From the liner notes . . .
Peace - for all the drummers who passed recently into the next realm, leaving behind a legacy of love, hope, and healing rhythm. Among them, some of my idols and friends including Ray Barretto, Patato, Tito Puente, Tata Güines, Chachá, Mongo Santamaria, Regino Jimenez, Chichito Cepeda, Ray Romero, Alfredo Abreu, Angá, Pancho Quinto, Fermín Nani, Santiago Nani, Marco Herminio, and Tommy Lopez. They will always be remembered among the greatest drummers in the Afro-Latin tradition. This project is also dedicated to our beloved elder drum warriors who are still among us teaching and sharing their knowledge - Armando Peraza, Cándido Camero, Francisco Aguabella, Luis Miranda, Los Papínes, Maximino Duquesne, Luis Chacón, Papiro Allende, Monchito Muñóz, and Jack Costanzo. We proudly and humbly stand on their shoulders and on those of countless others as we navigate the beauty, magic and mystery of the drum.
One of the largest and most damaging lies ever told is that the word America refers solely to the United States. The truth, of course, is that the US is one country in North America and is certainly no more American than any other country of the Americas, North, Central, South, or Caribbean. In fact, the heart of the Americas is the Caribbean basin where the major ports have connected all the Americas throughout the colonial and post-colonial periods. Those truths shed light on our common American histories and identities and reveal New Orleans, the birthplace of our national art form, Jazz, to be our direct connection to the cultural, social, and economic community centered in the Caribbean. This is a creole community brought together through the travesties of genocide and slavery - a community of forced migration that has invented and recreated itself from its shattered past relying heavily on the African traditions of respect and acknowledgement of the ancestors and the earth. The drum is the unifying factor in this pan-American, working class community of all colors that celebrates life, death, and diversity with music, dance, and poetry. Our unpublished history exists in these artistic expressions.
Finding equilibrium in the similar histories of displaced peoples throughout the Americas, this movement of cultural preservation and development has quietly gained momentum in scattered, mostly urban communities, and has grown into an international phenomenon of its own with Afro-Cuban traditions taking a leading role. From time to time, this music comes to the forefront, embraced by the industry and corporate mega machine, only to be dropped shortly thereafter as the next flavor of the month is adopted. But it continues its slow, relentless march of awareness, profoundly, positively, and permanently affecting the lives of those it touches with its message of dignity, hope, and peace.
The arts bring voice and imagination to the struggle, clarifying our vision of a just world. Music is one aspect of the arts in this role. The traditions that the music represents are a breath of fresh air in a destructive era of technology, greed, and rampant injustice - a unifying force bringing the direly needed healing energy of drumming, dance, and traditional music to those with open hearts. As politicians and the sheep that follow them continue to neglect the real physical and spiritual needs of every human being, the drum and its incredible legacy of resilience and resistance continue to be our voice of sanity and respect for our forbearers and children.
It is great love of family, friendship, and cultural exchange, and the intention of evolving on the spiritual, human, and intellectual levels that fuel our deep desire to eliminate the outdated, useless concept of war. To that end, we offer La Guerra No, our third full-length CD with the Coro Folklórico Kindembo. We hope that in addition to uplifting your spirit and bringing you joy, the music will provide some degree of inspiration and strength in your path towards awareness and spiritual growth, as it does on a daily basis for us. Peace. js
Juan De Diós Ramos
Carlos Aldama
Orestes Vilató
Giovanni Hidalgo
Sandy Perez
Anthony Carrillo
Harold Muñíz
Roberto Borrell
Jesus Diaz
Raul Rekow
Jose Clausell
Jimmy Bosch
Elio Villafranca
Quique Dávila
Eddie Resto
Marta Galarraga
Gustavo Ovalles
David Belove
Camilo Landau
Iluminado Maldonado
Michael Spiro
Javier Navarrette
Saul Sierra
Chris Walker
Enrique Carreras
Fito Reinoso
Beatríz Godinez-Muñíz
Jose Luís Gómez
Willie Ludwig
Barbara Valladares
Ismael Rodriguez
Reynalda Nuñez
Manny Martinez
Carol Steele
Elena Pinderhughes
Samora Pinderhughes
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