Èkpé and Abakua with Chief Dr. Ivor Miller, Asukuo Ukpong and Roman Diaz.

In recent radio show here in New York I had the opportunity to broadcast from the home of Afro Cuban master drummer  Mr. Roman Diaz. We sat down with Chief Dr. Ivor Miller, Asukuo Ukpong, Pan-Africanist, architect and scholar, to discus the nature and context of select Calabar Highlife and urban styles of Cuban Son that feature Èkpé and Abakuá themes. Click on the links below to hear the programs. You may also download the archive if you like.


 Tuve la dicha de transmitir dos programas con ilustres maestros de las sociedades Èkpé y Abakuá, reunidos en  casa del maestro Roman Diaz, para llevar a la luz la raiz y el contexto de temas culturales dentro del genero Highlife de Calabar y el Son urbano de Cuba. Escuchemos la influencia del Èkpé y el Abakuá, respectivamente, llevado por custodios de la cultura como eran Ekpe Ita y Ignacio Piñeiro. Dos generos tan importante en la cultura popular en ambos lados del atlantico. El Embakara, Dr. Ivor Miller de la Universidad de Calabar y el señor Asukuo Ukpong del Calabar, junto a el maestro Roman Diaz, hablaran con mucha profundidad sobre este tema  para todos aquellos que aman esta cultura, llevenadola siempre a los niveles mas altos de la esfera socio-cultural.



Abasi menguame,

 Onel Mulet

 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blackwholeradio/2014/05/30/habana-harlem-live


  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blackwholeradio/2014/06/06/habana-harlem-live

Editors Pick on Descarga.com

EEcobio Enyenison
CD (Habana|Harlem 205976), Released 2009;
Editor's Pick:
Very Highly Recommended folkloric Abakuá release featuring Roman Diaz, Pedro Martinez, Angel Guerrero and guests. A rare album of its type, and continues where Cuba's Grupo Andabo's 1997 Enyenison Enkama 2 left off. Recorded in very high quality at the home of Roman Diaz and Pedro Martinez, NY, 2009. Those who are familiar with Ékpè and Abakuá hold this session in very high regard. The real deal. With Onel Mulet, Oriente Lopez, Ruben Rodriguez and many other noted musicians. Guests Steve Turre and Paquito D'Rivera. - BP

"...This recording by Proyecto Enyenisón Enkama is a brilliant effort to continue that conversation, using the same form in which both Ékpè and Abakuá have recorded their own histories: ritual phrases with symbolic rhythms. Members of Proyecto Enyenison Enkama have been leaders in the conversation with their African counterparts at each stage in the process, which certainly began before the first encounter in 2001. In 1997, the Havana rumba group Yoruba Andabo’s recording of ‘Enyenison Enkama 2’ (arranged and chanted by ‘Roman’ Díaz’) became the basis for the Brooklyn encounter; it included an historic chant evoking Efí Ebutón, the first Cuban lodge, that Nigerians interpreted as identifying ‘Obutong’, an important Calabar community. In 2000, Angel Guerrero led the creation of ‘Ibiono’ in Havana, the first full length CD devoted entirely to Abakuá ritual chanting that evoked historic lineages in Cuba and the foundation of Ékpè in Africa. Following this trajectory, in ‘Ecobio Enyenison’, Cuban Abakuá chant their history and proclaim their faith in their inherited traditions.

The phrases of each composition describe sacred geographies (maps) of West African source communities, as well as histories (epic deeds) of the African founders. By evoking these inherited chants, members of ‘Proyecto Enyenison Ekama’ praise their teachers, as well as all those Abakuá leaders of the past who maintained their faith in the teachings of those Carabalí migrants who established Abakuá. By chanting within the context of contemporary arrangements played by vanguard jazz musicians, they celebrate a cultural victory of continuity and evolution across time and space, as well as offer a vision of the expansion of their traditions into the future."

