Okantomi

In recent years Cuba’s Santería religion, a vigorous survival of West African religious practices reconstituted as Catholic adoration of the saints, has become almost ubiquitous in its homeland and spread widely outside the country, attracting devotees of non-Afro-Cuban and indeed non-Latin ancestry. While the two members of Canada-based Okan, violinist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist Magdalys Savigne, are both Cuban and followers of the religion, and although this album is built on chants to the African deities, it is by no means liturgical, or even entirely religious. It is certainly not a recreation of folklore, even while drawing on it. In terms of content, both jazz and baroque are in the mix, with elements of rock, timba and Latin music in its more sentimental moments. This deliberate unsettling of genres is at its most dramatic in the violin showpiece ‘Preludio y Changüi’ which covers 400 years and 5,000 miles in its points of reference.

The duo, although clearly dominant in terms of writing, arranging and performing, are joined by a number of skilled collaborators. These are smart, intelligent dance songs, with great drive and a deep understanding of past and present.