Brigham Young University Hawaii's Salsa Orchestra had a lesson not only in music but also in history, culture, humanities, and anthropology as they engaged in an interactive workshop with traveling flamenco fusion group Cerro Negro on Thursday, February 5. Though Cerro Negro originally came to BYU–Hawaii to perform as a part of the university's Performance Series, Dr. Darren Duerden, director of the BYUH Salsa Orchestra and percussion instructor, convinced the very dissimilar group to spend some interactive time with his students in a master class setting, involving teaching of techniques, short performances, and critiques. More than just a simple music lesson, students were engaged in an entire musical and cultural experience as they gleaned from these well-traveled and knowledgeable artists.
Cerro Negro, classified as a "Global Flamenco Fusion" group, is comprised of lead guitarist Dusty Brough, rhythm guitarist Frank Giordano, and percussionist-vocals John Martin, III. Though much of Cerro Negro's music and background is centered around flamenco music, the group's repertoire, musical influence, and understanding encompasses a vast array of cultural music, while also incorporating other more non-traditional combinations of music which proved to be a very interesting and integrative tutorial for the students. "Our music is really an amalgamation of a lot of different world cultures," explained Martin. "We take all this and sort of put it together which is really a reflection of modern times. We're all kind of in a melting pot… the whole world is a kind of melting pot in a sense."
Cerro Negro give students a taste of multiple world music styles
Dr. Duerden was able to take advantage of the deep knowledge and experience of the very personable group and offer a very unique experience to his students, opening their eyes to new perspectives on music. "I am always looking for opportunities to expose my students, especially percussion students, to any new and different kinds of world percussion," said Duerden. "Having started that world music studies degree, I feel it's really important to expose students to anything that comes in our area. We are isolated enough [here in Hawaii to the point that] we need to take advantage of anything that comes our way. I could tell by the advertisements… that [Cerro Negro was] going to be a quality ensemble and we were going to have something very educational so I jumped on the chance."
Music major Adieanne Dimond from Kauai came to really value the interactive experience. "I was able to make a lot of connections a lot quicker than had I just read it in a book. Plus you can't hear the music when you're reading a book," explained Dimond.
Martin, leader of the workshop, not only explained the techniques and intricacies of many types of music, including flamenco, salsa, bossa nova, and Peruvian styles, but also taught the interconnectivity between styles. "In the beginning everything is all black and white…but the deeper you get into [the music], the more it becomes just one big smear of cultures because they're all influenced from each other [historically and musically]," said Martin.
"I really love how they talked to us about culture," said Michaela Dunlap, junior majoring in international cultural studies, salsa vocalist, and Latino Club dancer from Sitka, Alaska. "They brought in a lot of things. I was just opening my ears and trying to take in everything they said!" Martin impressed upon the students the importance of each style's cultural and historical origin: "You can't separate these cultural components. When you are learning a style like salsa music it would do you a world of good to visit Cuba, to smell the smells of Cuba, to see the people and the way that they interact, to hear the language, how they speak…The music, the food, [the architecture], all of that are just different facets of all these cultures…"
Cerro Negro teaches students about their eclectic music style
Dimond explained how she began to understand "…how all the world music is intertwined and connected…then I started thinking about the music I play on piano and how it's all related to everything." Flamenco being a new style to nearly all of the workshop participants, Cerro Negro not only introduced students to the intricacies of an extremely different genre of rhythm but also related it back to the styles they've been studying through the semester and ultimately give them a greater understanding of the styles they thought they already knew.
After exchanging a couple of short musical performances, Martin critiqued the ensemble, offered suggestions and taught new techniques and rhythm combinations. Akane Iida, world music studies major and percussionist from Japan, received personal instruction on one of the instruments she plays with the Salsa orchestra. "We weren't playing [the] wrong rhythms but…" the techniques and alternate rhythms that Cerro Negro taught were "…way easier and sounded better and I could tell it fit with the music." She described it as a "better groove" and more comfortable technique in grasping the instrument so that it felt better in hand, "…kept me in the groove [and] to fit better with other [rhythmic parts as well]," Iida explained. "I think they helped the band a lot," said Dunlap.
Martin also taught the students the importance of experiencing new music and collecting music just "to know what it's about…what [other cultures] see in it…" explained Martin. "It's a good outlook to have because its always gets you expanding your horizons." Having been exposed to a new style and new instruments, students also learned some of the intricacies of flamenco and Turkish rhythms that Cerro Negro played during their Friday concert. "They were way nice, super mellow, and down to earth," commented Dimond. "Their music was cool and what they had to say about it was really informative and interesting."
—Photos by Ke Alaka'i Photographer Chris Gardner