By 1866, nearly 200,000 slaves from what is now northwestern Nigeria had been brought to Cuba to work the sugar plantations. In an attempt to preserve their religion and culture, the slaves, known as Lucumí in Cuba, aligned their traditional orisha worship with the dominant Catholic religion.

Recognizing similarities between orisha, spirits with human-like personalities, and the Catholic saints of their slavers, the Lucumí incorporated the saints’ images into their own worship. The resulting religion was called Santería (saint worship) by the locals, though the Lucumí prefered the terms Lucumí religion, Yoruba religion, and Regla de Ocha (a contraction of orisha).

Music accompanies most aspects of Lucumí religious life, and song is essential. Singing, in isolation or in a call-and-response fashion among several devotees, is usually unaccompanied, though sometimes supported by rhythmic clapping, bells (agogo) or shakers (acheré).

Lucumí religious life also includes more public music rituals called toque de santo, bembé or simply tambor. These four- to six-hour events celebrate anniversaries of initiation and saint’s feast days, or prepare one for illness, economic hardship, or other challenging circumstances.

For these festive ceremonies, santeros transform their homes into altars, called igbodú, with elaborate decorations including fabrics, beads, fruits and other ritual items.  The host prepares a feast and hires a lead singer, known as akpwón, and a professional percussion ensemble. The music helps create the festive communal environment for the santeros to become possessed by their patron saint or orisha.

Instruments of the Lucumí

The song and dance at a toque de santo can be supported by one of a variety of percussion ensembles, the most prestigious being the three double-headed, hourglass shaped drums known as batá. These consecrated drums, manifestations of the orisha Aña, can only be handled by initiates of the Aña cult.

Aberikulá are non-consecrated batá drums, so an aberikula ensemble is less costly. No elaborate pre-ceremonial meal for the musicians or animal sacrifice for the drums is required. Aberikulá are also used when Aña batá are not available, when Aña initiates/players are not available, or for evening rituals. Whereas Aña batá are constructed from hollowed logs and tensioned with leather or rope, aberikulá can be made to look like Aña batá , or from a variety of materials (including strips of wood banded together, or even fiberglass) and are often tensioned with steel lugs, like a conga drum.

Bembé, güiro and cajón are other ensembles used in orisha worship. Bembé ensembles use an acheré (rattle), a güataca (metal hoe blade), and three or more single-headed, barrel-shaped drums. These may be ritually consecrated, and can be played with two hands, one hand and one stick, or two sticks. Usually in sets of three, known from highest to lowest as cachimbo, mula, and caja, today bembé drums are often substituted by the ubiquitous conga drum.

The güiro ensemble consists of two or three beaded gourds (known as güiros or chékeres), a single conga drum, and a güataca. Each guiro delivers two sounds: a deep, clear, resonant sound made by striking the round bottom of the gourd with the palm of the hand and a sharp, high-pitched sound from the interplay of the beads with the shell of the gourd. While the güataca and güiro have relatively static parts in the music, the conga drum offers a broader spectrum of dynamic and rhythmic textures.

More rarely, orisha songs is accompanied by a cajón ensemble, usually comprised of a güataca or clave (two hardwood sticks struck together) and two or three wooden boxes, called cajón, held between the drummers’ legs or actually sat upon. Capable of a variety of pitches and timbres, the cajón are usually employed for other types of Afro-Cuban religious music celebrations such as Espiritismo and Palo, as well as secular rumba.

Iyesá drums are played  by Cuban descendants of the Ijesa people of Nigeria. While the Lucumí and  Iyesá share many core beliefs and practices, their ritual language, drumming ensemble, and songs are distinct. In the mid-19th century, Iyesá cabildos (houses of worship) existed in various Cuban cities including: Havana, Regla, Matanzas, Jovellanos, Trinidad and Sancti Spiritus. Today, only the Cabildo de San Juan Bautista of Matanzas and the Cabildo de Santá Barbara of Sanctí Spiritus remain active.

Like the Aña batá, iyesá drums are fundamento (consecrated). They are fed with sacrifices before playing and must be properly greeted by drummers and devotees. The Matanzas Iyesá ensemble consists of two bells and four double-headed drums known from highest to lowest as primero, segundo, caja, and bajo. Whereas the batá drums are struck with bare hands on both heads, the cylindrical Iyesá drums have only one batter head: the primero and the segundo are struck by a stick in the right hand; the caja is played with one stick and one bare hand; and the bajo is struck with two bare hands. While there are more than 100 identifiable toques (rhythms) for the batá, only two Iyesá rhythms, Ogún and Ochún, are used in praise of all the orisha. A third rhythm is used when closing the ritual.

Ilu Aña - The Sacred Batá Drums

Hourglass in shape, and double-headed, the batá are always performed as a set of three, known from largest to smallest, as iyá, itótele and okónkolo. The drum is usually held in the lap, with the right hand striking the larger of the two heads (enú), and the left striking the smaller (chachá). To play (or even touch) the batá, a heterosexual male must be “sworn.” This process bonds a new initiate to his sponsors (padrinos or godfathers), to the community of drummers who assist the ceremony, and to the orisha Añá who inhabits consecrated batá drums.

