Featured songs

SONG TO OYA
with shruti box accompaniment

Ayilo da yaokuo
O lo mode ke yo ayaba
Oya de ariwo
O yansa lo ro shokoto
Oya de mariwo
O mensa lo ro shokoto

Oration/ Prayer to the goddess Oya Yansá (also known as Orisha) of wind lightening and storms. Afro Cuban / Regla de Ocha Trad. Music from the creole descendants of the Yoruba peoples, enslaved and taken to the Caribbean. Oya Yansa represents of change, courage, and transformation and is often hailed as the queen of the underworld who can communicate with the dead. Oya’s power over death and rebirth is significant, and she is often called upon to help people transition from one stage of life to the next.

MI LINDO CARPUELA
Ya no quiero vivir yo en esta Carpuela
Porque lo tenía se llevó el río (Bis)
Ya me voy, yo ya me voy Ya no hay donde trabajar
Ya me voy, yo ya me voy Al oriente a trabajar

Afro Ecuadorian creole song, ritmo: bomba, words and music by Milton Tadeo, Hernando Congo, Fabián Congo. A song in traditional bomba de Chota rhythm. It relates to life in and around the river Chota on the coast of a Ecuador where communities of descendants of the enslaved settled. The floods and battle to survive when the river sweeps and takes all you own. the song speaks of the heartbreak of leaving the land and people you love.

SONG TO EKUE
Ekué , Ekué ,
Chabiaka Mokongo Má Cheberé.
Los diablos se van, Ekué,
Pero volverán, Ekué.

Afro Peruvian creole, festejo rhythm, words and music by the poet Cesar Calvo. Music from the creole descendants of the enslaved people taken to Peru by the Spanish after 1520’s. Cesar Calvo was part of a strong wave of a cultural revival in the 1950s.

SONG FOR OSHUN
with shruti box accompaniment

Omi awa da jani
Ibabo shisho shushile
Omi awa da jani e
Ibabo shisho agba tani

Oration/prayer to the goddess Oshun (also known as Orisha) of sweet water, Afro Cuban/Regla de Ocha Trad. Music from the creole descendants of the Yoruba peoples, enslaved and taken to the Caribbean. Oshun represents the sweetness of love, the joy of life, femininity, sexuality and fertility. She is also considered a gentle and loving deity who teaches that love is the secret to life.

CASA BRASILIERO
I
Dentro do meu corpo
Há um espaço tão vazio
E o resto do meu ser
Está repleto de Brasil
A esperança de voltar
Ao teu lindo amanhecer
Ensino-me esta canção
Um novo hino pra você

II
Oh Pátria Amada!
Minha eterna namorada
Junto à minha cabeceira
O meu sonho é rever
O teu sorriso
Tua graça e o teu cheiro
De janeiro a janeiro
O que eu quero é você
Brasil... Brasil!...
Brasil... Brasil!...

III
Dentro de uma mala
Coloquei todos os meus sonhos
Vi os novos horizontes
Caminhei por outros montes
Conheci, amei, sorri!
Muita coisa aprendi!
Mas não pude esquecer:
Meu cantinho é você!

IV
Guardei a chave
Para abrir a tua porta
Minha casa brasileira
Minha mesa e minha cama
Quero dormir
E sentir no travesseiro
O cheirinho da minha terra
E do povo brasileiro

This modern Afro Brazilian lament, by the maestro José Prates, speaks of the lament and heartbreak of leaving your home and your land you love.