via Yoruba Andabo – Rumba en la Habana con… – virtualWOMEX

Among the hierarchies of Afro-Cuban music, Yoruba Andabo enjoys a special sovereignty in and outside of Cuba. The first seed that gave life to this group was sown in 1961 at the docks of Havana, the birthplace of legendary rumberos. The group’s name combines two words: Yoruba, the great southern motherland of African nations and cultures, and Andabo, which in the Carabalí language means friend, follower, or admirer.

Through their work, the group has imposed a distinctive hallmark, and even more challenging, they have found style in purity. The goal that drives the efforts of Yoruba Andabo is the libertarian incorporation of everything that surrounds, adorns, and approximates tradition, absent of vice or purist digressions.

No other group could have achieved such brilliance and cohesion in presenting this view of our singable and danceable physiognomy: chants, devotion, dance, and the beauty of life. Here hot, sensual rumba, guaguancó, toque de santo, song, Abakuá and Congolese chants, and communication with the dead converge. They signify the pieces of history of a country forged in a melting pot of races and encounters with other cultures.