Introduction
Understanding this tradition
Yorùbá traditions combine singing, praise poetry, talking drums and dancing with orisha. Each divinity has distinct rhythms, stories, colors and gestures. Local practices differ, and their diasporic forms have continued to evolve in the Americas.
First listening
Three things to hear
- Identify the orisha invoked before listening.
- Hear the dialogue between soloist drum and dance.
- Identify the call and answer in the Yorùbá language.
History and transmission
The kingdoms, lines, city cults and d'Ifá system have transmitted vast oral corpus. The Atlantic trade has moved these inheritances to Cuba, Brazil, Haiti and elsewhere, where they have recomposed themselves with new languages and institutions.
What does it look like?
The tonal languages allow the drums to suggest sentences. A lead singer launches an oríkì or invocation, the band responds and dance manifests the attributes of the líorisha concerned.
Where and why are we listening?
A public party, a pedagogical recording and an initiatory ceremony do not offer the same access. Some sequences are public; others belong to knowledge holders or to a closed rite.
Artists, works and albums
Three listening doors
Each button opens a search targeted on an external platform. Orabel does not read, copy and host any audio files.
The Yoruba / Dahomean Collection: Orishas Across the Ocean
Various Artists
A comparative collection documenting several Atlantic transmissions.Drums of Passion
Babatunde Olatunji
An influential stage creation, to be distinguished from a ceremony.Oya
Olatunji Ensemble
To discover a public evocation of the wind and change lorisha.Listen and transmit with respect
Do not mix indistinctly yorùbá, Candomblé, Santería and Vodou. Ask for permission before recording a rite and do not reproduce closed songs.
Sources