Sacred Rhythms of Cuban Santeria

This fascinating Smithsonian Folkways release from 1995 comprises recordings made in Cuba in 1983 and 1984 of four orus, or series of songs and rhythms designed to communicate with saints within the santería religion.  The sessions were made in temple-homes but were arranged separately from ceremonies to provide the best quality of sound.

Santería came to Cuba from the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria taken by slave traders to the Caribbean island colony of Spain where they were known as lukumís or eyó, among other names.  It appears as if the development of the religion and the sacred music associated with it represented the reconstruction by dislocated peoples of their ancient African traditions.

In the mid-1880s slavery was abolished in Cuba and former slaves headed in large numbers to cities like Havana, while other remained in the country farms or hamlets.  The concept of the cabildo, a sort of mutual aid group, brought in images of Roman Catholic saints used as "masks" for the African deities (orishas) worshipped by the former slaves and their descendants.  The name santería directly refers to these Catholic saints.  The temple-homes, overseen by a god-father or a god-mother, became the central place for worship and the production of music associated with santería.

This music is based on percussion and vocals, with a variety of instruments in the former, including the batá, a trio of hourglas-shaped drums in the African tradition with different pitches, the abwes or chequerés, which are gourds filled with netting and seeds are which are shaken so the seeds hit the outside of the gourd.  Metal instruments are also used, though the Cuban version is usually a hoe blade hit by a piece of iron.  For non-religious performance, the bembé, a cylindrical drum that can be in many different sizes, are common. 

Vocalising is usually with a soloist joined by a chorus in a call-and-response style with participants invited to join in with the chorus answering the soloist. Themes of lyrics concern Yoruba gods, events and other aspects of the inherited African tradition mixed with Roman Catholic concepts from the Spaniards in Cuba.  There are also secular lyrics about current events or people at the ceremonies with a satirical and critical bent.

This is a remarkable recording for historical as well as musical reasons and Smithsonian Folkways deserves great credit for capturing these performances and making them available.  The liner notes are particularly useful for understanding the basics of the music.

Culture: Two Sevens Clash (30th Anniversary Edition)

This classic album by Culture, the only the trio recorded with the legendary Joe Gibbs, was recorded in 1977 at an opportune time.  Reggae was an international phenomenon thanks to the rise of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Burning Spear and others.  Joseph Hill, whose unmistakable keening and off-kilter vocal style and strong songwriting skills were at the center of Culture's success, worked his way through some early reggae groups and as a percussionist and harmony singer in the house band for well-known producer Coxsone Dodd at the famed Studio One.

His cousin Albert Walker invited Hill to join him and Kenneth Dayes in the African Disciples, soon renamed Culture, and the group was one of several outstanding ones that featured a lead singer and two harmony singers (Mighty Diamonds, Meditations, Abyssinians, etc.) in reggae at the time.  It was Burning Spear, however, which evidently was the most influential to the development of Culture's sound.

Hill was devoted, as Burning Spear was, to the teachings and precepts of Marcus Garvey and his concepts of black liberation, as well as to Rastafarianism, and his lyrics are filled with references to Black Star liners, African roots, the native Arawaks of Jamaica and many other themes.  He melded his ample lyrical talent with a great melodic sense and that unique impassioned vocalizing to develop an unmistakble sound.  Walker and Dayes harmonized perfectly with Hill.

As for the musicians, there's the great Sly Dunbar on drums and, though his usual bass-playing partner Robbie Shakespeare plays some guitar on the album, the bass duties are handled by Lloyd Parks.  Stalwart studio musicians like "Bubber" Waul on keyboards, Sticky on percussion, Vin Gordon on trombone, trumpeter Bobby Ellis and tenor player Tommy McCook keep things tight and moving smoothly.

There isn't a weak song on this amazing record.  While the title track drew a lot of attention because of its allusions to the "two sevens" in the year 1977, amplified by the pair of that superstitious number in the month and date of 7 July, and which led many in Jamaica to stay home from work and school that day and await over concerns of what the day might bring, every song is solid.  "Calling Rastafari," ""Black Starliner Must Come", "Get Ready to Ride the Lion to Zion," and "See Them a Come" are highlights for this listener, but this is a rare example where every track is great.

This 30th Anniversary edition, issued by Shanachie Records just a year after Hill's death after he collapsed during a concert in Berlin, contains some great photos, an essay by Lenny Kaye and comments and praise from Dunbar, Gibbs, Burning Spear, the original liner notes, and a portion of an interview with Hill about the significance of the title track.

John Coltrane: Blue Train

This 1957 recording is where John Coltrane came into his own as a leader after spending the last couple of years as a rapidly growing member of Miles Davis' great quintet with Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.  It was also the year that Coltrane kicked the heroin habit that inhibited his development and when his half-year stint with Thelonious Monk helped him advance dramatically as a musician,

This was a one-off recording deal with the famed Blue Note Records and the differences between what Alfred Lion offered and what Coltrane got in his contract with Bob Weinstein and his Prestige Records is literally clear.  The production values were so much better and Coltrane took full advantage of working at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary stdio by combining great tunes with an excellent band.

The former included the superb blues title track, the excellent up-tempo "Moment's Notice," "Locomotion," "Lazy Bird," all Coltrane originals and a cover of the old pop chestnut "I'm Old Fashioned."  Then, there's the band, which included Coltrane's mates from the Davis group Chambers and Jones, who were locked in tight on that rhythm, the fine pianist Kenny Drew, and the potent duo of trumpeter Lee Morgan, of "The Sidewinder" fame several years later, and trombonist Curtis Fuller, who is the only living member of this tremendous group.

Coltrane was in what Ira Gitler somewhat dismissively called his "sheets of sound" period, issuing blistering runs on his tenor, while also demonstrating what that moniker overshadowed, his command of phrasing, richness of sound, and deft handling of complicated passages, while his ballad work on "I'm Old Fashioned" showed the tremendous growth he'd made recently.  Morgan is powerful, passionate and intense, demonstrating great technique and power in his playing, while Fuller provides a relaxed and refined counterpoint in his playing against the intensity of the other horn players.  As for Chambers and Jones, they hold everything together beautifully.

Putting together a great slate of pieces, handling five crack musicians in a way that coalesces their talents to the service of the songs and the session, and demonstrating remarkable transformations in his musicianship reveals that Coltrane had really arrived.  There are some very good Prestige recordings in his catalog, but Blue Train stands out as the best of his late Fifties work.

I only have the disc and not the artwork for this album, but, years ago, a friend bought me a framed poster of Blue Train that has hung in my office at work for close to twenty years, so that's what the image shows.