Bembe Orisha
Loeb Playhouse
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN
09/20/2002

Source: Audience recording > Coresound Binaurals > Sony D7 > dat master
Lineage: dat > Sony PCM-R500 > M-Audio PCI Delta 4/10 > SoundForge > wav > ??? > flac16

taped and transferred by Lou Wilkinson


Set I

01   Umasha
02   Bagua Osi
03   Come To My Tent
04   Temple Caves
05   Down The Road
06   Time Never Ends
07   Oya Y Ogun


Set II

01   crowd/tuning
02   Dancing Sorceror
03   St Ives
04   Yan San
05   Jack-A-Roe
06   Sivad
07   Ye Ye
08   Ek Tal
09   Fire On The Mountain {including band intros and audience participation) >
10   Not Fade Away


Mickey Hart - various, RAMU (Random Access Musical Universe), vocals
Nengue Hernandez - various, vocals
Sikiru Adepoju - talking drums,  gudugudu
Bobi Cespedes - various, vocals
Greg Ellis - trap drums, percussion
Azam Ali - various, vocals
Bakithi Kumalo - bass, vocals
Barney Doyle - guitar



Notes:

All I've done is to remove a few small artifacts and a few very loud claps.  I retracked it so that each
track stars with the music and renamed the files.


Comments:

From http://www.africawithin.com/


A bemb? is a party for the orishas. During a bemb? the orishas are praised, saluted and entreated to join the party through mounting one of the priests(esses) in attendance. This is done through a confluence of the song, rhythm, and movement, all calling to the orisha in such a way that the orisha will recognize themselves in the lyrics, rhythms and dances as they have been performed for them for perhaps thousands of years.

The rhythms play an important part of the equation and the drummers practice assiduously for years to be able to play the intricate rhythms correctly. This is important since the drums are actually speaking to the orishas as the Yoruba language is a tonal one and the drums are tuned in such a way as to play the tones of Yoruba speech. For this reason some rhythms are never played unless it is in religious context as it would offend the orisha. These rhythms are actually prayers to the deities with each orisha having its own rhythms associated with them.

Dance also becomes prayer in the religious context of a bemb?. The movements of the dances are the same motions associated with the orishas for thousands of years. As with the rhythms played on the drums, each orisha has its own dances with Yemay?'s dance emulating the motion of the waves, Og?n's chopping with his machete, Osh?n's portraying her primping in front of her hand held mirror, etc. Therefore these movements become more danced prayers than what the Western European would refer to as dance.

Everything present at a bemb? whether it is song, dance, rhythm or colors used, becomes part of an intricate fabric of prayer saluting, praising and calling to the orishas and asking them to be present.


The orishas are the emissaries of Olodumare or God almighty. They rule over the forces of nature and the endeavors of humanity. They recognize themselves and are recognized through their different numbers and colors which are their marks, and each has their own favorite foods and other things which they like to receive as offerings and gifts. In this way we make our offerings in the manner they are accustomed to, in the way they have always received them, so that they will recognize our offerings and come to our aid.

The orishas are often best understood by observing the forces of nature they rule over. For instance, you can learn much about Osh?n and her children by watching the rivers and streams she rules over and observing that though she always heads toward her sister Yemay? (the Sea) she does so on her own circuitous route. Also observe how the babbling brook and the flash flood reflect her changeable moods. As you observe the orishas at work in the world and in your own lives you will gain a better understanding of them and their ways. Yes, they are complex, but no more so than any other living being such as you or I. We are also blessed from time to time in the religion with the opportunity to meet the orishas face to face during a bemb? where one or more of their priests will be mounted

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most of the show was taped from front row, just left of center.  Then Lou's chair broke, around 7:05 of "Dancing Sorceror" and he moved to the left aisle and stood near the front.  No music is missing.

Many thanks to Lou for this great recording.


edited by
SIRMick
January 2012


shntool output:

    length     expanded size    cdr  WAVE problems  fmt   ratio  filename
     5:35.61       59237516 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.5004  bembeorisha2002-09-20s1t01.flac
     6:58.39       73826972 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.5035  bembeorisha2002-09-20s1t02.flac
    13:53.16      146978876 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4996  bembeorisha2002-09-20s1t03.flac
     8:12.53       86913500 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4363  bembeorisha2002-09-20s1t04.flac
     8:14.40       87235724 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.5178  bembeorisha2002-09-20s1t05.flac
    10:51.42      114935228 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4690  bembeorisha2002-09-20s1t06.flac
     4:26.70       47087084 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4830  bembeorisha2002-09-20s1t07.flac
     0:50.72        8989388 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.3543  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t01.flac
    11:35.65      122750924 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.5333  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t02.flac
     7:13.49       76496492 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.5232  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t03.flac
     7:14.51       76677596 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4628  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t04.flac
     5:37.19       59491532 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4541  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t05.flac
    11:29.55      121669004 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4482  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t06.flac
     9:28.42      100294028 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4335  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t07.flac
    10:14.43      108410780 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.3806  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t08.flac
    27:23.08      289844060 B   ---   --   ---xx   flac  0.4609  bembeorisha2002-09-20s2t09.flac
   149:21.50     1580838704 B                            0.4706  (16 files)

flac fingerprints:

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