Customer Reviews

Rhythms of Rapture: Sacred Musics of Haitian Vodou

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This set of songs, collected by an ethnomusicologist, is simply fantastic. You get exposure to a wide range of styles, from polished studio recordings to field recordings. The fact that the woman who collected these is an ethnomusicologist adds value, as the liner notes are very informative, and this set gives us a feeling for the range of musical contexts as well as styles in Haitian music. For lovers of Caribbean music in general, this disc is worth your time.

I love this CD! I work at a museum, and as we're gearing up for an exhibit on Hatian art, we're even sharing this with staff and volunteers to get them in the mood. Wonderful blend of "street" music and more formal pieces.

I'm going to have to come in on the side of this CD. It's an excellent selection of sacred music from some of the Haitian traditions. As long as we don't take it to be encyclopedic, there's no problem here. Some of the recordings are old, and all are set into their proper context by the notes.

Smithsonian Folkways isn't the label it used to be in the LP era, but then neither are the wretched peoples of the third world. This, like many of their recent releases, was put together by a latter-day ethnomusicologist who appears to be more interested in making a name for herself than compiling a truly enjoyable cd. All of her selections are footnotes to her thesis, short examples of this and that. No long satisfying tracks, just 1-3 minute snippets chosen to support her cumbersome liner notes. This might be fine if one was paying to see an exhibit at the Smithsonian, but it doesn't show any musical sense. In fact nearly all the selections are inferior examples of Haitian musical styles, giving truth to the old stereotype of musicologists having little if any artistic taste. So her exhibits wont be very pleasing to seasoned lovers of Caribbean folk music, but at least they are very short. Haitian Vodou was much better served by Folkways in the LP era. I suggest seeking that series out or ordering it directly from Folkways.