Candombe and Milonga

[Leonardo De Leon <TangoLeon @AOL.COM>]

I would like some information on the candombe influence in milonga.

I recognize that candombe is an African-Argentine dance and music. I have
heard the term 'milonga candombada' used to describe milonga rhythm music
with a strong percussion element, typically drums. The drumming style sounds
similar to Afro-Cuban drumming to me, which makes sense, due to the African
origin of the candombe. (Please tolerate liberal use of musical terminology -
I'm not a musician.) There are some songs that clearly fit this pattern. For
example, Alberto Castillo has a CD with 'Candombes y Milongas' which clearly
labels some songs as 'candombe' and others as 'milonga'. The candombe songs
are challenging to dance milonga to (very fast), with potential serious
consequences on technique. Nevertheless, they are fun. (I trust this is
permissable, although some purists would probably disagree.) The songs
labeled as 'milonga' on this CD fall within the normal tempo of milonga.
Most, if not all of them have a strong percussion element, and thus I would
imagine these could all be labeled as 'milonga candombada' (if one accepts
that term, which I've heard is not universal, i.e., it is a modern invention,
not used historically).

Beyond the Castillo CD recordings (and a French CD which I think was called
'Tango Negro' I heard played at a milonga - does anyone recognize this and
know how to obtain it?), it is unclear to me what music would classify as
'milonga candombada'. Calo's 'Azabache' has a strong percussion element and
has several verbal references to 'candombe'. Demare's 'Carnavalito' has the
African-sounding precussion, but without verbal references to candombe.
Stretching the limits further might be Laurenz's 'Yo soy de San Telmo', with
strong precussion elements without drums (which I believe are achieved mostly
with the bass line of the piano). I hesitate to include Francini-Pontier's
'Taquito Militar' from the 'milonga candombada' category because the drumming
doesn't sound African-based/derived to me.

Any other music you believe fits the classification of 'milonga candombada'?

This is all relevant because it might affect the way one would dance milonga.
The only visual image I have of 'milonga candombada' has come from a brief
demonstration within a milonga workshop. All I vaguely remember is some
side-to-side and forward-and-back swaying motions. (I can only incompletely
visualize this from memory.) Can this be similar to the 'Cuban motion' I saw
some apparent salseros do at a milonga? When I saw milonga danced that way, I
thought it was odd, especially after the numerous admonishments I had
received from a tango instructor in my early tango days to 'take the rumba
motion out of my tango' (certainly the consequence of years of Latin
dancing).

In any case, I'd be interested in hearing some clarification of the
differentiation of milonga candombada (music and dance) from other variants
of milonga.

Leonardo

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