Arts and Culture

A Spiritual Tour of Cuba

Published

4 years ago

November 21, 2019

It has become common for African Americans to travel to Africa –especially Nigeria—for initiations and festivals marking the holy events and places that are part of the mythology of the indigenous traditions. But descendants of Africans in other places in the diaspora caused by the Atlantic Slave Trade maintained traditions as well and Cuba is one of them.

The Roots of Our Orisha Faith Cuba Tour is a unique 12-day journey that focuses on bringing religious practitioners from the U.S. to meet their counterparts in Cuba as well as researchers and historians from within the Cuban religious community.

It can be said that Cuban culture is African culture, so pervasive is the influence of the formerly enslaved Africans on island life, especially music, food and art. As recently as two generations ago, African languages were still spoken among the descendants of the enslaved, while religious rites are still conducted in old versions of Yoruba and Congolese.

Christina Velasco of the city of Alameda has visited Cuba at least a dozen times, traveling with her husband, Greg Landau, to do research on music, to witness initiations and even one time to see the Pope.

She’s been on cultural tours and attended folkloric demonstrations aimed at tourists, but she’s also been to lesser-known strongholds of tradition, the places the Cubans themselves regard as key to maintaining authenticity. “I wanted a trip focusing on bringing the U.S. community to Cuba,” she said, that would also coordinate meeting priests and priestesses in several African traditions.

The 12-day journey, from January 23 to February 3, 2020, starts in Havana with an excursion to nearby Regla, where a museum displays artifacts of Lucumi, as the Yoruba tradition is called in Cuba.

In the city of Matanzas, lectures on the differences in the styles of initiations and deeper understanding of the spiritual lineages will be presented as well as a private concert with the internationally renowned Los Munequitos band.

Also in Matanzas, a Tata, an expert in the tradition known as Palo Mayombe, which is sourced in Congolese traditional practices, will give a lecture.

In Cienfuegos, travelers will visit the Templo Babaluiaye for the Yoruba deity of smallpox. In Soroa, the highlight is a greenhouse where many of the herbs used in ceremony are grown.

In Palmiras, travelers will be treated to a presentation of the Tambores de Guerra, or War Drums, used in rituals for Chango, the deity of fire.

Throughout the 12-day trip, the character, influence, presence and knowledge of the Africans is emphasized. In Soroa, the visitors will learn about the Cimarrons, or runaway slave towns whose descendants still populate the area.

Although the Trump administration has imposed travel restrictions, the purpose of this trip as a religious excursion is permitted.

Visitors will travel the island on an air-conditioned bus with a dedicated driver, stay in private homes, dine in private eateries and be led by a bi-lingual guide.

There’s room for 30 people and prices range from $2,960-$3,260, excluding airfare. Velasco says the guide is holding low-cost airline tickets until Nov.23, 2019. An orientation via video-conference will take place in December.

For more information, please go to: Rootsofourfaithcubatour.com

Wanda Ravernell

Posts by Wanda Ravernell

Arts and Culture

Faces Around the Bay Dr. Carl Blake, Pianist

Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999. One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Dr. Carl Blake

By Barbara Fluhrer

Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999.

One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.

Blake obtained a Bachelor of Music from Boston University and continued post-baccalaureate studies in Jamaica before earning a Master of Arts in Music at San Jose State University. He was the recipient of two Fulbright residencies in Honduras and completed a third residency at the University of St. Petersburg in Russia. He has a Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University.

At age 19, Blake, then an undergraduate piano major at Boston University, was “discovered” by Impresario Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams, who is the Founder and Director of Today’s Artists/Four Seasons Arts.

Williams honored Blake by awarding him the first Marian Anderson Young Artist Award. Anderson personally presented the award at the Masonic Auditorium in S.F. Subsequently, Blake was presented by Dr. Williams in his San Francisco debut at The Herbst Theatre. Williams subsidized a year of study abroad for Blake at the Paris Conservatory of Music. Additionally, Williams sponsored Blake’s New York Weill Hall debut, where he has performed twice since. Blake performed several times at the Yachats Music Festival in Oregon.

Blake continues to perform nationally and abroad. His hobbies are reading, baking and travel. He says, “I’m still pumping ivories, as Belgian pianist Jeanne Stark described the disciplined practice of concert piano.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Oakland Jazz Great Offers Master Class as City Declares “John Handy Day”

World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city. Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

(L-R) Del Handy, John Handy, Roger Glenn, and Joe Warner celebrate John Handy Day at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, Oakland. Photo by Lady Bianca.

By Conway Jones

World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city.

Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).

“John Handy is a jazz icon and an inspiration to musicians everywhere,” said Ayo Brame, a 16-year-old Oakland tenor saxophone player who is enrolled at the Oakland School for the Arts.

In celebration of this day, the reception in downtown Oakland at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle was a gathering of artists, young and old, coming together in his honor and celebrating his 91st birthday.

Handy presented a Saxophone Colossus free masterclass for musicians. This class afforded a rare opportunity to learn about the saxophone from an aficionado. The class was free and open to all – saxophonists, vocalists, aficionados, students, and casual listeners.

“As a longtime friend for over 60 years, and fellow musician who has had numerous opportunities to share the stage with John, it has always been a pleasure performing with him and hearing his creative interpretations of the music and his gift of ease inspiring the next generation of jazz musicians,” said Roger Glenn, a multi-instrumentalist.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Musical Chronicling Life of Betty Reid Soskin Set for Bay Area Debut

Betty Reid Soskin’s storied 102 years includes time spent as a WWII defense worker, activist, business owner, songwriter, National Park Service park ranger and so much more. Now the Richmond icon is the subject of a musical based on her incredible life.

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Betty Reid Soskin. Photo courtesy of Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond.

The Richmond Standard

“Sign My Name to Freedom,” a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) production which will focus on the life, music and writing of Ms. Soskin, will premiere at San Francisco’s Z Space Friday, March 29 and continue through Saturday, April 13. Tickets range from $15–$65 and can be purchased online at https://www.sfbatco.org/smntf

The musical is directed by Elizabeth Carter, while playwright Michael Gene Sullivan integrates Ms. Soskin’s own music throughout dialogue between what SFBATCO calls “The Four Bettys” as they progress through a century of experiences of this awe-inspiring American woman.

The cast of “Sign My Name to Freedom” features Tierra Allen as Little Betty, Aidaa Peerzada as Married Betty, Lucca Troutman as Revolutionary Betty and Cathleen Riddley as Present Betty Reid Soskin, according to Artistic Director Rodney Earl Jackson Jr. and Managing Director Adam Maggio. Other casting will be announced in the future.

Jackson said that having Soskin’s blessing to steward her life’s story is an honor and career highlight for him and that her journey stands as “a beacon for Black Americans, women and people of color all across the world [and] is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.”

San Francisco’s Z Space is located at 450 Florida St. in San Francisco. Check out the trailer here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-ap9N2XBB0