Okuté

The debut album from some of Havana’s finest rumberos, the self-titled Okuté explores the age-old traditions of rumba and Santería while showcasing the unfiltered, gritty sound of Havana’s contemporary underground music scenes. This progressive style of production, including distorted electric guitar and pumping bass, was aided by producer Jacob Plasse, of Songlines Music Award-winning group Orquesta Akokán. This straddling of the old and new might upset some purists, but for me the transformation of a traditional style into club-ready, DJ-friendly tracks accessible to younger listeners across the world is admirable. This is especially relevant given the album is out on Chulo Records, a label championing Latin musics based in New York and internationally distributed through Daptone.

‘Quiere La Rumba’ begins with the interlocking patterns of batá, perhaps one of the most complex percussive styles around, and makes way gradually to punctuating shekere and a coro sung by the whole group. Topped by an almost ululative vocal verse and fiery organ solo (which utilises harmonic patterns reminiscent of 70s timba), it’s hard to fault the considerate and stylistically demonstrative arrangements present in this album. Other favourite moments include a syncopated, bass-rooted introduction, followed by stabbing horn breaks in ‘De Vuelva Me La Voz’ and the chilled out, mostly-vocal ‘Orakinyongo’, which draws the listener to the close of the album.