The London Lucumi Choir

Singing to the Ancestors: The London Lucumi Choir on A World in London! Click: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-12th-february-2020/                                                                               The fantastic London Lucumi Choir filled our hearts with their beautiful selves, incredible voices and a family of drums! A truly special feature of London's world music scene, the London Lucumi Choir are the only community-run choir specializing in spiritual Afro-Cuban songs dedicated to Orisha - the ancestral deities worshipped throughout West Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Their majestic live performance had the studio enthralled and the whole choir features a collective of powerful singers ranging from founder Daniela Rosselson De Armas to her seven year-old granddaughter Naila! There were surprise segues into Afro-trap beats, and we learnt much more about the rhythmic bata drums played live by Pete, Patrick, and Lee! The bata are a matriarchal family of drums, headed up by the mother drum called Iya or Iyalu. Iyalu is accompanied by her children, Itotele and Okonkolo, and when played together the interlocking rhythms are said to sound like Yoruba, a tonal language of West Africa. The overall effect is astounding and combined with the earthy power of the singers, the AWIL team was simply blown away - you will be too. The Choir's new album 'FIRE AND WATER: Fuego y Agua, Ina Ati Omi' - named in tribute to the Orisha deities of fire and water - is out now and can be found on Bandcamp, on CD, and streaming services. For a closer look at this spiritual singing tradition, check out the YouTube documentary made in collaboration with Coro Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, which takes us deeper into the world of Songs for Orisha.                                                           ARTIST-TRACK-COUNTRY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Silvia Balducci – Amba Quemando El Sol - Italy/UK

Lokkhi Terra - Bhandari - Cuba/Bangladesh/UK

London Lucumi Choir - Ago Ille - Cuba/London

London Lucumi Choir - Shango in Exile - Cuba/London

London Lucumi Choir - Santa Barbara 

London Lucumi Choir - Sawade Olokun 

12/2/20 – AWIL 240. Online: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-12th-february-2020/  Production & pics by Tanbir Johal, Norman Druker, Sophie Darling, Lucas Keen, artist Alban Low. Also this week ‘It’s A London Thing’ author Caspar Melville on SOAS Radio – listen here: https://www.mixcloud.com/SOASradio/a-world-in-london-324/  Next week globalmusic at SOAS Radio 4pm and Flotsam Band at Resonance 6.30pm.

Going Global Gigs Guide: Feb 21 The Sages & Aga Ujma @SOAS Concert Series @ Brunei Gallery SOAS, Feb 29 Kuch Kuch Bollywood Nights @ The Alice EC3A, Mar 1 Martin Alvarado @ Unity Hall Islington, Mar 2 Lokkhi Terra @ Jazz Café, Mar 7 Kan Beng @ Trades Hall E17, Mar 2 Le Trio Joubran @ Union Chapel, Mar 13 WOMED feat. Marina Deligianni, Katerina Clambaneva, Olcay Bayir, Pavlos Carvalho @ SOAS Concert Series, Mar 27 Let drum Beat @ Rich Mix. #AWorldinLondon #TheSoundofDiverseLondon #ConnectingCulturesThroughMusic – thirteen years. Live on Wednesdays 6.30pm Resonance 104.4 https://www.resonancefm.com/ & 4pm SOAS Radio https://soasradio.org/  Online worldwide at #Mixcloud. Join us on Twitter & Instagram @aworldinlondon @djritu1 http://www.djritu.com