Tambores Bata - Afro-Cuban Sacred Drums - Santeria - Cult Music

Africa, of course, is the source of the fascinating rhythms and rituals of Haiti, Cuba, Brasil, Jamaica, Virgin Isles, Trinidad, and coastal Africa itself. The large conga drum has many variants (goombay, etc.) but is essentially a form of the proverbial log with a skin stretched across. The conga, often made from pork or rum barrels if profane, could "talk" across great distances and drive dancers into a frenzy. It was introduced to the Americas in the early sixteenth century by Africans enslaved by the Spanish. Incidentally, the conga line, the first popular Latin dance in North America, stems from the cola, a serpentine carnival march from Cuba.

The profane drum handles such mundane tasks as facilitating courtship, war, communication, recreation, etc. The sacred drum, through which the gods sing, is the tool of the priest, and through him, the people sing back to the gods. The beats tell the history and secrets of the cult but primarily lead to ecstatic emotional states. The ritual, drumming, and priest serve to affirm the power, joy, health, and togetherness of the people under the eyes of the ancient gods of Africa. The principal god mentioned in songs from Trinidad to Haiti, including secular calypsos, is Shango, responsible for life and death (and the credibility of the priest who summons him).

The sacred drum is more likely than its profane counterpart to be carved elaborately from a tree trunk. In Haiti the peristyle, or rada, drums are baptized by priests and carry mana or secret power. The uninitiated must never touch them, and even among the initiated only the original owner should ever touch them. In a set of three of the basic instruments, each size has a generic name; and there is yet another name used only in ceremonies (in addition to each drum's consecrated name).

In the sacred ensembles of Central and South American hill country, the range of percussion instruments extends far beyond the familiar bongos, timbales, and claves of urban, Latin orchestras. Maracas, or the Haitian tchatcha (from which "cha cha cha" may derive), are a profane type of calabash, of which there is a ceremonial form. The specialized, legendary, Cuban bata drums are hourglass-shaped and sometimes were adorned with sacrificial blood and ornaments. And the vaccines of Haiti are bamboo horns which also are struck with small sticks.

The greatest variety of instruments belongs to the country with the largest African population outside of Africa: Brasil. The tamborin (tambourine) is used in carnival as well as the annual procession of the semi-deified, regal Maracatú in northern Brasil.

Common to all sacred-drum cultures is the use of iron in one form or other. This symbol of wealth and power in old West Africa is, in Haiti, a flattened piece of iron hit with a nail, the cow bell in Cuba, and in Brasil a set of bells hit with a nail or special stick of iron. A band could play without irony, but not without iron.

Afro-Cuban cult music, or toques de Santo (including the Yoruba and Lucumi heritage) places the utmost emphasis on drumming. Tambores Bata (sacred drum, or "bata" drummers) are among the most revered Latin percussionists. The records are few and far between, and most of the early ones have achieved cult status in their own right. Some snippets of bata drumming can be found on early Latin records, particularly old 10" LPs with the odd "Afro" or rumba track. And a few major-label albums treat the subject nicely.

Katherine Dunham was friends with Fernando Ortiz, chief folklorist and anthropologist studying Cuba. Through him she met and hired into her company the great conga player Francisco Aguabella Urrutia and Julito Besabe Collazo. On The Singing Gods they play bata and a special Nanigo set of drums accompanied by Chyminea Monterrey; Chocolate and Carlitos sing in the African yoruba dialect.

Afro-Brasilian Candomblé

The Candomblé ritual was brought by African slaves; African gods (orixás) are equated with Christian figures, for instance Oxalá with Jesus. Hours of drumming induce women of the sect into trances, particularly the "daughter of a saint," who is outfitted for the dances she must perform while under possession.