The novice drummer first learns to play the smallest of the batá, the okónkolo at the toques de santo. He is aided by other drummers singing the rhythms, tapping his shoulders, and occasionally standing in front of him to play the drum behind their backs.

After learning the repertoire on the okónkolo, the novice advances to the itótele. This is a difficult drum to play because the musician needs to keep steady time on the smaller head with his left hand, while the right hand engages in musical conversations with the master Iyá drummer. These conversations are one of the keys to understanding and appreciating batá drumming.

To create a conversation, both players begin playing a standard pattern on their drums. When the iyá player alters his pattern, however subtly, the itótele player must respond by changing his pattern. Within moments, both players may then return to the original pattern. This style requires familiarity with the repertoire and a degree of intimacy between the performers, so the changes appear effortless. To generate excitement, the drummers increase the frequency of call and response exchanges, sometimes allowing them to overlap.

Like other West African talking drums, such as the dùndún, the batá can mimic the tonal and rhythmic characteristics of the Yorùbá/Lucumí language, taking their voice from the orisha Añá, who dwells within the drums. Drummers invoke the orisha’s power by calling their names, praising their individual attributes, and broadcasting their historical deeds by means of spoken phrases, musical or heightened speech, songs, and musical metaphors.

Lucumí mythological stories, or patakín, record the natural force and human traits associated with each orisha. For example, the orisha Ochún, associated with sweetness and idealized feminine sensuality is the owner of sweet waters, i.e. rivers. One of her signature rhythms embodies this sweet, sensual nature by providing a musical impression of a river bubbling, bouncing and flowing.  A highly valued batá drummer or lead singer (akpwón) knows the patakín, knows how to express them creatively in sound, and knows how to respond to and create dynamic interpretations for the dancers and singers.

Lucumí public ritual performance: The toque de santo

A toque de santo consists of four sections structured by musical performance.

The first phase, known colloquially as the oro seco and formally as the oro igbodú, is the official beginning of the toque de santo and brings the ceremony into sacred time and space. The colloquial name suggests that the drums perform “dry” (seco), without vocal accompaniment; the formal title refers to the spatial relationship where the drummers face an altar in the igbodú (sacred chamber) to perform a suite of toques (rhythms) known as an oro. This includes one or several toques for each of 22 orisha and usually takes between 30 and 60 minutes to complete.

The second phase is the oro cantado (sung oro) or the oro eyá aranla (oro in the main room). The drummers face the congregation who are now expected to salute the orisha in song. When santeros hears the songs that represent their patron orisha, they are expected to dance, make monetary offerings to the singer and drummers, and salute the batá drums by kissing and touching their heads to the drums. The oro eyá aranla  also takes between 30 and 60 minutes to complete, but can be extended.

While the oro igbodú and oro cantado are relatively short and structured, the third phase, the wemilere or iban balo (patio) may last hours. This relatively free and open phase is sometimes referred to as a fiesta for its party feel. Characterized by layered and shifting intent, the wemilere praises the orisha, entertains the participants, provides an opportunity for singing and drumming competitions, fosters musical and ritual education, and encourages spirit possession. Negotiating the constantly shifting expectations of this phase of the ceremony, the lead batá drummer draws from an extensive repertoire and skillfully selects toques to achieve a desired outcome. Judged not only by knowledge of repertoire and ability to capture the spirit of individual toques, he is valued for his capacity to select toques that best fit the moment, engage the crowd, propel the event forward and maintain a high energy level.

The final phase of the toque de santo is the cierre. Like the opening it is performed without singing accompaniment. It includes salutes to the egun (ancestors) and the orisha connected with death: Oyá, Babalú Ayé, Osain, Yewá, and Yemayá. During the final toque, a bucket of water is carried to the street and emptied with the spiritual energies from the evening’s events. The toque dramatically ends when the bucket is placed upside down directly in front of the drummers. Several songs, accompanied by the batá, are then sung for Eleguá, who guards the crossroads, and opens and closes all gates, Eleguá is honored at the beginning and end of the ceremony. This secures his blessings and guarantees normal order is restored, participants can safely return home, and the orisha will end their possessions, allowing the ceremony to leave sacred time and space.

Lucumí Music and Dance as Folkloric Spectacle

The well-known Cuban scholar Fernando Ortiz organized the first public display of Lucumí music for a conference in 1936 which included a batá performance by legendary drummers Pablo Roche on Iyá, Agüedo Morales on itótele and Jesús Pérez on the okónkolo. Batá made numerous subsequent appearances in non-ritual settings, including a 1953 show in Las Vegas, but the single most profound event for developing a secular context was the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Marxist ideologies, espousing the value of folklore, endorsed and supported the art and culture of Afro-Cubans.

In 1959 the Teatro Nacional began organizing regular public demonstrations of Afro-Cuban religious styles, followed, in the early 1960s, by the new Institute of Ethnology and Folklore within the Cuban Academy of Sciences and the Conjunto Folkórico Nacional de Cuba.

