Post #523280 by bananabobs on Sun, Apr 11, 2010 2:13 AM

On 2010-04-08 20:47, Marty Lush wrote:
John-O,
in all seriousness (which I am rarely), you are dead on it. Those "exotic rhythms" are in fact based on Afro-Cuban and traditional African beats and instruments. In fact our national anthem "Quiet Village"(the Denny version) uses guiro as the main percussion instrument...very latin indeed. In the 50's when most of this stuff was coming into its own, Latin music was big as well--ala Tito Puente, Perez Prado, Cugat, and yes, Desi Arnaz. Latin music was considered tropical sounds from far away lands too.

The güiro ("gwee-roh" or "wee-roh"[1]) is a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a wooden stick ("pua") along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role in the typical cumbia rhythm section. The güiro is also known as calabazo, guayo, ralladera, or rascador. In Brazil it is commonly known as reco-reco.

I thought Lush was slurring his words so I had to look it up...