Grenada: Creole and Yoruba Voices

( Rounder Records 2001 )
Part of the Caribbean Voyage Series

Recorded by Alan Lomax, assisted by Anna Lomax
Notes by Kenneth Bilby and Maureen Warner Lewis
From Grenada, the home of many legendary calypsonians (including the Mighty Sparrow himself), come these rare recordings of carnival bands, kalinda drumming, the cocoa lute, and the deeply spiritual Yoruba songs of Shango or “African Work” — a vital but little-known branch of Afro-American religion that links Grenada with other expressions of the Yoruba Diaspora in Cuba, Brazil, Trinidad, and New York.

“The sun of the Caribbean is carried upon the voices of these singers, and their history will fascinate the listener.” —Rambles