Prepare to be blown away by The Creole Choir of Cuba – the passionate melodies, wild harmonies and richly textured arrangements of ten inspiring vocalists.
This is something new from Cuba and the most original vocal sound to come out the country in a long while.
Desandann, the Choir’s Cuban name, literally means “descendents” and with the songs from their latest album “Tande-La” (which translates to “listen”) they tell the stories of their Haitian ancestors who were brought to Cuba to work in near slave conditions in the sugar and coffee plantations.
The Creole Choir of Cuba were chosen by Peter Gabriel to record their debut album at Real World Records after seeing them perform at WOMAD 2009. The Creole Choir of Cuba recently completed their first UK tour in January/February 2011 and have now embarked on their Australian tour March 2011, presented by ATA Allstar Artists. Tickets for this tour are on sale now at the venues listed below.
As anybody who has witnessed the vibrant Creole Choir of Cuba can attest, this is an experience not to be missed.
Their mesmerising sound, jubilant dancing and deep spirit first made them a hit at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival – where their cornucopia of remarkable voices won the attention of BBC2 high-rating “Later…..with Jools Holland”, when they performed the uplifting and emotional “Chen Nan Ren” – a freedom song denouncing neo-colonialism and colonialism while conveying the celebratory and glorious feeling of resistance which harks back to the freedom songs of the 1960s circa Martin Luther King and the struggle for racial equality in the USA.
In addition to Spanish and French, The Creole Choir of Cuba mainly sings in Creole, Cuba’s second language, spoken by almost a million people, a pragmatic fusion of African, French and other languages. It’s the language of a people twice exiled: first to Haiti from Africa through the iniquitous slave trade; then from Haiti to Cuba tricked into second slavery by their French masters after the Haitian Revolution of 1790.
Other Haitians arrived in the 20th century fleeing political upheaval, poverty and oppression during the barbaric regime of Papa Doc Duvalier which held power from the 1950s to 1970s, marked by reigns of terror and the brutality of his private militia, the Tonton Macoutes.
The Creole Choir of Cuba includes six women and four men, aged 27 to 61 – they hail from beautiful Camaguey, Cuba’s third city, an old colonial which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 for its iconic architecture.
They have studied music to university level in Camaguey and are all members of the Provincial Choir, which their leader Emilia Chavez directs.
Desandann emerged out of the choir in 1994, a difficult time for Cubans when the economy fell into a black hole following the end of the USSR and of Soviet support for the revolution. Food was in short supply, while homes and work places often went dark due to lack of electricity. The singers decided to re-forge the resistance songs and laments of their forebears, to celebrate the history of their Haitian descendents enslaved to the Caribbean from West Africa. To the songs that had been passed down in their families since the early 19th century, they added more modern Haitian sounds.
The Creole Choir of Cuba are: Dalio Arce Vital, Emilia Diaz Chavez, Fidel Romero Miranda, Irian Esther Rondon Montejo, Marcelo Andres Luis, Marina de Los Angeles Collazo Fernandes, Rogelio Rodriguez Torriente, Teresita Romero Miranda, Yara Castellanos Diaz and Yordanka Sanchez Fajardo.
With irresistible melodies driven by richly textured harmonies, shifting Caribbean rhythms with a very original root bass sound, this is impassioned singing by a unique group celebrating roots, resistance and the irresistible rhythms of life.
