Bob's Bongo Basics

History

The African bongo antelope has markings on its face that remind me of two bongos joined by a yoke. Not conclusive enough to prove an African connection, according to Rhythm Web. (Permission to use photo applied for from Animals of the Rain Forest.)

There are several explanations for the derivation of the word “bongo.” Dictionary.com says it is of American Spanish derivation and “probably of West African origin,” though it gives no etymology. Bongocero (a term for professional bongo players) Victor “Papo” Sterling, cited on Rhythm Web, says bongos evolved from a set of drums used in religious ceremonies by certain tribes in Africa. When these people were enslaved by the Spanish and brought to Cuba to work in the coffee and sugar plantations, their traditional practices came with them to Cuba (www.chez.com/abri/a/lexa.htm). One of the drums used by these people (called the Abakua in Cuba) was called the “bonko enchemiya,” from which Sterling says the word "bongo" is derived.

As a last resort to find an African connection, in West Africa there is a kind of antelope called a bongo. The bongo has white markings on either side of its face connected by a thin stripe across the nose, much the same way the two bongo drums are connected. But, if the bongos were developed in Cuba and the antelope is in African, then the comparison must have been made by memory, if indeed at all. In fact, it is highly likely that the comparison has only been made in my head.

What makes bongos bongos? World Music Portal defines bongos as “a set of two small drums attached by a thick piece of wood, played while held between the knees.” The two drums are of different sizes, with the larger one being called the hembra (Spanish for female) and the smaller one called the macho (male).

While the origination of the word “bongo” is uncertain, there is little uncertainty that bongos were developed in the former Oriente province of eastern Cuba in the 1880s. Some authorities attribute a possible African heritage to the drum duo, and this seems to be a logical extrapolation given the heavy influence of African slaves in the island during early colonization. Apparent logic, the bonko, and the African bongo antelope notwithstanding, there is still no universal agreement on the derivation of the instrument.

Bongos figured heavily in the popularity of a brand of music in Cuba known as son, which is Spanish for “sound.” A combination of Spanish and African influences, son originated in the Oriente province, known today as Guantanamo. Son was derived from an earlier form of music called changui. Later, the styles were transformed into the basics of the more marketable salsa (Spanish for sauce) music, as well as several other styles still popular today (www.worldmusicportal.com/Genres/genres.html). The band Mamborama, composed of a group of Cuban music aficionados, has catalogued 18 different styles of Cuban music, along with sound files that demonstrate the ubiquity of the bongo, even in slow ballads and boleros.

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