Ima Edi Obio

Maobong Oku is a beautiful and dynamic dancer, instructor, and percussionist from the Efik tribe of Calabar , Nigeria . Filled with the energy of a child, the wisdom of a wise woman and the ageless spirit of a dancer, she has touched many audience's hearts. When you come see her perform, you will be mesmerized by how she radiates to the beat of the drum with an aura of light, grace and sophistication.


I had the great pleasure of being introduced to the work of Maobong Oku a short while ago and today I would like to share this jewel of Calabar with those who love Nigerian/ African culture. She is a true representative of the culture of Calabar and one with great pride in her people and her work. She has traveled the world spreading her message of love and bestowing the blessings of the ancestors on all who witness her gifts. I hope to hear much more from Maobong and that you all will help me in spreading the message of love that is so representative of African culture and that of the diaspora. Again I remind everyone to subscribe to our blog and to the Cuba Calabar Radio podcast for constant streaming of Cuban abakuá and African Ekpé music.

African Scholar; Bata drum and dance master Jeleel Ojuade

Voices from Africa: The evolution of culture.


I have been away from the blog for bit these days due to my commitments in New York and the constant grind required to get the word out about the good work. I have been wanting to introduce the work of a fine artist and scholar for a while now. He is an expert on Yoruba Bata and Dundun dances with many years of experience in the traditional practice and a body of research on the language of the dance and the drum.


Ojuade, Jeleel Olasunkanmi is a Lecturer I and Researcher with the Performing Arts Department, Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. An expert dancer with emphasis on Yoruba Bata and Dundun dances, born 40 years ago. He holds a B.A. (Hons) from the Performing Arts Department, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State (1993), M.A. (African Studies) in Dance at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State (1997), LL.B. (Hons) Common Law (2003) and MBA in Business Administration (2006) from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State respectively. He belongs to a number of local and International organizations including Association of Professional Negotiator and Mediators (APNM), International Dance Council - CID-UNESCO, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR/FIRT) and the Society of Dance, History, Scholars (SDHS). Currently, he teaches dance with the Performing Arts Department, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State and a Ph.D Candidate in Dance at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan


Publications:

1. Ojuade, Jeleel Olasunkanmi "Dance Culture and Development in Nigeria: A Study of Gese Dance of the Yorubas",
2. Ojuade, Jeleel Olasunkanmi "African Dance in Diaspora The Yoruba example from Nigeria",

Enyenison Enkama; Abakua inspired paintings.

Jose Orbein is a Cuban painter residing in Miami florida. His series entitled Enyenison Enkama was inspired by the landmark recording of the seminal New York Abakuá group of the same name, representing the ten songs that comprise the release entitled Ecobio Enyenison. The debut was celebrated with Abakuá music and dance, including masquerade, at the Walter Gallery of Miami on December 29th. Jose Orbein has traced his ancestral lineage back to Calabar, Nigeria. When interviewed for Wynwood Art Magazine in 2008 he had this to say about his work:

"Orbeín began painting intuitively. This aptitude was encouraged by his maternal grandmother, who lacking the resources to provide him with materials, gave him cardboard and craft paper, so that he could paint on them with charcoal or anything else he might find; elements that the author has taken up again in many of his recent works. Orbeín confesses that it was painting that saved him from a difficult childhood and an adolescence marked by delinquency and marginality. He did not study arts formally; instead, he had possibly the best of all masters, the Cuban painter, Humberto Peña. Friendship with this creator provided him with theoretical training and a solid upbringing."

Bate Nico Music video from Cameroon.

Happy New Year!!. I have been wanting to get some of these videos from Calabar , Nigeria and Cameroon on here lately and here it is. Finally!. I hope you all enjoy it. I remind all of you to please check out the Cuba Calabar Radio podcast and make sure to subscribe for constant streaming of Cuban abakuá and African Ekpé music.



About Bate Nico:

Bate Nico and Nkongho Regina his wife are Manyu Born Folklore Artist and hail from Kembong and Ossing(cameroon) respectively.They have been in the entertainment industry since 1990 and are now one of the most charming, dedicated Manyu rising stars and folklore Singers.

