Paulito FG Musical Significance

Paulito FG is one of the most innovative Cuban timba artists. He spontaneously moves his rhythm section through various arrangement changes, created on the spot with specialized hand signals. All the while, he constantly dances, interacts with the crowd, and reinterprets his own lyrics. Paulito's bands broke new ground with a number of innovations. Some of the most significant contributions came from his conga drummer Tomás Cruz. Cruz's creations offere clever counterpoints to the bass and chorus. Many of his tumbaos span two or even four claves in duration, something very rarely done previously. He also made more use of muted tones in his tumbaos, all the while advancing the development of songo-type innovations created by Changuito and Raúl "el Yulo" Cárdenas of Los Van Van. The example on the right is one of Cruz's inventos ('musical inventions'), a band adaptation of the Congolese-based Afro-Cuban folkloric rhythm makuta. He played the pattern on three congas for the Paulito song "Llamada anónima." Listen: "Llamada anónima" by Paulito F.G.