Raíces Afro-Caribeñas (COSMOVISION)

Tradici๏nes ★ 02 – Raíces Afro Caribenas (100% Vinilos) por @rhythmandhues para Cosmovision Records (El Extravagante).

⋘── ∗ ⋅ESPAÑOL⋅ ∗── ⋙

Esta mezcla es un viaje sonoro a través del tiempo, el espacio y percusiones hacia los orígenes espirituales de la música afrolatina. Desde el llamado de apertura del pregonero a “abrir camino” a la rumba cubana y los cantos de orishas, a los ritmos folclóricos afrobrasileños y de las antillas, trazamos una compleja red de influencias y tradiciones, delineadas por las antiguas rutas de comercio de esclavos, de vuelta al Africa que los dieron a luz. Después de descender por la costa atlántica de Colombia, bastión de los sonidos del carnaval y de Palenque (el legendario pueblo formado por cimarrones o esclavos escapados en el siglo XVII), cerramos el círculo con el mítico “Yiri Yiri Boum” de Gnonnas Pedro, originalmente compuesto por el rey de la percusión el Cubano Silvestre Méndez, creador de la “Oriza”.
Las corrientes transatlánticas son fuertes y continúan arrastrando culturas en sus mareas incluso hoy.

∗ ⋅ BIO ⋅ ∗

Vagabundo musical y coleccionista empedernido, Parker Mah, también conocido como ¨Rhythm & Hues¨ ha estado compartiendo sus selecciones poco convencionales durante más de una década. Como DJ ha destacado y encendido las pistas de baile en lugares como Ciudad de México, Cotonú y Hong Kong. Cofundador del colectivo DJ Tumbao, su especialidad abarca el espectro afro-latino-brasileño-caribeño, con una fuerte predilección por el vinilo.
Músico, compositor y presentador de programas de radio, su pasión es ampliar y compartir su interés en el legado sociocultural de estas músicas y las historias que cuentan sobre la migración y la polinización cruzada.

⋘ ── ∗ ⋅ENGLISH⋅ ∗ ── ⋙

This mix is a sonic journey through time, space and drums into the spiritual origins of Afro-Latin music. From the opening call of the pregonero to “abre camino” into Cuban rumba and Orisha chants, to Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Antillean folkloric rhythms, we trace a complex web of influences and traditions, outlined by slave trading routes, back to the African shores that birthed them. After swooping through the Atlantic coast of Colombia, bastion of carnaval sounds and of Palenque (the legendary village formed by cimarrones or escaped slaves in the 17th century), we come full circle with Gnonnas Pedro’s mythic “Yiri Yiri Boum”, originally composed by Cuban percussion king Silvestre Mendez, originator of the “Oriza”.
Cross-Atlantic currents are strong and continue to tow cultures in their tides even today.




FELA KUTI : Legacies

An excerpt of a mix of music inspired by and paying homage to the one and only Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
Recorded live at the Festival TransAmériques, May 2019.

Cover art by Kristian Bolanos, Neon Cactus.

TABOU GOMBO MIX #2 (TI-AGRIKOL)

// KOMPA // AFRO // LATIN // BRAZILIAN // JUJU // CALYPSO
// FUNKY JAZZ // RUMBA // FUJI // ANTILLES // SOUKOUS
Un extrait d’un 2e set du DJ RHYTHM & HUES à Ti-Agrikol, Avril 2017.
100% VINYL
*** Island Vibes *** Summer Heat ***

#BlackLivesMatter mixtape (HOWL! Arts)

DJ Rhythm & Hues presents a special extended set in tribute to the pantheon of Black and Afro-influenced music from across the ages, prepared for HOWL! Arts. From Billy Paul to Caiphus Semenya, Nina Simone to Steel Pulse and back, this is a mix drenched in some choice soul, hip-hop, R&B, funk, reggae and afro music, all around the #blacklivesmatter theme.

“If history lives through its retelling, then so does music. Musicians of all creeds have found solace and sanctity in the revisiting, revamping, and retelling of songs, melodies and rhythms of days past, whose themes are universal; a phenomenon all the more important given the unfortunate fact that history is wont to repeat itself.

It is with some sadness that I remark that The Roots’ cover of the African-American freedom song “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” still rings relevant today. That the reprise by iSWHAT?! of Charles Mingus’ “Fables of Faubus”, a scathing jazz riposte to Arkansas governor Orval E. Faubus (who notoriously deployed the National Guard to prevent the integration of the Little Rock Nine in white schools in 1957) still speaks truth to the systematized racism, violence and oppression that insidiously pervades Western society.

That songs like Bob Marley’s anti-war treatise “War,” based on a speech made by Haile Selassie in 1963, or Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s “Sorrow, Tears and Blood,” a reference to both the 1976 Soweto Uprising and the raid on Fela’s Kalakuta Republic by the Nigerian police, still resonate with current day events, rather than as reminders of distant, harsher times.

These songs speak to legacies of slavery, colonialism, and cultural imperialism and compel us to insist that #blacklivesmatter. This mix is dedicated to the memory of Anthony Griffin and the victims of police brutality.”

— dj rhythm & hues (Parker Mah), 03/2015.

Many thanks to Stefan Cristoff.

illustration by Shirin Barghi.