EMILIO BARRETO PRESENTA
SANTÍSIMO EN RITUAL

This is an outdated Folkcuba.com page; prices and availability have changed.
Esta página esta vieja; los precios y algunas cosas se descontinuaron.

Please go to: www.folkcuba.com and search for current items and prices.
Favor de ir a: www.folkcuba.com y buscar los artículos y precios corrientes.

The ritual drum feast, sometimes called tambor or bembé, is one of many collective musical experiences in which practitioners interact with the dieties. This tambor to the orisha Yemayá, hosted by master percussionist Orlando “Puntilla” Ríos and his fraternity of drummers, represents a microcosm of the American melting pot. Practitioners in attendance portray a wide spectrum of the human experience, which brings to the drum feast both positively and negatively charged energies. Essentially, the tambor serves as an opportunity not only to worship god, but also to resolve social conflicts and clarify one’s personal role in the universe.

In this recording, the listener is witness to ritual music in an environment that is rarely heard outside the practice of Santería. As one might suspect, practitioners don’t come to tambores to simply stand and listen in silence. They participate in the experience through clapping, tapping, singing, and dancing. It is believed that by doing so each participant brings a unique personal energy to the collective ritual. It is the coming together of the congregation as one living organism that produces the intrinsic energy of ashé responsible for the group’s transcendance. In this way, practitioners and musicians alike invoke the deities and avail themselves of their wisdom.

On this disk there are two sets of consecrated drums used at various times in the recording. These drums were also used to summon seven devotees of Yemayá who were comissioned to dance for this feast. Drummers and community elders, alike, came from Cuba, Puerto Rico, California, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago to worship beside their brothers and sisters from the New York City metropolitan area. This recording represents a unique opportunity for one to experience the natural flow of a tambor as it moves through a ritual sequence. “Santísimo En Ritual” was edited so that no pauses exist between the songs to interrupt the ceremony’s flow. From the moment you hear the first track, you become immediately aware of the trance inducing ambience unique to a live Santería feast.

Track List