Bata Ketu

Spiro/Lamson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 25, 1996)
• Original Release Date: October 21, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bembe Records
• ASIN: B000005BAI
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,649 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars African musical cultures reunited in a gem of a recording, October 10, 1999

By 

Jake Pegg (PDX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bata Ketu (Audio CD)

When Portuguese and Spanish imperialists brutally kidnapped West Africans to work as slaves in Brazil and Cuba, respectively, they were more likely to be justifying their greed under religious guises than thinking "Hey, this will make for some pretty amazing music in a few hundred years."

BATA KETU reunites the Afro-legacies of Cuban and Brazilian slaves that survived and evolved independently in the new colonies, using their common elements. Both cultures use call-and-response singing to praise and invoke the Orishas (saints,) for example, and you may hear songs to a particular Orisha from both cultures side-by-side. Perhaps my favorites, however, are the irresistible clave-based rhythms that permeate the Western Hemisphere so thoroughly as to be heard not only in Cuba and Brazil, but also in American songs like the Hand Jive or Aiko Aiko.

This convergence is so natural and effortless that we are reminded just how much of our own popular music is influenced by the African culture that American slaveowners didn't manage to eradicate.

This brings to mind the most important things this "Musical Interplay" accomplishes - it walks the line between authenticity and listenability. It's beautifully recorded without being overproduced or glossy. It retains its folk roots while managing to avoid sounding like a Smithsonian field recording. You can (and should) dance to this record, and may even find yourself singing, `Tibi tire. Atinxe ewa... Tibi tire..." in the car on your way to work.

In a market replete with the watered-down, homogenous "world music" product record companies think the American public is 'ready' for, this album stands out as among the best international releases ever. I would recommend this disc to anyone who likes Cuban, Brazilian, or African (including Afrikan-American!) music.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Phenomenal recording, a masterpiece!, June 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Bata Ketu (Audio CD)

First of all, I must agree with reviewer Jabari Adisa, that this CD is "phenomenal!...an interesting mix of folkloric and popular music that inspires movement and smiles and all around 'upfull' vibes." Bata Ketu has no equal in the realm of experimental folklore and will appeal to many people who would ordinarily not be interested in hearing drums and chants.

Jabari Adisa however, is mistaken as to the real creative force behind Bata Ketu. Michael Spiro and Mark Lamson are two unique musicians who have learned on a very deep level, both Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian music. The panoramic scope of Bata Ketu reveals these two percussionist's musical genius and its no wonder Spiro is also a composer of film scores. Lamson and Spiro never claim to be the composers of these songs for ancestral deities. They are the arrangers who successfully blended several distinct genres with mastery. Together they recorded scores of instruments, sounding like an enormous orchestra of percussion. They play the music with the utmost integrity.

When I visited the great "Chacha" in Matanzas, Cuba, he and his friends were listening to Bata Ketu on a little boom box and singing happily along with every song. They loved it! I was blown away! Chacha was a founding member of Los Munequitos and one of the greatest elder bata drum masters on the island. He left the living room for a minute, returned with a bembe drum he had carved and began jamming over the top of the CD. The night before I was at another house in Matanzas where a Yoruba ceremony was about to begin and they had Bata Ketu on their stereo as well!

Vocalists Bobi Cepedes and Jorge Alabe shine out front in this recording, with Michael and Mark cooking behind them. To state that "two white guys get the credit for this African creativity" is a thoughtless racist statement that's well... thoughtless and racist. Listen to the CD and read the liner notes. You will want to dance!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoruba Music, with flavor, September 10, 2001

By 

Pedro Ugalde - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bata Ketu (Audio CD)

This is an exelent compilation of yoruba music, encompases some of the more unusual orixas songs like ozayin since in traditional santeria tapes this orixa is excluded, has a samba flavor to it making it more apealing to the ear, but farther from the original rithims, also the candomble rithm comes in play making it a must have, especially for those who want to expand ther minds and limits.