Melon Lewis - Beyond Salsa Piano - The Cuban Timba RevolutionIván "Melón" Lewis was a central player in one of the most important bands of the entire timba era, the Issac Delgado Group of 1995-1998. He and bassist Alain Pérez arguably took the art of tumbao playing to its highest level of creativity and sophistication to date. All of the timba piano innovations detailed in Volume 5 can be found in Melón's work and some of them originated with him.
In Volumes 6, 7, 8 and 9, we'll cover every major arrangement that Melón regularly played live with the Delgado group. We will eventually also offer a video series with Melón playing all the examples as notated and then adding additional improvised variations. Stay tuned!
Beyond Salsa Piano is a history and anthology of the role of the piano in the Cuban rhythm section – from its first appearance to the present. In a broader sense, it’s a study of the tumbao – the art of creating music from layers of repeating rhythmic and melodic phrases. Whether these syncopated figures are called tumbaos, guajeos, montunos, riffs or vamps, this Afro-Cuban concept lies at the heart of nearly every popular music genre from salsa to rock , funk, R&B, hiphop and jazz.
While presented as a set of method books, the series doubles as a history course and record collecting guide for listeners, dancers, and players of instruments other than the piano.
Perhaps the most important goal of the series is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how tumbaos are constructed, their central role in the texture of Latin music of all eras, and the endless possibilities they provide for creative composing and arranging.
