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Ogun

from MANGO by Alex Alvear MUSIC

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Ogun is a religious LUCUMI chant arranged by Alex Alvear

This is one of my favorite tracks in the CD. I have always loved the music of Cuba's many religious groups. The Lucumi, also know as Santeria, has a universe of chants, dances and some extremely intricate rhythms (originally played with Bata drums) used as a channel to connect with the divine. To start the song I quote a traditional Ecuadorian melody of a song called "El Toro Barroso" which evokes a muddy bull leading its herd charging down a hill. After the intro the groove changes into a deeper feel inspired by the music of African musicians such as Salif Keita and Youssou N'Dour, who were part of the initial inspiration I had for my creation of Mango Blue. This influence can be further heard in the instrumental interludes in between chants with the sax riffs and drum kicks. The drum and percussion work by Ernesto and Eric are superb in this tune, as well as the Bata sample programming by Gonzalo. The shuffle feel stated by the keyboards and the sparce bass line gives the song a really nice openness in which all of the many poly-rhythms come together quite nicely. The background vocals by Manolo, Gilenny and Gonzalo are also very powerful. As the song moves to a new chant after the second instrumental interlude, a new chord progression is in place with a slow build-up which incorporates some Peruvian Cajon played very tastefully by Ernesto and a Quijada (Donkey Jaw) played by Gonzalo, to imply a Peruvian Festejo beat. TO end the song we go back to the muddy bull charging down the hill! Overall it's a nice mix of Afro Cuban, African and South American flavors.

credits

from MANGO, track released January 26, 2011
Alex Alvear - Bass, Vocals
Rebecca Cline - Keyboards
Karina Colis - Timbal
Ernesto Diaz - Congas
Eric Doob - Drums
Gonzalo Grau - Minor Percussion, Bckgnd. Vocals & Keyboards
Gilenny Guzman - Bckgnd. Vocals
Manolo Mairena - Misc. Percussion, Bckgnd. Vocals
Felipe Salles - Tenor Sax
Jared Sims, Alto Sax

Produced by: Gonzalo Grau
Mixed by: Fernando Aponte

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Alex Alvear MUSIC Quito, Ecuador

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