ÌFÉ

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ÌFÉ

Postby Siete Leguas » Fri Feb 05, 2021 12:06 pm

Hi everybody!

A friend told me about the band ÌFÉ some time ago. They are a band from Puerto Rico that play music rooted in the Afro-Cuban traditions, but spiced up with electronic sounds. I like their music a lot and I find it pretty innovative, so I thought it might be worth sharing here, in case you don't know them. In the second video (around 12:30) there's a brief explanation about how they generate some of the sounds.

Some of you might know some of the musicians from elsewhere (I have seen footage of Beto Torrens singing at a NY Central Park rumba). The videos are few years old, so I don't know if they are still active as a band.

I am quite interested in electronic music and Afro-Cuban music, so if somebody knows of similar kind of projects, I'd be glad to know about them. I'd also be interested to know what you guys think of this kind of sound.

Salud!



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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Thomas Altmann » Fri Feb 05, 2021 2:05 pm

Hi Siete Leguas,

I'll keep my response short:

1. These are good musicians, and they are creating something new on their own, which is cool, above anything else.
2. The group exhibits Ifá and Yoruba religion as a fashionable attitude as well as a packaging to enhance marketing and to shape a product image. As much as I appreciate a relaxed approach to all religious affairs, this gives me a slight touch of nausea. I'm sure that the band will meet divided opinions on that, and I suppose they know it. It is probably even intended.
3. Electronic technology has become an integral part of our everyday life, so it is consequent to make it a part of our music as well. It's not new, and it keeps on growing. To be honest, I don't find the synthetic sounds particularly ugly; however, I feel that this is definitely a development that a younger generation has to bring forward. I will most certainly not be a part of that. I am coming from a different world, so to say; my perspective and my artistic response to the things that are going on today are naturally different, even if that means to become silent. So go for it! Human culture is in your hands now!

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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Siete Leguas » Fri Feb 05, 2021 3:28 pm

Hi Thomas, thanks for your comments. Your opinion on point number 2 is particularly valuable to me. There is more to music than just its aesthetic part, for sure. I could recognise some Yoruba references and, without knowing much about the religion myself, I was wondering how insiders like you would see it. Appreciate it!
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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Chtimulato » Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:40 pm

Hello everybody.

I must say electronical music bothers me relatively quickly, sorry. Even if the musicians are good, which seems to be the case here. Although they don't tire out writing the texts, picking up phrases of the Santería... But Thomas has already raised this point


If you’re interested in this genre, I know a Cuban trio called « Orishas », which was settled in France in the late 90s, early 2000s. I didn’t like their music, considering them more or less like charlatans. In my (intolerant) eyes, there were composed of one genuine musician (who was a guitar teacher in La Habana), one seducer and one buffoon. :lol:
Here are some ‘traces’ of what they ‘committed’  :lol: :

https://web.archive.org/web/20060101200216/http://www.orishasthebest.com/Index2.html

https://www.discogs.com/artist/43618

You can find some of their ‘misdeeds’ on Youtube  :lol: :
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=orishas


In the same vein, there are Angá’s daughters, the Ibeyi, also based in France. I must admit they can sing and play, but I’m not a fan either.
Their website http://www.ibeyi.fr/ seems to be out of order by now.
You can find some of their work here :
https://www.discogs.com/fr/artist/4058507-Ibeyi

and here :
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ibeyi

You can notice that I say « work » about them, because I respect them more than the 3 above… :lol:


Re : Ifé now (I could drift a little off-topic, sorry)

Ifé (or Ilé-Ifè) is a town in South-West Nigeria, certainly formerly belonging to the Benin / Dahomey kingdom. It is said to be the « central town of the Yoruba mythology » (I borrowed this quote to Wikipedia) and to have been founded by Odudúa (a Santería deity and first Yoruba king). And as a matter of fact, you can find many references to Ifé in the Caribbean culture. Cuban and Brasilian Yoruba refer sometimes to Ifé (band names for instance). Haitian vodun believers too.
There’s even a ritual in Haiti, according to which, besides being ‘fed‘ from time to time (literally : the believers give them food), the drums have to travel back to Ifé, to… ‘reload their batteries’, so to speak. A little bit like the church bells travelling back to Rome in the catholic culture.

I found this about Ifé, if someone is interested :

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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Siete Leguas » Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:33 pm

Hi Chtimulato, thanks for your suggestions and opinions, or should I say "merciless slashes"! :D

Yes, I know the band Orishas. They had huge commercial success back in the day. Not the best Cuban Hip-Hop for me, but I do like their beats with Son samples and that.

I know some of Ibeye's work. I also watched an interview with them some time ago, after which I was truely impressed by their charm (in some ways similar to their late father's) and their deep cultural knowledge (in terms of music, cinema, literature, languages...). However, I don't feel a strong connection to their music either, at least so far.

I read that the word "ife" means "love" in Yoruba language, but also "expansion"? (according to the English Wikipedia, Ile-Ife would mean "The house (or land) of expansion"...). Although maybe they are different words with different pronunciation, since I think Yoruba is a tonal language... IDK.

