In my previous post on “Plástico”, I discussed a number of people responsible for this classic; today, I’m going to focus on one – bassist Sal Cuevas. There have been lots of bass players that have played a tumbao throughout the years, but few of them have played it with such style as Cuevas. He brought a modern sensibility into the groove, while staying firmly planted in tradition. As a bass player, he pushed himself to be doing something new and different that would challenge himself to grow while inspiring his fellow musicians. He raised the bar for the bass and the style, and he’ll always be remembered for that.
There are so many interesting elements in Cuevas’ playing. I learned a lot from this bass line, so Today, I’m going to take a look at some of the interesting things that sal did in “Plástico”. while you’re reading, check out my play through – If you hear something I missed, let me know in the comments!
SLAPPING
The bass element that often draws the most attention in “Plástico” is the slapping at the top of the tune. As I mentioned in my earlier post on “Plástico”, the whole intro is meant to emulate a polished disco arrangement that was typical of the time; the descending slapped octaves are very characteristic of this style. There’s a little more to the story though, as slapping was a reflection of Cuevas’ style during the seventies. It’s important to remember that virtuosity on the bass guitar was a fairly new thing during this era, largely heralded by the emergence of “bass heroes” like Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke. Cuevas brought this element into salsa; you’ll see modern players like Ruben Rodriguez or Oscar Stagnaro slap in clave, but during the seventies, it was rare. The slapping figure may have been an important piece of the arrangement, but there was only one bass player to do this; Cuevas was one of the few players at the time that could walk between a funky slap and a grooving tumbao.
THE USE OF THE DOWNBEAT IN THE TUMBAO
Throughout the arrangement, Cuevas integrates the downbeat into his tumbao in several interesting ways. At first, this might seem counter intuitive – the whole groove of the tumbao lies in the emphasis of beat four, which consequently obscures beat one. And believe me, Cuevas grooves hard on the standard tumbao pattern, leaning on it for most of the tune. But there’s a couple of exceptions to that rule.
Look at measures 25 – 32; here, Cuevas plays many measures with a “one, 2+, four” figure which means he comes back to the downbeat every measure. This makes sense in the arrangement, as Blades is talking about the plastic woman and the emphasis of the downbeat straightens the groove slightly. In taking this approach, Cuevas leans into the plastic sheen that Blades references in his lyrics.
Later, Cuevas uses the downbeat to provide a rough edge to the music. For example, in measures 231 – 238, Cuevas transitions through several measures using a “4+, 1” rhythm, leaving out the tie that usually obscures the bar line. Here, Cuevas is playing more like an active percussionist, attacking the line more aggressively. Again, this plays off the lyrics, as Blades is encouraging the listener to look past the commercialization of the modern world.
BREAKING THE TUMBAO
There are several points where Cuevas breaks the traditional tumbao figure with more intense syncopations. This creates a momentary tension that always reflects the moment; Cuevas had big ears and played off the band beautifully.
This first happens in measure 260, where Cuevas plays all the off beats, resolving on beat four. Notice that he also integrates some chromatics here, providing additional melodic tension.
The next example occurs in measure 298, where Cuevas once again plays all the off beats, laying into beat four with added emphasis. This time, he outline the E chord, easing up on the tension.
The last alteration happens in measure 301, where Ceuvas breaks the line completely to play two eigth note figures, including a chromatic approach. Notice that this happens right before the ending riff, also serving as a transition.
DOUBLE STOPS
Cuevas pushed the electric bass past the traditional boundaries in many ways, and one approach he took was the integration of chords. In measures 197 – 230, Cuevas grooves through a ferocious mambo, using chords to provide added emphasis. The mambo is based off an eight bar pattern which repeats several times. In the fifth bar of the pattern, there’s an ascending horn part that Cuevas frames with double stops, each a fifth apart on every quarter note. The horn sound is already thick, and the chords turn that big sound into an unstoppable freight train.. It’s worth noting that Cuevas didn’t wait for a nice open section to throw in some chords – this is a fast and active section with tumbao, hits, and a riff. Cuevas had to work to make the chords happen – this is a nice combination of musicality and virtuosity.
ENDING RIFF
I’m pretty certain that this riff was simply written for the arrangement, but it’s too good not to mention. The syncopated rhythm lies against the son montuno with a funky friction that is simply delicous. It also benefits from a melodic shape that recall a horn line from earlier in the arrangement while bringing some new notes into the mix. This is an infectious line – in fact, I could listen to this as a whole song – but it’s made even better just played by bass and horns. The arrangement, attitude of the performance, and line give a sneek peek into the future, sounding a bit like timba from the 90’s. Another brilliant piece of the greater puzzle that forms this classic.
These are a few of the elements that make the bass performance from Cuevas great, but it’s just a start. Cuevas fills the recording with subtle choices that make the bass line sizzle throughout the song. At the end of the day, Cuevas had a powerful groove in a salsa context that was both traditional and forward looking. The Sal Cuevas line on “Plástico” is a masterpiece worth learning!
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