Congo to Cuba (Official Putumayo Version)

An Afro-Latino musical odyssey from Africa to Cuba and back again. Featuring songs from the original Putumayo Presents Congo to Cuba collection and 5 bonus tracks from other Putumayo releases.

Putumayo travels the world in search of exceptional songs from Congo to Cuba, Rome to Rio, New Orleans to Nova Scotia. Putumayo’s meticulously researched and curated musical journeys are “Guaranteed to Make You Feel Good!”

For a complete track listing and playlist version of the songs featured in this video visit:

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[PutumayoWorldMusic]

Track Listing:
1. Chico Álvarez – “Val' Carretero” 0:00
2. Mama Sissoko – “Safiatou” 6:57
3. Alfredo Valdes – “Canto A La Vueltabajera” 12:23
4. Gnonnas Pedro – “Yiri Yiri Boum” 18:11
5. Tshala Muana – “Lekela Muadi” 23:17
6. Balla Tounkara – “Le Monde Est Fou” 28:39
7. Laba Sosseh – “Son Soneate “ 33:24
8. Monte Adentro – “Igualita Que Tu” 38:11
9. Chocolate Armenteros – “Ritmo De Mi Son” 42:25
10. Mama Keita – “Tougnafo” 49:10
11. Pape Fall – “African Salsa” 53:22

Bonus Tracks

[lm]

This album is beyond exquisite. My faith in the youtube algorythm is almost restored for recommending me this.

[handzzz]

Words cannot describe how much joy this album has brought me

[karlalden]

Got this album from the public library when ripping cds was still a thing, crazy to see it so many years later on the algorithm.

[RomanRod-omdb]

I am a Mexican who loves to listen to Cuban music

[dylanmolinas]

Man sad, man listen to salsa, man happy 😊😊

[samuelgrobstein]

Africa and Cuba may be separated by thousads of miles of ocean, but they share profound cultural connections. Nowhere is this more evident than in music, which overcomes barriers of history, distance, and division to reveal the strong bonds that remain between the cultures of two disparate worlds. Cuban popular music is rich with African influences which were originally provided by slaves who were brought by Spanish colonizers to labor on the island's sugar plantations. Torn from their families, cultural traditions and social institutions, Africans in Cuba used music as a means to preserve their customs and overcome their sorrows. In a short time, the Spanish and African cultures began to blend, resulting in new musical fusions and styles which on the surface sounded quite defferent from the distinct sounds that preceded them.

Fundamentally, however, Cuba's new musical creations continued to share a common core, one that was instantly recognized by the Africans who first began hearing Cuban son, guaguancó, and guajira on scratchy 78s that made their way across the ocean from Havana in the 1930s. People in Congo, Senegal, Mali, Cote D'Ivoire, and beyond, whose ancestors had been the victims of the slave trade, heard something familiar deep within the syncopated rhythms and call-and-response melodies of Cuban music. Soon, Africans began incorporating the new sounds that had been incubated in Cuba into their own music, and a cultural interchange that has transformed the world's music entered a new and exciting phase.

By the 1950s and 60s, Cuban music's influence had swept across Africa, leading to new styles like Congolese soukouss and rumba. Africans who couldn't speak a word of Spanish began imitating the language they heard on the popular albums that played endlessly at parties and nightclubs, resulting in a fascinating and unique onomatopoeia singing style. Cuban bands like Orquesta Aragón, and New York-based salsa pioneers such as Johnny Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars began to regularly tour Africa in the 1970x, and they were welcomed like long-lost brothers.

In the 1970s, Africans began traveling to Havana and New York to record with local musicians and producers. Artist like Laba Sosseh and Boncana Maiga revealed to Latinos in New York the innate talent and understanding of Cuban music these artists shared. Meanwhile, New York based record label SAR began recording albums in a rootsy nostalgic style remniscent of the 1950s, with the intention of reviving the old Cuban conjunto sound. While broad commercial success eventually discovered a dedicated and passionate audience in Africa.

Eventually, many Latin artists began exploring and celebrating their African roots. Images of the syncretic religion santeria began appearing on album covers and African words and expressions were used frequently in song lyrics. The blind Cuban tres player and bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez, became the symbol of African influence in popular Latin music, and countless New York-based bands strived to imitate Arsenio's gutsy soulful sound. Arsenio's direct African lineage (Arsenio was fluent in the COngolese language of his grandfather, and incorporated many Congolese words and symbols into his songs) led to a sound to which people in West Africa felt a deep-rooted connection.

Today, the mass appeal of the Cuban son sound has died down a bit in Africa, replaced by uptempo dance styles that speak to a new generation. However, the connection between African and Cuban music is maintained in the work of the artists featured on this album as well as others like Ricardo Lemvo, Africando, and Orquesta Baobab.

Congo to Cuba is a celebration of the ways in which music has helped keep the African-Cuban connection vibrant over the years. It features a number of the classic SAR recordings that were so popular in Africa during the 1970s and 80s, as well as work by African artists who pay tribute to the Afro-Cuban sound. While time and distance may keep them apart, common heritage and family ties between West Africa and Cuba have provided a bond that cen never be broken. The tracks on Congo to Cuba represent a grand, musical family reunion.

Jacob Edgar

[lilyyanni]

i’m from Ethiopia 🇪🇹….. i don’t know what they talking about but the melody, the beat, the vibe, the culture gave me goosebumps…..

[zigismalz]

If you listen to this your music taste buds are on another level, Congo to Cuba and all the way to Croatia.🇭🇷 🇨🇺❤

[atm]

Viva Música Cubana...! Desde Camerún 🇨🇲 un abrazo ❤ a ustedes creo que tenemos algo en común cuando escucho esta buena vibracion músical que viene de Cuba me identifica como un Negro de Cubano 🇨🇺

[tzoa]

Not gonna lie, this masterpiece is enticing me to learn Spanish. Greetings from Serbia my Cuban brothers and sisters! ❤

[ericbrown]

It means nothing that I don't understand a word of it; I love it!

[ch]

Sou brasileira e aprecio muito essas músicas cubanas. ❤ viva Cuba. 🎉

[yacintaylor]

From Congo with love you can hear the African in the core 🇨🇩

[MsEstabon]

I love the merge of Congolese and Cuban music. It really shows the influence congolese has in Latin music.

[simonthescribe]

i'm 68 years old and will never regret visiting Cuba to learn some of the dances that go with this music. DANGER. White man dancing!

[Headbangerbr]

Much love from Brazil ♥️🇧🇷♥️🇨🇺♥️🇨🇩♥️🇨🇬♥️

[essentialthroughtime]

As a Latina, I will always appreciate this rhythms, they come from the heart, joy and hard work. Cuba is made out of hard working people, I love them. As for Africa, my brothers need those kinds of rhythms, their struggles need to focus on the joy that still is possible. I cherish them too. ❤️ Great done, putomayo music!!!

[gustavorodrigues]

Soy brasileño, amo mucho la música cubana.

[sriv]

Mexican 🇲🇽here and I love the music… you can hear the hints of Africa in it 🥰