Product Description
Sant?r?a, the Afro-Cuban folk religious music, presents its second installment! This album showcases the polyrhythmic and primitive soundscape emanating from three double-sided drums. Sant?r?a, rooted in the religious songs of the Yoruba people of Africa, has been a cornerstone of expressive Afro-Cuban music, from mambo and salsa to rumba, Cuban jazz, and Latin jazz. This second recording by Ocan Yoruba, a group centered around contemporary master Angel Bola?os, includes Oru Igbod?, a piece performed at the beginning of rituals without song or dance, using only the rhythms of three double-sided drums and bata drums?a rare and valuable recording that has been difficult to find until now. "The ritual begins and the gods are summoned by playing one unique rhythm for each of the 22 main gods (olichas). Bola?os says that each rhythm is an allegory for the olicha. Oru Igbod? is, so to speak, the pantheon of Santer?a through rhythm. Bola?os' masterful performance allows you to hear the rich individuality of the 22 olichas from this CD." (From a brief album commentary by Cuban music researcher Takako Kudo, published on the back of the obi) This album was produced by Yuko Fon, who recently released her first album under her own name. She moved from Japan to Cuba in 2000 and has since been active there as a leading dancer in traditional dance and as a singer. It is precisely because of this background that she saw value in preserving the records of the elders who have protected the tradition of Santer?a, and decided to produce this album. These performances are truly filled with the essence and spirit of Afro-Cuban rhythm. This is a must-listen for world and Latin music fans, as well as percussion music fans and those interested in natural trance. [What is Santer?a?] The Yoruba people, a tribe that currently lives in what is now West Africa, around Nigeria, were mostly brought to the New World during the era of slavery. In Cuba, they mostly live in the western region, centered around the capital Havana. Their folk religion is polytheistic (their gods are called Ol?cha (Olisha)), and they have incorporated Christianity and spiritualism from the Europeans who were the rulers in the New World, and have passed it down to the present day. This religion is called Santer?a.