Cheers!
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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby jorge » Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:21 pm

I don't see the problem. These folks can play, some of them came out of Yuba Ire, a great rumba group from Puerto Rico and some come from the bomba tradition. They have a different style but it is original, keeping traditions alive (both Cuban and Puerto Rican) while adapting to modern forms like midi and synthesizers. I have not seen midi bata before. That young lead singer Kathy Cepeda can sing, although unfortunately I don't see her in their more recent videos. It seems they have lost some of their other members too since that 2015 video, I hope they can bring some of them back into the group.

I am not into electronic music myself either, and in my younger days, I totally agreed with you to keep the electronics and folkloric music separate. In 1975, a physics professor of mine was inventing a synthesizer and asked me to play a conga for him to record so he could model the waveform and program it into his synthesizer. I refused, because I believed the sounds of the instrument were natural and cultural and represented thousands of years of development, and I did not want to participate in the creation of a technological form of music that could potentially replace the role of live percussionists in music by people and machines that had no understanding of or interest in the history. Ideologically, I am not a Luddite, but I do believe in preserving the human real time interactions that are the essence of improvisational music, as well as the importance of folkloric music in passing on an oral history that is not on TV, in the history books, or even in forums like this. He was disappointed but continued on without me (no his name was not Moog). Looking back, I am glad I put up that little tiny bit of resistance, and I still believe in keeping the folklore human. While I have accepted metal tuning lugs, polyurethane and digital recordings, I still don't like plastic skins or fiberglass drums.

In spite of these kinds of purist considerations, technology is hitting Cuba too and we are getting older. Anga liked to have a DJ performing with him. I even heard an interview of Rafael El Niño Pujada Navarro, lead singer of Los Muñequitos, saying his kids listen to regaeton more than rumba. Carlito el Social the lead singer of Columbia del Puerto, one of the best rumba groups in Cuba, has taken up rapping and regaeton.

Think about it. Is this so different from the rumba de cajon that developed using boxes, furniture and spoons and helped preserve some of the African culture through the most repressive of the racist colonial times (Tiempo de España) when drums were prohibited? People use the medium available and invent new ways to keep the flame alive and get through to the younger generations, which is what really counts. Midi batarumba has some analogies with rumba de cajon. Plus some of the orthodox religious activities in Cuba and elsewhere are not so pure either, and some have become corrupted and commercialized, like many other religions. Just go to Callejon de Hamel in Cayo Hueso next time you are in la Habana. Religions are businesses too.

And the rumba keeps evolving as well. Pancho Quinto considered himself an orthodox rumbero. Some people hated Rapsodia Rumbera when it came out in the mid 1990s, claiming that is not rumba, what happened to the salidor? But ten years later those same people were trying to learn "guarapachangueo". Plus Ife is keeping the anti-colonial protest music and improvisation-within-clave aspects of the rumba going, different musical style but similar philosophy. Their 2020 video, done under lockdown conditions using lots of overdubbing and effects, has a song about the pandemic dedicated to the singer's cousin who died of COVID the day before the session. La timba no es como ayer. Pa'lante Ife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2YWihRPtT8
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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Siete Leguas » Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:40 am

Hi Jorge, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Glad to hear that you are open for folklore taking new forms, while respecting traditions and values. I agree with you on that brilliant performance by Kathy Cepeda in 2015, it would be great to see more of her.

The analogy between anti-colonialist values of rumba during "el tiempo de España" and modern day Puerto Rico sounds like a fair point to me, too.

I'll check out their 2020 performance some time soon. Thanks for sharing!
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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Thomas Altmann » Sat Feb 06, 2021 1:00 am

I have heard of this translation of Ilé-Ifè (+dot under the è), too ("home of expansion /spreading"). It could also mean "house for sitting down in relaxation". First and foremost, however, it's the city.

According to Kayode Fakinleye's Modern Practical Yoruba Dictionary:

ilè (with a dot under the è) = land
ilé = house
ife = cup, glass
ìfé = whistling
ìfé (with a dot under the é) = love

The accents are tone markers in Yorùbá: No-accent denotes the middle tone, accent grave (`) is the low tone, accent aigu (´) is the high tone. The dot under the e (ẹ) makes the e hard and short. In Cuba, the tonal charakter has been diluted over the centuries. The Spanish accent (´) means an emphasis. It is not the same as the high tone, but it's the nearest substitution for it.
The fact that the band uses the accent grave is an indication that they made some research in African Yorùbá. In Cuban lucumí it is unusual to find tone markers intact, and one cannot presume that the use of accents is correct.
I suppose that the band had the same problem that I have; to find a character with both dot underneath and accent on top. They probably want ìfé to mean "love", I would say. And it's a pun, alluding to the African city.

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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Siete Leguas » Sat Feb 06, 2021 2:00 pm

Hi Thomas, thanks for the translation from (African) Yoruba!

Thomas Altmann wrote:I am coming from a different world, so to say; my perspective and my artistic response to the things that are going on today are naturally different, even if that means to become silent. So go for it! Human culture is in your hands now!

