Conjunto Folklórico Nacional: Pregones

Renowned rumbero Gregorio "El Goyo" Hernández Rios turns 70 tomorrow.

Over the next few days I will be posting some clips featuring El Goyo with Conjunto Folklórico Nacional, of which he was a founder and member until 1987.

First comes a presentation of pregones, the cries of the Cuban street vendors. Pregones have been a fixture of Cuban music since at least "El Manisero" in 1931. (Researcher Cristóbal Diaz Ayala has published an entire book about the history of pregones in Latin American music: "Si te quieres por el pico divertir")

Helio Orovio, in his entry for EL PREGON CUBANO in his Diccionario de la Música Cubana, writes:

Sobre la estructura musical del pregón dice [Miguel] Barnet: Los pregones cubanos tienen dos caracteristicas principales. En primer lugar, el melisma, rasgo propio de los pregones de mangueros; estilo comparable con el cante jondo o cante flamenco, el uso del falsete y otros trucos de ejecución, gorjeos o jipíos. En segundo lugar, la apoyatura que se observa al final de los pregones de maniseros, tamaleros y otros vendedores; es como un cierre cortante del pregón en que se rompen la primeras sílabas de una palabra"

(My translation:)

Miguel Barnet writes of the musical structure of the pregón: "Cuban pregones have two principal characteristics. First, the melisma, typical of pregones of mango vendors; a style comparable with cante jondo or flamenco singing, the use of falsetto and other tricks of execution, such as trilling or a prolonged "ay...". Second, the grace note observed at the end of the pregones of peanut vendors, tamale vendors and others is like a sharp close to the pregón in which the first syllables of a word are broken"

[UPDATED 14 Jan 2007:]

First comes Juan de Dios García Fernández, dancer, singer, and general director of Conjunto Folklorico, as "El Viandero."

Then El Goyo as El Manguero.

Next is David Filian, dancer with CFN, as El Escobero:

Escoba doble
Plumero de pita
Escobillones baratos
Paño de hule y de mesa
Escobero
Escobero me llaman a mi
Escobero me llaman a mi
Porque vendo escoba doble

Next is Felipe Alfonso as the yerbero, followed by Zenaida Armenteros.


You can download a HQ (74MB) version of this file here.