Los Van Van: Putting the Go in Songo

During a conga workshop I attended last weekend, the teacher Laurent Lamy discussed the origin of the songo rhythm.  The classic history is that it was developed as a fusion of rumba, son Cubano, jazz and funk by the band Los Van Van.  Laurent described the apocryphal story that Juan Formell (the leader of Los Van Van) was obsessed with Go-Go music, and wanted to incoporate the go-go sound into son Cubano - hence son-go.

 
I thought that was a pretty neat, if potentially suspect story (as is always the case when one person or group claims ot have invented a particular cultural meme).  The workshop inspired me to dig into some timba - a hybrid Cuban musical form that developed from songo - and I checked out some albums from Los Van Van.  It was only then, a few days later, that I ever considered what a direct translation of the band name would mean - if anything.
 
Los Van Van in English is the The Go-Gos.
 
Hmmm.
 
Here's a (very brief) retrospective that does no justice to a lot of Los Van Van's more recent work.  But check out how early the "funk" feel of the snare drum enters the scene - this is the same kick that gives a lot of contemporary timba its hybrid feel.
 
 
Find my Los Van Van historical playlist on Spotify.

 

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