making Orixás
by Hank Schroy

This record began as a study of the chants and percussion patterns of Yoruba religious traditions, namely Candomblé and Umbanda, as well as Santeria. We chose to make an offering of 16 different songs for 16 different Orixás, 16 being considered a magical number and the Orixás being basic cosmic building blocks of the Universal Soul. We wanted to make music that would put the listener directly in touch with the feeling of each Orixá, in a way that’s immediately accesible and in a way that represents a futuristic vision for an interconnected cosmopolitan pan-national music scene. Making the point that the essential elements of this music are unfathomably ancient, and that this culture is at the root of all Brazilian music, we bring these primal ingredients into the world of tranced-out space-age mantras music.

The great musicians that came through to help us make this record all fell into the spirit of the thing. The mantras are by necessity short and easy to learn, the musical parts clear and transferable between instruments. The sound is reflecting the jazz musician’s spirit while respecting the ancient intention of calling to the Orixás and asking for their assistance. Knowing that the interplay is not only from musician to musician but also from individual soul to Cosmic Being, a new approach is formed. Therefore the musician can only approach these mantras with the proper intention. The result is uplifting for the players as well as listeners, and the mantras invite everyone to share in the energy.

Throughout the world, ancient shamanistic ways of life exist side by side with institutionalized religion. The old cultures are not only dismissed as pagan, wicked, black magic, evil, the devil’s work, etc.. but are also severely persecuted. Many people leave the culture they grew up in and become “born again” into this or that state-sponsored religious clan. I’ve heard so many stories about Brazilians who used to be in Umbanda or Candomblé but who’ve now renounced these old ways as evil and have found their savior in the church of Jesus. However, at the same time, many people around the world are discovering the complexity and sophisticated beauty of the worlds of Vodou or Candomblé.

Before we made this record, I could have told you something about Yemanjá or Xango, but I didn’t have the faintest idea about Nana, Ewa, Oba, and many others. Jorge grew up in Umbanda, his grandmother raised him in and around the ceremonies and temples of this religion, and this is the very foundation of his role as a drummer and percussionist, but he also was vague on the story behind this or that Orixá. So we made this record in a way to teach ourselves about the Orixás, and in the process were opened up to a whole new world of how to play with each other and other musicians, of how to make music.
  ¶ 10:53 AM