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Havana & Matanzas, Cuba, ca. 1957: Bata, Bembe, and Palo Songs

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Various Artists - Smithsonian Folkways

 
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Havana & Matanzas, Cuba, ca. 1957: Bata, Bembe, and Palo Songs
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Avg: 3.0 (6 ratings)

A fascinating glimpse into Cuba’s other culture.

  • We Say...

    Review by Chris Nickson

    Don’t imagine this is the lush sound of the pre-Castro gambler’s haven. Instead, these field recordings delve deep into the Afro-Cuban tradition, which was largely unexplored at the time. The fascinating thing is how little the centuries had diluted it. “Kiri Nya Kiri Nya Ago,” for instance, is pure Yoruba, a rhythmic religious incantation; without knowing, you’d assume it was straight out of Africa. The traditions are especially strong out in the countryside, around the sugarcane mills of Matanzas, where traditions from west Africa, the Congo and even Angola were preserved virtually intact, and kudos to musicologists Lydia Cabrera and Josefina Tarafa for capturing them so perfectly. This is the Cuba the tourists never saw, where history and ritual were important, accepted ingredients of everyday life and the population kept to ways that had changed little since slavery days. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Cuba’s other culture.

  • They Say...

    Review by Chris Nickson, All Music Guide

    Recorded in the late '50s by Lydia Cabrera, the daughter of a rich family who became an eminent folklorist and ethnomusicologist in Cuba, Havana and Matanzas, Cuba 1957: Bata, Bembe and Palo is a really remarkable collection of Afro-Cuban music. Recorded in both Havana and the more rural area of Matanzas, this is a fascinating portrait of mostly ritual music. It's worthwhile for "Bata Salute" alone, continuing the Yoruba tradition in Cuba on the bata drums. Much of the material is vocal, songs to various deities, beautifully recorded (and remastered) to offer the full perspective of ceremonies that really were a part of everyday life. While much of the material is praise songs of the Lukumi and Arara cultures, some is devoted to songs of the Kongo and the Nyong, also an important part of the Afro-Cuban spectrum. A fascinating look at a culture, just before it changed with the Cuban revolution, historically and socially important.

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    Artist: Various Artists - Smithsonian Folkways

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