Candombe

Candombe is the Afro-Uruguayan rhythm, dance and song tradition of Montevideo, built on the interlocking dialogue of three barrel drums: the high-pitched *chico*, the improvising *repique* and the deep *piano*, which anchors the pattern. Played with stick and hand by comparsa societies in the Carnival Desfile de Llamadas, its syncopated cycle also entered authored song from the 1960s, when *Eduardo Mateo* and *Rubén Rada* fused it with beat, rock, jazz and funk to create candombe-beat. Sung in Spanish, the repertoire moves between carnival celebration, neighbourhood chronicle and romantic balladry while the drum trio keeps the cadence underneath.