Their mesmerizing sound, jubilant dancing and deep spirit first made them a big hit in the U.K. at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival. It was there that the producer of BBC 2’s ‘Later … with Jools Holland‘ saw the vibrant ten-piece choir and was so impressed he asked them to appear on the show. This finally happened in May 2010 when they performed the uplifting and emotional ‘Chen Nan Ren’, a freedom song denouncing neo-colonialism and colonialism while conveying the celebratory and glorious feeling of resistance which harks back to the freedom songs of the 1960s circa Martin Luther King and the struggle for racial equality in the USA.
Various interviews and sessions followed – including a BBC Radio 2 session with Mark Lamarr who was deeply impressed – and even Jo Wiley played a track on Radio 2. The Choir also performed to invited media and guests at a memorable show at the magical Wiltons Music Hall in East London.
The Choir sings in ‘criollo haitiano’ (Creole or Kreyol), Cuba’s second language, spoken by almost a million people, a pragmatic fusion of African, French and other languages. It’s the language of a people twice exiled: first to Haiti from Africa through the iniquitous slave trade; then from Haiti to Cuba tricked into second slavery by their French masters after the Haitian Revolution of 1790.
Other Haitians arrived in the 20th century fleeing political upheaval, poverty and oppression during the barbaric regime of Papa Doc Duvalier which held power from the 1950s to 70s, marked by reigns of terror and the brutality of his private militia, the Tonton Macoutes.
In a testament to their enduring relationship with their spiritual homeland, the Choir recently spent two month-long tours in Haiti as part of Cuba’s relief project following the January earthquake. Working in cooperation with the Haitian Cultural Ministry the group ran workshops with children within displaced persons camps as well as performing for the public in specially arranged concerts.
The Choir – five men and five women – hail from beautiful Camagüey, Cuba’s third city, an old colonial town, designated a UNESCO World heritage Site in 2008 for its iconic architecture. They have studied music to university level in Camagüey and are all members of the Provincial Choir, which their leader Emilia directs.
Desandann emerged out of this choir in 1994, a difficult time for Cubans when the economy fell into a black hole following the end of the USSR and of Soviet support for the revolution. Food was short while homes and work places often went dark due to lack of electricity.
The singers decided to re-forge the resistance songs and laments of their forebears, to celebrate the history of their Haitian descendants enslaved to the Caribbean from West Africa. To the songs that had been passed down in their families since the early 19th century, they added more modern Haitian sounds.
The album ‘Tande-La‘ is out now Real World Records.
Buy the album:
- In North America: Other recordings available: Descendants
- In Europe: Tande-La. Other recordings available: Descendants
UK tour – January/ February 2011
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Thu 27 Jan – GATESHEAD
The Sage Gateshead
0191 443 4661
Sat 29 Jan – GLASGOW
Celtic Connections
0141 353 8000
Tue 1 Feb – BRISTOL
St Georges
0845 40 24 001
Wed 2 Feb – ABERYSTWYTH
Arts Centre
01970 62 32 32
Thu 3 Feb – SWANSEA
Taliesin Arts Centre
01792 602060
Sun 6 Feb – BRIGHTON
Dome
01273 709 709
Tue 8 Feb – LONDON
Barbican
020 7638 8891
Wed 9 Feb – CROYDON
Clocktower
020 825 31030
Thu 10 Feb – BURY ST EDMUNDS
Apex
01284 75800
Fri 11 Feb – MANCHESTER
RNCM
0161 907 5200
Mon 14 Feb – BIRMINGHAM
Town Hall
0121 780 3333
Tue 15 Feb – BASINGSTOKE
The Anvil
01256 844244
Fri 18 Feb – SOUTHAMPTON
Turner Sims
023 8059 5151
Sun 20 Feb – NOTTINGHAM
Theatre Royal
0115 989 5555
Video
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