I must say that I am not the youngest, either. Even though I enjoy listening to "classical" Hip-Hop and many kinds of electronic dance music (I sort of grew up with it, in some way or another), nowadays I do feel a strong generational gap when I hear the so-called "Urban Music" of today (Trap, Reggaeton, etc.), which seems to have completely taken over the youth's musical interest almost everywhere. I have a feeling of not understanding much anymore, and that feeling is only growing as the years go by. I guess it's the natural consequence of getting old.

I think it's inevitable that such genres (or new ones to come) cross over to other styles, including the more "puristic" music traditions like Rumba or Flamenco - as it always has been, anyway. In Flamenco for example, when Camarón de la Isla released his ground-breaking record "La leyenda del tiempo" in 1979, many purists were against it - it is said that many people went back to the stores wanting to return the record, because "that was not Camarón" and thought they were being fooled. Today it is considered a legendary record. Similar thing happened with artists like Pata Negra, who were pioneers in crossing Flamenco and Blues, or in the past few years, with the young lady Rosalía, who brings together Flamenco and Urban Music. We might not like it and might show some resistance to present or future "violations" to "our" music, but sooner or later we'll have to deal with it.

jorge wrote:La timba no es como ayer.

I can't really tell what's going on with Rumba nowadays, but I do sense an evolution in this direction with groups like Rumbatimba de Matanzas.

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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Thomas Altmann » Sat Feb 06, 2021 2:38 pm

Hi Siete Leguas,

I know that you are not "the youngest", because I have seen you in person.

I could write a book of 500 pages about the subject; but I am not going to do it, let alone on the congaplace forum. Suffice it to say that my criticism goes beyond mere matters of taste or generational preferences, and I'm generally appreciative of any innovative contributions. The question that we as artists should ask ourselves is, however, in which direction we want to go, and what kind of innovations we have to bring in? What is this world like, where is it going, and what is there to do - for us? This is an important question, and I am not answering this question, neither for you nor for anybody else. I will only draw my own conclusions for myself.

Cordially,
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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Siete Leguas » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:18 pm

Thomas Altmann wrote:The question that we as artists should ask ourselves is, however, in which direction we want to go, and what kind of innovations we have to bring in? What is this world like, where is it going, and what is there to do - for us?


Hi Thomas, those are good questions. I don't know if one can always have an answer beforehand, especially as a (band) musician; sometimes things just happen. I guess it depends on the particular constellation of people involved in an artistic project, their backgrounds, their circumstances at a particular moment. I have taken part in some more creative/"innovative" projects in the past, which was definitely fun, but I'm not sure if that is my thing. I think for now I would be happier as an "artist" just playing songs written 100 years ago by Miguel Matamoros or Ignacio Piñeiro, for example. If you ever do write the book let me know, anyway. ;)

On the topic of anti-colonialism/anti-racism that Jorge pointed out: I just learned that Bomba and Plena music and dance groups apparently had a remarkable presence at Black Lives Matter protests last year in Puerto Rico and the US, which is nice to hear and makes political and artistical sense .
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Re: ÌFÉ

Postby Thomas Altmann » Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:08 pm

Hi Siete Leguas,

you're absolutely right: Very often it isn't only you who makes the artistic decisions in your bands. As a professional percussionist, oftentimes you would even be called to lend your services or working power to projects of no artistic concern. And if you think the damage that you would do to either the people, to the music or to yourself would be to big if you did that, it's up to you to reject the gig - if you can afford it. Jorge did that by refusing to have his conga sound synthesized. Nowadays, whenever you enter a recording studio with your instruments, you can be dead sure that your sounds are going to be sampled and utilized for later productions, no matter what you are hired for at the date. And there's no way to control it.

We are free to do what you want, as long as we are not violating other people's rights or their physical or psychological well-being. Social life should be guided by respect and tolerance: This has always been part of my philosophy, and it refers to the artist and his art as well. It is a pretty innocent affair to line up with an existing tradition, and as long as you play well, you can enjoy what you are doing without hurting anybody.

Another aspect is that art, especially with a folkloric background, has always reflected the social conditions and concerns of its time - in various ways. Blues, jazz, rumba and son, samba and bossa nova have confirmed that for more than a century. Music in general reflects our perception of the world. This is BIG! How can we possibly deal with this gentle giant and make him speak for us?

When I pose the question: "What is there to do for us", I don't suggest we should sit down at a desk to plan strategically what steps to take. I don't believe it works like that. To quote Hermann Hesse once more: "The deed has never been done by the one who asked: what shall I do." Perhaps it makes more sense to find out what not to do. But each artist/musician has to find out for him-/herself how to proceed.

As far as I'm concerned, I believe in awareness; maintaining and refining our sensitivity for what is going on around us. I also believe in playing (in the sense of being playful). There's a garden behind our house where I often watch the squirrels. They are playing all the time, whizzing around, chasing each other, and while doing that, they accidentally find the nuts or acorns that feed them. I often wondered where they have discovered their walnuts, when I haven't even seen the tree anywhere around. I doubt I would find one if I eagerly searched for it.

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