Cuba Music.
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"The island that gave the world the rumba, the mambo, the chachacha,
the danzon and the habanera. Forget sugar, cigars, and rum - music is Cuba's
greatest export. The island is one of the musical powerhouses of the world."
- The Rough Guide. With strong roots in West
African Yoruba religious music, Cuba's highly syncopated, potent, percussion-rich
music has spawned much of what is today's salsa and Latin jazz and greatly
influenced musics all over the world. Today Cuba still produces some of the
most vital and influential music in world - from potent, sacred and folkloric
to acoustic and electrified dance bands of unparalleled excitement.
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Chucho Valdes & Irakere, Changuito & More! - !Afrocubanismo
Live!
!!Concert Scorcher!!
As hot as any Latin recording in recent memory, Afrocubanismo
presents a summit of master musicians.
Pianist extraordinnaire and national treasure Jesus Chucho Valdes leads the
legendary Irakere with a host of all-star guests including Los Van Van's
renowned percussion master Changuito, and Afrocuba's revered Los Muñequitos
de Matanzas. All but one cut are live concert performance from the Afrocubanismo
Festival in Banff, Canada with ecstatic crowd energy.
Wildly veering, explosive excitement, scorching, incredibly rapid-fire,
note-dense horn solos, free-flying flute, Chucho's flame-throwing keyboard
intensity, Changuito's purring, popping, lusciously long drum breaks combine
for an outing that leaves you on your feet and cheering! "The next best thing
to being there!"
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Jesus Alemany - !Cubanismo!
!Ecstatic!
An incredible mix. Totally stupendous! Bound to be an Album
of the Year!" - Folk Roots. One of the most acclaimed Latin releases of 1996
or any year, the work of great trumpeter Jesus Alemany of Sierra Maestra
fame leading an all-star Cuban line-up, featuring virtuoso pianist
Alfredo Rodriguez and a "dream team of Cuban musicians." - Option.
Tour de force trumpet, piano, trombone, tres guitar, flute, sax, and rhythm
section trading off on scorching solo after scorching solo mostly in fluid,
full-out descarga jam session style. Very sophisticated Latin jazz and full
range of Cuban styles - all gloriously danceable. "One of the hottest CDs
to emerge this year." - Latin Beat.
"Ecstasy." - The Beat. Wall-to-wall virtuosity of the highest caliber!
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!!Salsa Cubana!!
!!Hot Dance Bands!!
Two brand new 1997 releases from the exciting new record
label Bembe!
La Calle, Santa Morena.
Nominated for best salsa band in Havana, La Calle is Cuba's hot, young dance
band sensation. Founded in 1991 by bass player/arranger Ramon Hernandez,
the group is made up of young musicians who, while very contemporary, are
solidly steeped in the rich Cuban musical heritage. The excellent arrangements
have been done by Hernandez and fine pianist Domingo
Rodriguez. 3 searing trumpets, excellent trombone, 3 bright, charismatic
vocalists, and potent
Latin percussion round out this winning combo. 10 hot dance tracks make Santa
Morena a dance enthusiast's dream of an album!
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Manolito y su Trabuco, Directo al
Corazon.
Searing salsa Cuba-style from Manolito Simonet, a dynamic
young pianist and composer whose group has quickly become one of the favorite
dance bands in Havana, playing all the hottest night clubs. Eleven superb
musicians together create an infectious blend of rhythms and harmonies that
takes salsa to a whole new level. Great sound engineering delivers
stellar,totally winning lead vocals, flute, piano, percussion, braying trombone
- all crystal clear. This is perfect dance music with constant forward-surging
momentum..
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Sacred Rhythms of Cuban Santeria
Roots Percussion
Striking 1995 Smithsonian release illuminating the pure
African roots which later flowered into Latin music. Rarely heard outside
Cuba, Santeria ceremonies and drums have their roots in the Yoruba religion
dating back to the 11th century. Four Santeria groups calling the orishas
(gods) through 24 drumming and singing rituals for 65 minutes of pure rhythmic
intensity.
Hourglass-shaped bata drums, bells, gourds, and various hand-made metal
instruments create a gripping, challengingly intricate polyrhythmic pulse
of musical and spiritual passion. Excellent,
extensive notes in English and Spanish enhance and edify. "Stunning polyrhythms
and melodic intricacy." -
The Beat. "High quality recordings. One of the best examples of Santeria
repertoire available." - Rhythm Music Magazine.
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Emilio Barreto - Santisimo
Sacred Santeria
Led by Emilio Barreto, a santeria priest, this 1996 release
pays homage to the African orisha deities through powerful call and response
chant and superb drumming - the potent ringing of illustrious voices and
sound raised in prayerful rapture. "All the elements and excitement of an
authentic ritual feast from its sacred chants and lyrics to the polytonal
phrasing of the bata drums." - Latin Beat. Barreto, himself slated to drum
and sing in Paul Simon's Capeman on Broadway, is joined by renowned santeria
drummer Orlando "Puntilla" Rios, and exceptional Cuban singer Amelia Pedroso
making her U.S. recording debut. Excellent liner notes in Spanish and English
add to this authentic, powerful and heart-felt religious sharing. "An
extraordinary effort." - San Francisco Bay Guardian.
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Bata Ketu by Spiro & Lamson
Brazil/Cuba Drum Fusion
1996 drum/chant release, a fusion of Lucumi and Candomble,
both sacred music of the Yoruba of Nigeria developed by slaves originally
separately in Cuba and Brazil and now re-united in this epic album with Brazilian
folkloric singer Jorge Alabe and legendary Cuban vocalist Bobi Cespedes joining
visionary percussionists Spiro and Lamson. Profound rhythms and soul-stirring
call and response chanting pervade this uniquely conceived album which is
presented as a Play in Six Acts each dedicated to a particular orisha or
Yoruba deity. Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian percussion includes bata, iyesa,
tumbadoras, cajones, chekeres, atabaques de Candomble, surdos, caixas,
respiniques, tamborim, pandeiro, and more, over 25 in all. A groundbreaking
opus!
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Iroko - Ilu Orisha
Sacred Yoruba Rhythms
Just released this 1996 release teams Herbie Hancock's longtime
percussionist Bill Summers with Cuban vocalist and priest of Eleggua Lazaro
Galragga to sing and drum to the Orishas, gods of the Yoruba people. Songs,
chants, and rhythms of the Bata. The Bata are a sacred family of drums which
speak the praises of the Orishas and the universe. The rhythms are based
on the singing (sung here in an Afro-Cuban dialect of the Nigerian Yoruba
language.
The drums are actually playing the words that are being sung. "The positive
energies these drums produce can help heal the body and soothe the mind."
- Bill Summers. Superlative, dedicated music.
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Lazaro Ros & Olorun - Songs for Elegua
!!Santeria Legend!!
Lazaro Ros is Cuba's foremost singer of sacred songs invoking
the orishas (Yoruban deities) and a principal preserver of African ways in
his native country. This 1996 album presents for the first time ever, a recording
of the complete Oro (cycle of prayers) to Elegua the child-messenger who
rules the crossroads and without whom no ceremony can begin. This legendary
santeria master chants with a primal, ancient quality conveying the sense
of devotion and raw energy of a true shamanic priest. Powerful percussion
includes an unforgettable solo bata drum cycle. The slowly building rhythmic
potency and complexity of this bata drumming and call and response chanting
sweeps the listener up in a santeria experience of supreme purity.
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Copyright 1998, The Negrin Family. All rights
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Last update:Wednesday, April 22,
1998 |
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