The faithful rumba lovers/ Rumba All-Stars

When the first Africans arrived in Cuba, they did so in chains, under a thousand vicissitudes and with the confusion of those who are torn from their space and thrown into existence in a strange and hostile land. Stories, anecdotes and legends about their integration abound in the history of Cuba; after centuries, the African heritage has been confirmed as an indisputable part of the national culture. There are elements within it, which are essential when defining the musical characteristics of the country. Rumba, cooked in our island with ingredients brought by those first slaves, is undoubtedly one of them. This musical complex, which includes among other rhythms the yambú, the guaguancó, the columbia and the jiribilla, has a deep-rootedness that transcends the merely sonorous environment and that already in the 20th century became a meeting point of the Cuban social reality.

The Rumba All-Stars group recognizes itself as heir to the legacy of rumberos such as Mulense, Tata Güines and Andrea Baró, as well as thousands of anonymous musicians. With the musical production The faithful rumba loversThe group's music is a varied representation of the rumba genres that have been circulating on our island for centuries.

This, his debut album, was released last May 5, by the Miguelito León label. It is composed of thirteen songs that move between the religious and syncretic song that characterizes our island (Santa Barbara or Imploration to Oshún), the most nineteenth-century costumbrismo (Announcement and The broom cupboard) or the adaptation, with the magnificent reinterpretation of the anthological Las mañanitas. The ontology of the rumba, understood as a corpus musicum which integrates in itself a system with different variants, is represented throughout the production with themes, above all, of yambú and guaguancó, which are explored in a key so that the dancer, a determining complement to this musical complex, is able to enjoy the rhythm in all its expression.

Two tracks on the album stand out, which are identified by the name of introa kind of trailer of what is to come. It is about Tá José and My neighbor. The first tells the story of a black man who, it is said, some 300 years ago became a father. nganga within the religion of the palo mayombe. It is that Tá José who, as a result of syncretism, is still venerated in the figure of the medium Leocadia Pérez Herrera in the Havana cemetery of Colón, although she really responded to a spirit called Brother José. The second theme goes hand in hand with the double meaning to which Faustino Oramas accustomed us, El GuayaberoThe dialogue that is established within the composition itself takes us to the daily life of any capital city lot. Listening to them, one enjoys a sound quality that had already been promised with the seconds-long previews.

Taita ColumbínThe song, an extensive song of more than ten minutes, moves between language, African wisdom and wordplay, with aphorisms that fit the traditional columbia "from the time of Spain" as Vadim Cárdenas, voice of the group, says. Parana for its part is a yambú that begins with a review of the religious heritage of the Cuban capital and, as the seconds go by, it increases in intensity while incorporating choruses of a contagious and provocative melody for the dancer. It is also The little moonThe song is a love song in which, with the exception of the voice, the rest of the instruments are completely absent, in a recreation of traditional solar, leaving us with a desire for an unmentionable "nosequé".

Las mañanitasThe song that Pedro Infante sang and that has become synonymous of birthday parties, is turned into a guaguancó by the mastery of Rumba All-Stars and, together with the classic lyrics, provides a "rhythmic flavor" that turns it into a jewel within the discographic production and of Cuban rumba in general. The addition of phrases imitating the chants of the blacks during the colony, gives it a renewing value where the transculturation is masterfully introduced. Two themes, Africa and Deep feelingThe first one, sung with Frank Oropesa, reviews the history of "that wickedness that profaned the soul of humanity" and maintained for hundreds of years as the most profitable economic exercise in Europe. The first one, sung with Frank Oropesa, reviews the history of "that evil that profaned the soul of humanity" and remained for hundreds of years as the most profitable economic exercise in Europe. Deep feeling, although it follows the line of history and the legitimacy of the culture of African origin, it does it from the strength that it means for the complement of Cubanness.

The two religious songs are jewels of the production, maintaining the image of the rumba as a fundamental part of the discourse, the cosmovision and the African mysticism. The Imploration to Oshún is introduced with a Yoruba chant, mellow and syrupy, to then ask him to give us luck and success in love. It is a theme that combines the African rhythm tradition with the Hispanic heritage of the early 17th century. It is curious how the other spiritual theme, Santa Barbara, uses the Catholic denomination of Shangó to tell part of the cosmogony of the ritual to the orisha. A characteristic of both songs is that, as they progress, they intensify, while the choruses and the instruments (chequeré, batá drums, cowbell and clave) enter little by little and end up being a feast of imploration. A magical-religious musical ritual that transports us to the time when the blacks arrived dragging chains to the northern ports of "La Siempre Fiel Ysla de Cvba".

Although the production includes only a few of the many songs that the group has performed over the years, there is a spiritual dynamic where the maternal Calabar and the adoptive bays of Havana and Matanzas shine. The care and the neat selection are a gift for the rumbero universe, in particular, and Cuban, in general.

The faithful rumba lovers is the answer to the metaphysical question of who are we? It is an album that respects the public, anxious to expand the party when more drinks arrive at the site and, under the influence of the tumbadora, the chequeré and the clave, they ask for more music and more rumba.