Fundamento: The deep African essences of Cuban religion with Ned Sublette

Rebecca speaks with musician/producer/historian Ned Sublette, author of the most comprehensive history of Cuban music in English, Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. Sublette is leading trips to Cuba through his organization, Postmambo, and in January will embark on La Ruta de los Fundamentos, a tour focusing on Afro-Cuban sacred sites in western Cuba (email postmambo@gmail.com for more info). We talk about the dense and entangled networks of Afro-Cuban religious practice and play a few fieldwork recordings from rural western Cuba.

Tracks played:
Song for Ochosi, recorded in the 1950s by Lydia Cabrera in the province of Matanzas
Yuka drumming, recorded by Sublette in the province of Pinar del Río
Bembe de sao, recorded by Sublette in the province of Mayabeque