While we were in Argentina, Sarah and I had the pleasure of checking out La Bomba de Tiempo at Konex. This percussion ensemble lives up to it’s name. They combine elements of afrobeat, afro-cuban, samba, fusion, tribal, and acid jazz to build their rhythmic explosions.

Here is the interesting part: It’s all improvised compositions that are led by a single conductor. The conductor uses hand signals to communicate with the ensemble to create the piece in real time. For example, pointing to a section and making a fist would mean to stop playing. The conductors also decide volume, tempo, type of rhythms, and just about anything else they want. Regarding the rhythms, it seems they use hand numbers for different style beats. They had a keyboard player join in later in the set and the crowd was happy. This video was from another night, but it sounds like the same keyboard player.

Another interesting element is that there are multiple conductors. Each conductor works for about three pieces and then another conductor takes over the helm. When the conductors are not conducting they play in the ensemble. Needless to say, each conductor has their own style so we got a taste of everything. Towards the end of the set, the ensemble invited the crowd to join in with (clave) hand claps and body movements. Here is a video I took during the first set. We loved every minute.