Haiti
Papa Legba is the name of a Vodou spirit (lwa) known as the guardian of the crossroads who mediates between the spiritual and mundane realms. Songs for Legba typical open up a Vodou ceremony. This one features alternation between a soloist and group (i.e., call-and-response singing), which is typical of Vodou and many other ritual contexts.
Legba nan baye, Legba nan baye,
Legba nan baye a,
Se ou ki pote drapo,
Se ou ka parey soley pou lwa yo.
Legba in the gate, Legba in the gate,
Legba in the gate
It is you who carry the flag
It is you who can shade the sun for the spirits.
Legba nan baye, Legba nan baye,
Legba nan baye a,
Se ou ki pote drapo,
Se ou ka parey soley pou lwa yo.
Legba in the gate, Legba in the gate,
Legba in the gate
It is you who carry the flag
It is you who can shade the sun for the spirits.
This piece calls on Legba to 'open the gate" so that the other spirits may enter and the ceremony can thrive. It is featured on The Yoruba/Dahomean Collection: Orishas Across The Ocean (1997). According to the Smithsonian Folkways website, the recording is "part of the Endangered Music Project, a series curated by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart featuring material from the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center." This is a good example of polyrhythmic organization. By the 1:00 mark, the cowbell (or ogan) settles into a fairly regular pattern . _You might start by using the sound of the rattle to orient yourself as you listen and identify a steady pulse.
This track from 1992 features master drummer Frisner Augustin. According to Lois Wilcken, the order of entrance is boula (0:00), ogan (0:02), ason (0:06), bas (0:11), manman (0:13), and segon (0:16).
This is Haitian rara music performed by the band, Rara La Bel Fraicheur de l"Anglade ("The Beautiful Fresh Air of the Glade")
Awo, m pap mache a tè, anmwe (x3)
Se fre Dieuve ki gen yon avyon
M pap mache a te, awo.
Awo, I'm not walking on the ground, help me
Brother Dieuve has an airplane
I'm not walking on the ground
Awo, m pap mache a tè, anmwe (x3)
Se fre Dieuve ki gen yon avyon
M pap mache a te, awo.
Awo, I'm not walking on the ground, help me
Brother Dieuve has an airplane
I'm not walking on the ground
"Kè m pa sote" was recorded by the Haitian group Boukman Eksperyans for their 1991 debut album. This is an example of mizik rasin (roots music). It is also an example of a chante pwen (or chan pwen)--a "point song" (or "pointing song"), in which a critique is "sent" (voye) toward an unspecified "they" (yo). Click here to read the lyrics in Haitian Creole and English.
"Son La Ri" is an example of the konpa genre performed by the group Tabou Combo, with whom I I toured and recorded in the mid-1990s. Tabou Combo has typically employed horn players born in the U.S.--and this is not unrelated to the group leaders' preference for "jazzy" horn lines. You can hear the short line I composed in the studio for this recording at 2:38 and again at 6:13.)