Dr. Ivor Miller
African Studies Center
Boston University
(DR, 2010-11-02)
Song titles include:
Eribo Eriboñe
Neri
Itia Fondova
Tumba Efo
Danza Ñañiga
Ekon Erima
Mariba Konkai
Beromo Ñampe
Isunekue
Iro Gañu
Musicians include:
Ramon Diaz Percussion
Pedro Martinez Percussion
Angel Guerrero Percussion
Onel Mulet Flauta, sax
Oriente Lopez Piano
Ariacne Trujillo Piano
Philbert Armenteros Lead vocal
Ruben Rodriguez Bass
Panagiotis Andreou Bass
Dennis Hernandez Trumpet
Eddie Venegas Violin, trombone
Willie Alvarez Trombone
Edmar Castañeda Harp
Alvaro Benavides Bass
Axel Tosca Piano
Category: Folkloric => Rumba And/Or Santeria/Lucumi
Shipping Value: 1
ORDER TL-24115.10 CD $16.98

Calabar Radio Broadcast W/Ene Ita and Dr. (Chief) Ivor Miller #2

Thanks to all those folks who have been tuning in to the blog and our podcasts. I am now compiling transcripts of these transmissions; for those who are interested please email me at ndiboyevengo@gmail.com. In this weeks' podcast Ene Ita and Dr. (Chief) Ivor Miller talk about the shared traditions of Cuba and Calabar through Ékpè and Abakuá culture. Cuba's Abakuá music is maintained in epic poetic form, a tradition that has enabled Cuban Abakuá to maintain the memory of their ancestors. They also used it to survive the repression of a colonial government looking to strip them of their cultural identity, recording their own history in the hearts and minds of Abakuá members for generations to come and for our enjoyment in the 21st century nearly 200 years since the first consecration took place in Regla;Havana, Cuba.

Please click on the logo below to hear the podcast.

African Symbolism in Kanye West's Power Video

Kanye West's interest in the Illuminati and it's symbolism is no big mystery, at least not anymore. His latest video, Power, is his personal take on the abuse of Power and how those who have it keep the secrets very closely guarded. Since Medieval times historians have revealed many instances of secret societies. Most famous of all are the Illuminati, the Knights Templar and the Freemasons. The roots of Freemasonry can be traced as far back as ancient Egypt. Even with all his references to Masonic symbolism and images of beautiful half naked seductive women in this video, it's the presence of particular African symbols that stand out the most for me when I look at Kanye's 21st century Bacchanal.

West treats us to depictions of ancient Egyptian deities like Horus, god of the sky and Hathor the cow horned love goddess. Even more interesting is what Hathor does with the staff. This particular staff is very similar to those used in Bantu or Ki-Kongo traditions, also similar to the iton, (Ékpé staff) used by Ékpé title holders. B.E. Bassey (2001:19-28) mentions a correlation between the Nile river valley and the semi-Bantu Ekoi (Ejagham) one the many inhabitants of southwestern Cameroon and southeast Nigeria who practice Ékpé, their own secret society, known as the Leopard Society .Ékpé societies are the forebears of the Cuban secret society known as Abakuá.

The action of pounding the staff against the earth symbolizes communication with the spirits or ancestors. This form of communication is practiced throughout the African diaspora. Examples include but are not limited to; Umbanda traditions in Brazil, Vodou in Haiti, New Orleans and the Mayomberos of Palo traditions in Cuba, and the U.S.. A steady beat accompanies the mambo, a prayer or incantation used to communicate with N'fumbe(spirits) or summon the N'kisi(spirit or deity of the paleros charm or pot). The combination of the rythmic pulse of the sorcerers staff and the chanting of the mambo gets the message where it needs to go.


For more information about Ékpé and Abakuá check out these two books.


Ékpé Efik: A Theosophical Perspective.By B.E. Bassey Victoria. B.C.: Trafford Publishing 2001



Voice of the Leopard: African Secret Societies and Cuba (Carribean Studies) by Ivor Miller (Hardcover - Jan 16, 2009)

For information on Africa in the diaspora see Pierre Fatumbi Verger

For more information about freemasonry, the Illuminati and its symbols see United Symbols of America Robert R. Hieronimous Ph.D.


Onel Mulet for N'dibo Yeve N'go