'This exquisite recording finds one of the most gifted percussionists in Latin music today working in what is perhaps his true element - the Santeria liturgy. The spiritual power of this Afro-Caribbean religious ceremony, sung in Yoruba to the accompaniment of a three-man percussion bata is awesome, but it is the intense articulation of rhythm that makes this music so devastating, incredible.'-JD Considine,Musician Magazine'A wonderful album - absorbing, mesmerizing, beautiful and fun, graceful and sensual. It draws ou into a space and reality all its own, with a mood and flow quite distant from the everyday and yet hauntingly familiar. I found myself playing it over and over...' - City Paper (Washington DC)'Is a stone soul picnic, so party down. If you're going to buy one record this summer, here is one that, in the words of Hebrew National, answers to a higher authority.' - Glenn O'Brien, Interview
Recorded in August 1985.
Personnel: Milton Cardona (vocals, percussion); Steve Berrios, Hector Hernandez (bata); Jose Fernandez (percussion); Amma Dawn, Teresa Gomez, Sandra Wiles, Linda Evans (background vocals).
=Oru Seco : the first part of a bembe and a series of bata salutes called toques played for each of the Orisha. The term seco actually means "dry" in Spanish and, in this case, refers to the absence of singing.
=Oru Cantando : the second part of a bembe consisting of a series of songs sung for each of the Orisha. The songs are accompanied by bata drums, and may employ many of the same toques used during the Oru Seco portion. (Or entirely new toques may be played.)
=Wemelere : the last part of a bembe, the wemelere expands on the music played in the prior sections and includes dancing and singing, in hopes that the Orisha will come down and "visit" the participants.