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Sue Miller – Cuban Flute Improviser, Writer & Academic

Content tagged with: charanga

Latin Improvisation Aesthetics in New York: SEM Panel Presentation

Sue’s panel at the Society for Ethnomusicology’s annual conference in Texas Austin takes place on 3 December at 4pm. Also on the panel are renowned scholars of Latin American music Professor David Garcia (University of North Carolina) and Dr Ben Lapidus (CUNY).
Panel Abstract: ‘Clave feel’ is often cited as one of the main elements of Afro-Cuban/salsa improvisation yet very little to date has been done to demonstrate this concept analytically. Building on research in this area by Christopher Washburne, Peter Manuel, David Garcia, Robin Moore, Lise Waxer, and Robert Farris Thompson, scholars of Latin improvisation consider how clave remains a point of tradition, pride, and practice for many performers of Afrocuban music in New York City. Brass, woodwind and piano clave-based improvisation styles are examined to demonstrate how clave feel can define both the artistry and identity of performers. Ethnographic research informs the musical analyses of solo improvisations from both recordings and live performances to demonstrate how clave sensibility permeates the artistic work of New York-based Latin soloists.

New Review of Cuban Flute Style by John Robert Brown in Jazz Journal

Cuban Flute Style is thus a contextualised, analytical study, arising from a combination of Miller’s lessons from Egües, her research in Havana and New York, her subsequent experiences as a charanga bandleader, and the completion of a Leeds University PhD undertaken to study the processes involved in learning the charanga style of improvisation.

Review of Cuban Flute Style by Bill McBirnie

Let me begin by saying that Sue Miller’s Cuban Flute Style is an extraordinarily comprehensive oeuvre, with respect to both the history and the technique of charanga flute playing. In addition, her book is realized with a broad as well as a thoughtful understanding of the entire tradition on which this style of music is based.

Estrellas Cubanas perform Amalia Batista

Estrellas Cubanas performed the Danzon Amalia Batista by Rodrigo Prats at the Danzon Festival in Havana in 2007 – do contact me if you’re interested in promoting an exchange project between Estrellas Cubanas and Charanga del Norte.

Charanga del Norte gig 30 July Grimsby Town Hall Tickets now on sale

Charanga del Norte perform at Grimsby Town Hall on Friday 30 July as part of North East Lincolnshire Arts Forum Festival

Dance class from our dancer Guillermo at 6.30pm

Band on at 8pm

Venue: Grimsby Town Hall, Town Hall Square, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire DN31 1HX

Tickets from Tourist Information 01472 323111

Reviews of Cuban Music on www.gondwanasound.co.uk

Recent CD Reviews of Cuban and Salsa music by Sue Miller are available on www.gondwanasound.co.uk :

Review of The Rough Guide to Cuban Music

Review of Amadito Valdes Bajando Gervasio

Interview with Melquiades Fundora

The following interview took place in Havana in 2001. SM: Interview: MF: My name is Melquiades Fundora Dina. I was born in Nueva Paz, a village just outside Havana, on 20 March 1926. My first teachers were my parents. My mother played the double bass and my father the trumpet. I learnt to read and […]

Cuba’s Charanga Flute Style

The following article was written for the British Flute Society Magazine – PAN: March 2003. Some people confuse the Cuban style of music with Jazz. In fact, the Charanga is quite different. Sue Miller examines the Charanga flute styles of Richard Egües, Eduardo Rubio (both from Orquesta Aragón) and Melquiades Fundora (from Orquesta Sublime). You […]

The Cuban Charanga

The Cuban Charanga by Sue Miller Written for the British Flute Society Journal PAN December 2000 edition The sweetest and most elegant of all Cuban dance music is made by groups called Charangas. The Charanga orchestra is made up of a flute (traditionally one made of wood with five keys, but the Boehm system flute […]