castro, and Eddy Zervigón dazzled the Palladium ballroom and other Latin music venues in those crucible years. Author Sue Miller focuses on the Cuban flute style in light of its transformations in the US after the 1959 revolution and within the vibrant context of 1960s New York.

Sue Miller features on the Radio programme Tropicana Musical in Brazil

Sue Miller was interviewed on the radio programme Tropicana Musical in Brazil by ethnomusicologist and broadcaster Edwin Pitre and is now available as a podcast.The interview on the history of Cuban charanga is mostly in Spanish and features music from Orquesta Tata Peireira, Arcano y sus Maravillas, Fajardo y sus Estrellas, Orquesta Aragon, Orquesta Belisario Lopez, Orquesta Broadway, Charlie Palmieri y su Charanga Duboney, Johnny Pacheco y su Charanga, Estrellas Cubanas, Orquesta Sublime and Charanga Rubalcaba.

New book Improvising Sabor pre-order half price in the 2021 special offer

You can get my new book Improvising Sabor: Cuban Dance Music in New York for only $20.21 until December 15th 2020 if ordered online which is a bargain especially for the hardback version.

New Book by Sue Miller – Improvising Sabor: Cuban Dance Music in New York

My New Book comes out next year in hardback and paperback and if you pre-order there are really good discounts available from the University Press of Mississippi. More details here: https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/I/Improvising-Sabor

British Academy Grant Awarded

A new research project – bringing to life the practice and history of mid-20th century New York-based Latin music – has launched at Leeds Beckett.

Cuban Flute Style: Interpretation and Improvisation review in Latin American Music Review Journal

Review by Sunni Witmer of ‘Cuban Flute Style: Interpretation and Improvisation’ by Sue Miller in Latin American Music Review, Volume 37, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2016, Published by University of Texas Press
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/619638

‘All in all, Miller’s book is a valuable contribution to the scant research on charanga, and it is especially informative for those interested in improvisation, performance practices, analysis of popular music, flute performance, and, of course, Cuban music.’

Review in Ethnomusicology Forum Journal

Sue Miller’s monograph on Cuban flute style will be of interest to ethnomusicologists and flautists alike. It is a clearly written, highly musical book that serves as both a guide to performance practice and an academic text. Miller brings together performance as a research technique, interviews with musicians, lessons with renowned flautists, and detailed and extensive transcription and analysis of recordings to create a ‘musical archaeology’ (246) of creative processes, interpretation and improvisation in Cuban charanga flute performance.

Son Yambu with Special Guest Sue Miller London 23 November 2015

Sue is performing Cuban music at a lecture by Katia Chornik to launch her new book: Alejo Carpentier: Blurring Genres (Monday 23rd November at 6.30. Instituto Cervantes, 102 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AN). The event will include live Cuban music by Son Yambu (www.sonyambu.com) with special guest Sue Miller, and will be followed by drinks.
Reserve your seat at reservas.londres@cervantes.es

CharangaSue.com