Drumming for the Gods

Maria Teresa Velez is a freelance ethnomusicologist and a consultant for the International Division of S.I.F.I. S.p.A. Italy.

• CONTENTS Acknowledgments A Note on Spelling Prologue PART ONE: Learning the Trade Background Entrance into the Afro-Cuban Religious World Overview Entering Felipe's House Santeria: The Lucumi Door Palo Monte: The Congo Door The Abakua Society: A Secret Passage from Calabar Early Musical Experiences Learning to Play Bata History of the Drums Other Bata Lineages in Matanzas Other Drumming Traditions in Matanzas PART TWO: Life as a Musician During the Revolution Making Ends Meet Becoming a "Cultural Worker" Performing Afro-Cuban Religious Music in Secular Public Contexts Amateur Groups Organizing a Professional Folkloric Ensemble Negotiating the Limits of Secrecy Performing Other Afro-Cuban Secular and Sacred Drumming Styles Performing Afro-Cuban Religious Music in Private Ritual Contexts Searching for Alternatives: Becoming a Craftsman of Religious Objects Crafting a Bembe Drum: "Manufacturing" Material Culture to Obey the Orichas PART THREE: Life as a Diasporic Musician Leaving Cuba Building the Present: Exercising His Trade in His New Home The Tools of the Trade Instruments as Immigrants: Ana Grosses the Ocean Applying "Cultural Memory": Making Instruments Bata Drums Bembe Drums Iyesa Drums Drums as an Extension of the Self, as a Source of Living, as Life Itself The Artisan Transformed into an Artist Felipe's "There" Faces His "Here" Felipe's Concept of Tradition Syncretism The Marielitos "The Orichas Behave Different Here" Confronting the Written The Struggle of Memory over Forgetting Teaching as a Way of Remembering Teaching Women to Play Bata Singing as a Way of Remembering Epilogue Notes Bibliography Glossary Index

"This is without a doubt the most comprehensive English language study of an individual Cuban religious drummer." -Steve Cornelius "Drumming for the Gods constitutes an impressive accomplishment and includes a great deal of previously unavailable information. It represents a significant contribution to existing literature on Cuban music and cultural history." -Robin Moore, Temple University "[This book] documents the musical traditions of the Afro-Christian Santaria cults through the life history of one of Cuba's most esteemed practitioners of sacred drumming." -Institute for Studies in American Music Newsletter