Following the ongoing success of the Conjunto Nacional, many other groups have incorporated Afro-Cuban religious music into their repertoires, including  two famous rumba groups from the city of Matanzas: AfroCuba de Matzanzas (formed in 1957) and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas (formed in 1952).

Elevating Lucumí music to the national stage ironically involved discouraging its religious importance. As batá drummers increasingly performed in non-religious musical contexts, non-consecrated batá (known as aberikulá) became more widely available.

The relationship between religious and folkloric contexts for Lucumí music is sometimes contentious. In the sacred religious context, there is no audience per se. The musicians interact with a congregation of santeros singing and dancing to create a celebratory environment where santeros can become possessed by an orisha. By contrast, a folkloric setting involves performers on a stage and a seated, relatively passive audience expecting to be entertained and, perhaps, educated. In this folkloric context, not only are the drummers and lead singer professionals, but so are the chorus and dancers.

Unlike performances by Conjunto Folklórico, toques de santo allow the lead singer and drummers to improvise from one song to the next, and santeros to dance according to their abilities and personal interpretation of the sounds and the nature of the orisha they represent. By contrast, folkloric performances are heavily standardized: song sequences and dance choreography are predetermined, distilled into a recognizable canon with professional dancers emphasizing acrobatics and virtuosity.

Cuba and Beyond: The spread of Lucumí Music

The creation and dissemination of professionally recorded albums, and the blending of Lucumí music, instruments and ideas with popular Cuban and international music have also stimulated international appreciation and commercialization of this music.

Early recordings were made to document authentic performances. Notable among these are the recent three-volume series of recordings from the 1950s by Lydia Cabrera and Josefina Tarafa on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and the multi-volume Antologia de la música afrocubana ( recorded between 1977 and 1982). However, more recent recordings are studio creations by professional engineers with state of the art equipment and complex recording techniques. A 16-volume set by Abbilona and a 13-volume set by Lazaro Ros are among the most popular of these high quality recordings, easily obtained in Cuba and abroad and including a huge amount of orisha music.

The music, beliefs and iconography of the Lucumí religion are woven into a multitude of Cuban musical styles. Even Cuba’s most famous rap group, Orisha, uses lyrical and musical references to orisha; the song “Canto Para Elegua y Chango” on their debut album A lo cubano (1999) is addressed to the guardian at the gate: Elegua. And popular singer Adalberto Alvarez song “Y que tú quieres que te den,” which opens with an authentic sounding a capella rendition of the Lucumí rezo (sung prayer) for Ochún, and mentions the well-known master batá drummer Papo Angarica, became one of the most popular tunes on Cuban radio when re-released in 2007.

Rumba, the popular Afro-Cuban drumming and singing style has fun with Lucumí music. Innovators include Tata Güines and Los Papines, a group of brothers who ironically titled one of their guitar-riff driven hits, “Ésto no lleva batá” (This Doesn't Have Batá). By the end of the song, however, batá drums have replaced congas and the chorus sings, “Ésto sí lleva batá!” (This does have batá!). Tata Güines featured batá on his 1994 release Aniversario. The track “Con tres tambores batá” opens with a secular song, accompanied by three batá and a shaker. After a few moments, the song shifts, the batá are replaced with congas and cajónes, and it begins to resemble a traditional rumba.

Grupo AfroCuba de Matanzas takes this idea further. The song “Caridad” (1998) begins with batá accompanying secular lyrics, then adds the traditional rumba battery to the mix. The creative blending of three batá with rumba rhythms is known as batarumba.

Another influential innovator is Pancho Quinto of the legendary Havana-based ensemble Yoruba Andabo. Rather than add three drummers, Pancho Quinto arranged the batá so that he alone could simultaneously play three batá, a cajon, and a bell. Many talented drummers have attempted to play all six heads of the three drums, a difficult task considering the irregular shape and size of the drums. The most successful is Pedro Martinez, who in 2000 secured first place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition after skillfully playing three batá attached to a specially made stand while singing.

Artists around the world, enamored with the sounds and mystique of Cuban music, have produced countless Lucumí-inspired recordings. In 1998, Canadian saxophonist Jane Bunnett  collaborated with Cuban singers and percussionist to fuse jazz with Lucumí music. Examples include “San Lazaro” on Chamalongo (1998), which layers arará drum patterns and lyrics with jazz instrumentation and form. They also include “Osain” on Ritmo and Soul (2000). Bunnett opens the tune by playing a Lucumí melody on the saxophone. On the repeat of the melody, Cuban vocalist Ernesto “El Gato” Gatel sings the melody, while drummer Pancho Quinto plays a batá-inspired conga rhythm.

American master batá drummer Michael Spiro has been involved in multiple collaborations which include creative treatments of Lucumí music. In 1996, he collaborated with Mark Lamson, Jorge Alabe, Boby Céspedes and others to produce Bata Ketu, a blending of Cuban Lucumí music with Brazilian Candomble music. In 2005, he also collaborated with Michael Williams to produce Bata Mbira, which fuses Lucumí music with music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe.