In Benin, voodoo songs offer valuable advice on how to live your life. In Haiti, the songs convey stories, sung in the presence of the Gods.
During Global Music bachelor studies, my field trips took me to Eastern Cuba, where I investigated Haitian voodoo traditions (2018), and Benin (2019), where I discovered the roots of the traditions. These experiences have given me valuable insight into the ways in which music and life adapts and changes during the course of 10 to 15 generations.
Tero Bombero, percussion and vocals
Lauri Salokoski, bass and vocals
Chrysa Panagiotopoulou, vocals
Emmi Uimonen, piano and vocals
Alevtina Parland, trumpet and vocals
Petri Kautto, guitar and vocals
Ossi Raippalinna, percussion
Christopher Rodulfo, percussion
Aapo Vatanen, percussion
Joao Luis, percussion
Jesus de la Rosa, dance
My core idea for the bachelor concert is to introduce eight rhythm traditions that I have recently learnt in Santiago de Cuba and Benin. I spent five weeks in both places having singing lessons and percussion lessons almost every day. This vodoo religion music is not so famous and known as many other musical genres for example in Cuba. It includes complex interlocking percussive patterns and beautiful songs mostly sung in pentatonic scales. In Benin there can be even 30 people playing just cowbells (gongs) and few accompanying drums, shakers and a solo drum. So I took a challenge to gather songs and variations for each percussion and then blow new flavour to the music by making chords for all these songs. This has been a big work and at this point it feels amazing having the hard part done. I have spent most of my life decoding Afro Cuban rhythms and trying to understand the way to play solo drum patterns in connection to dance and singing. A single solo drum phrase normally lasts two claves (four bars) in Cuba, when in Benin the ”stories” can be 8 claves long. In this concert I took it to the the next level by arranging the music to a new direction with the chords. The challenge was to have enough respect for the pentatonic traditions while jazzy chords popped up in my mind. Other challenge has been avoiding to fill the music totally with all this information. So I have concentrated to keep some parts minimalistic and focus on the dynamics.
In my concert I try to express the beauty of this religious music and also show a bit of my skills as an artist. Though this time I try to bring up the skills of the other performers as well as I can for example by introducing them one by one in each song while having their solos. In the beginning of the project I thought I would be playing many different drums. But in the last rehearsals I realized I only play one conga drum, a cowbell and sing a lot. It has taken a huge effort to train my band until this point. The African rhythms take a while to intenalize. I'm not satisfied with some details like the phrasing of the hole band in some songs but the spirith is great. Ten gigs would do great for this band's music just like in every project.
My process took me to Santiago de Cuba to have singing lessons with Rafael ”Manolo” Cisnero and percussion with Ramón Marquéz-Domínguez. In Grand Popo of Benin I worked on the old traditional songs with Peter Olpias Assogba and percussion with Noel Saïzonou.In these hot places I had no internet, only all the time to internalize well what I had recorded, written and tryied out. So I was quite ready with the material when I got back to Finland in february. The problem was to ask all of these 10 people to trust my vision and get them answering in doodles and stuff. As you know in school world people are busy having many projects going on and often there is only one performance after few months of work for each. Luckily I managed to get everyone I needed, asking them well before hand. I also booked another gig for us at Juttutupa to get more motivation for my band. Back here in Finland I made basic chords for these songs and then kept on arranging them with Lauri Salokoski ( my supervisor for the concert). Lauri has a lot harmonical experience and it was educating and fun working with him.
I was expecting to find some kind of similarities on the music that exists in Haiti and Benin today because the origin is the same. Only the solo drum techniques remain the same after many generations, having a stick in one hand. In many of these rhythmical traditions there are bell patterns and drum patterns for at least seven players. The theoretical part I will open more on my bachelor written work.
So what do I want to do and express in my concert again? In a vodoo ceremony everyone knows that they are in a ceremony, they have a purpose to be there. Everyone takes part on that communal activity. When I bring this music to the stage with an audience who might not know much of the religion it is going to turn to entertainment and art. Religion can not happen on a stage. My relation to the Gods is not clear to me. I just adore the beauty of this music and want to enjoy playing it, as I think my hole band does. I have gathered enough knowledge of the religion but I am not in it. Still I believe in spirits and things and I have seen weird stuff in these ceremonys in Cuba and Benin. It might take another life time to figure out where I stand. Every day I go through what am I doing playing this and that religious music and even teaching it foreward at Rumba-Akatemia. I have not been punished by the Gods, Orichas nor Loas yet. In Grand Popo of Benin exists about 50 languages, so everyone you meet on the street on your way to the percussion lesson might have different mother tongue. All these people will greet each other from small child to a grandma. That is something I miss here. The songs from Benin are in mina language.
I feel I made good job gathering my band. Petri Kautto, the guitarist I had not seen in many years but I met him in Benin again jamming. After two days of being in Grand Popo we had a gig that I thought was going to be small. After a rehearsal we performed to 2000 people on a ”festival” with Noël Saïzonou and Peter Olpias Assogba. The encore we'll play in my bachelor concert is an old country song that we performed on this Grand Popo gig. All the other band members I asked to be in my band during the autumn. Then after arranging the music and having put it in to sheets I trained the percussion group and singing group separately. Now finally in early May we had three days rehearsals in a row, that I booked in february. A skill I try to achieve is doing things well in advance (unlike this text).
First time I composed to trumpet and learnt thigns. First time I lead a project this big and ambitious, I learn things! It feels ok to be a leader, but I'd rather be normally just a member of a great group. This project has still educated me in a way that I was hoping for getting in the school.Now I have a Greek singer, percussionists from three countrys, songs in Franco-Creol-Haitiano language mixed with some Cuban spices and a feeling I am filling the task to work on something multi-cultural!
(This text was written before my bachelor concert in spring 2019. All the other texts in the autumn 2020.)
All the songs are Traditional music from Benin and Haiti, arranged by Tero Bombero and Lauri Salokoski.
1. Djomidjo/ Mieto nuwe: Rhythm Adja. ”The great Voodoo existed before we were born, our ancestors were holy adoring Voodoo./ Our thing is strong, let's take care of it!” This song introduces the most important kings of Benin and Dahomey history. Benin
2. Edoabala: Rhythm Gangbo. ” Something scary is gonna happen now, but Zangbeto, the spririt of the night hunter will save the village.” Benin
3. Agba we mizon/ Oti ogu: Rhythm Éssé and Kaya. ” We were born without clothes, money, knowledge and we will die about the same way. I brought nothing with me and I'll take not nothing when I go”/ ”This one is sang when someone has died. It is a dance around a bottle, if you fail you will die also. The drink of Ogu.” Benin
4. Mayizepol: ”This song is for the god Argayu/ Agayu who holds the world on his sholders. Haiti
5. Nue na mahu kan: Rhythm Zienlihun. ”What Mahu (the greatest god of many) has written for your life, nobody can erase. You can not change the life line in your palm”. One member of royal family is needed to perform this song. Benin
6.Petro/Simbi: ”Pedro was a haitian who invented this rhythm around year 1850. Simbi is a god who steals the jewellery from people who are swimming. Simbi rhythms were palyed originally by bambu horns” Haiti
7. Encore, Walking boss: Old country song by Petri Kautto.
