I wrote Rumba Buena with the help of the percussion player, Normand Bock, who was playing in a band named Queba under the musical direction of Don Alias.
He introduced us to salsa, and we had to do percussion homework at every reharsal,practicing cowbell, clave or chekere, while Normand was playing over. It was fun. We were doing long percussion block in our shows featuring th percussion and the drummer Gilbert Trahan.
Finally, I wrote that song including all the rhythms and musical genres I was learning from him. The harmonic and structure of the song was based on a multitonic modal system I learned in Jan Jarcic classes at the Concordia University of Montreal back in 85.
The song features a long, and really good keyboard solo of Normand Devault followed by a groovy percussion solo.
Line up:
- Soprano Sax: Jocelyn Menard
- Trumpet: Pierre Lafrenaye
- Guitar: Hervé Senni
- Keyboard: Normand Devault, solo
- Percussion: Normand Bock, solo
- Bass: Alain Picotte
- Drum: Gilbert Trahan