Afro-Cuban Soul

Last updated: 13/11/2006 - 12:05

Soul Jazz Records releases the first in a series of roots CDs, starting with 40+ minutes of sparse - often just drums and massed voices, marshalled by a whistle - traditional Afro-Cuban stylings.

Soul Jazz Records presents: Afro-Cuban Music from the Roots (Afro-Cuba: Tumba Francesa).

Tumba Francesa la Caridad de Oriente is a 140-year old institution in Cuba. The music of Tumba Francesa is a unique combination of African drums and French patois vocals alive in Cuba today.

In the 19th century there were hundreds of Tumba Francesa throughout Cuba. Now only two remain; the featured Tumba Francesa of Santiago de Oriente and the nearby Tumba Francesa de Guantanamo.

Originally mutual aid societies for the ex-slaves who fled the neighbouring Haitian Revolution, Tumba Francesas would put on elaborate shows during carnival dressed in ballroom costumes of 18th century France playing purely African music. Tumba Francesa La Caridad de Oriente continue this tradition today.

Traditional

The music of Tumba Francesa la Caridad de Oriente is at once both modern and traditional, both elements an important aspect of contemporary Cuba and coming with a vast cultural legacy.

The Tumba Francesa la Caridad de Oriente won Cuba’s National Award for Community Culture and, in 2003, the title of UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, the first such award to be bestowed on Cuba.

This music was recorded in EGREM studios, the state owned studio in Santiago, eastern Cuba. Tumba Francesa la Caridad de Oriente is situated in the economically poor Los Hoyos district of the city, a vibrant epi-centre of Afro-Cuban culture.

The CD comes complete with extensive sleeve notes and spoken introduction by the Afro-Cuban poet and writer Pedro Perez-Sarduy and photography by the New York writer, musician and broadcaster Ned Sublette. This is the first in a series of albums reflecting Afro-Cuban culture all newly recorded by Soul Jazz Records in Cuba.

The full tracklisting for Afro-Cuban Music from the Roots looks like this:

1. Introduction by author and poet Pedro Perez-Sarduy
2. Camagüey
3. Muerivé yo dilá (Masón)
4. Mapuá livé (Yubá)
5. Vamos a dividir (Masón)
6. Tambores 1
7. Ven mi morena (Tahona)
8. Muediné consá (Yubá)
9. Societé Guantánamo (Masón)
10. Tambores 2

Credits: Pedro Perez-Sarduy (1943) is an Afro-Cuban poet, writer and journalist. Now resident in London, he worked in Cuba for national radio between 1965 -1979 as well as later at the BBC World-Service. He is the author of Surrealidad (published in Havana 1967) and Cumbite and Other Poems (New York 1990/ Havana 1987). He is also co-editor of AFRO-CUBA: An Anthology of Cuban Writing on Race, Politics and Culture (London 1993); and co-author of the Introduction to No Longer Invisible/Afro-Latin Americans Today (London 1995). He has completed Journal in Babylon, a series of chronicles on Britain and a novel, The Maids of Havana (Puerto Rico 2001). He is also co-author of Afro-Cuban Voices: On Race and Identity in Contemporary Cuba, a book based on interviews with Afro-Cubans currently living and working in the island and discussing race issues (Florida 2000).

All images: Ned Sublette is a writer, record producer, musician and photographer. For the last seven years he has co-produced the radio programme 'Afropop Worldwide’. He is also the author of Cuba and it’s Music – From the First Drums to the Mambo, a 800-page in-depth study of the history of Cuban music. He lives in New York City.

Afro-Cuban Music from the Roots (Afro-Cuba: Tumba Francesa) is in the shops now, on the Soul Jazz Records label.