They have since recorded 3 Albums in Kenyang and Ejagham. Their imagination,creativity, and a combination of blended taditional and cultural lead vocals / local musical intruments thril thousands of fans everyday. Some of their popular tracks include if man no die,mmon aree mmon, wube bi zi eba. Nyen a nob, Ndaack.

It should be noted that Bate Nico was classified as the best folklore Singer in 2006 by the " Amongst Youth Magazine".

Happy New Year!

This year we look forward to more posts about Ekpe culture in Southwest Cameroon and Calabar Nigeria. Dr. Ivor Miller is in Nigeria right now traveling through Ekpe land. Here is a new podcast of Ekpe music that I hope you will enjoy. I have entered the titles of the tracks as more information becomes available. I invite all to subscribe to our blog, podcast and youtube channel as well. Please feel free to email me the names of your favorite artists from Calabar. We will be posting many more Ekpe music videos from our archives this year as well.

El Ven Tu de Rumberos at Roman Diazs' house late '90's

This video was shot at the home of Roman Diaz in Havana, Cuba during the late nineties. It shows members of the seminal rumba group "El Ven Tu" performing rumba and abakua chants dances and rhythms alongside some of their Japanese students. This is rare candid footage of the group that recorded the album Wemilere. Complete with Abakua masquerade Roman dancing traditional Abakua steps and an interview with the great Chavalonga.This video is from Romans personal collection and we hope you will all enjoy it. It is the first of several parts we will be posting on the youtube.com page and the blog.

Ecobio Enyenison Podcast

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Please enjoy our latest podcast featuring the release of Ecobio Enyenison by Enyenison Enkama. This group is founded by the dedication and scholarship of Dr. Ivor Miller and is headed by Roman Diaz, Angel Guerrero and Pedro Martinez. Stay tuned for updates the CD will be available very soon on iTunes, Amazon etc... on the Habana|Harlem™ label. Enjoy the music and please subscribe to our podcast for the latest in music from Cuba and Calabar. Our next podcast will feature music from mid 70's and early 80's Calabar.

Establishing a Covenant

A new covenant has been born of the scholarship of Dr. Ivor Miller and the music of Enyenison Enkama, in the open arms of Ekpé lodges in Calabar, Nigeria and the Mamfe region of Cameroon. 200 years of separation have been breached through the sounds of ekon, enkame, the pouring of libations and a fraternal embrace that spans the Atlantic. The CD release party for Enyenison Enkama’s landmark CD titled Ecobio Enyenison (Brother Africa) saw the Ireme and the Idem dancing together at Joe's Pub Saturday night amidst a crowd of smiling faces joyful in the sounds of Roman Diaz's deep drumming pulse and nyangue poetry, Pedro Martinez's daring riffs and soaring voice accompanying Angel Guerrero's epic enkames. Accompanying them was a pulsing, grooving band and Steve Turré’s singing shells weaving melodic through the grooves. Pure Ibiono. Thank you Joe's Pub and a very special thanks to Neyda Martinez Executive Producer for Habana|Harlem™.


-------Onel Mulet for N'dibo Yeve N'go



Photo Credit: Geoffrey Gibson Miller

Enyenison Enkama CD Release party Sept. 5th Joe's Pub at 9:30PM

Join us on this historic occasion. The first time an Abakua record is made on U.S. soil featuring the talents of Roman Diaz, Pedro Martinez, and Angel Guerrero with special guest Steve Turre. Listen to "Eribo Eriboñe" just one of the tracks off the new album "Ecobio Enyenison".





Habana | Harlem (TM)
Sept 5th 9:30 PM at Joes Pub
The CD Release of Ekobio Enyenison. Don’t miss Enyenison Enkama’s world premiere performance; featuring Roman Diaz, Angel Guerrero, Pedro Martinez and Special Guest Steve Turre.
For press comp's, CD review copy and artist interviews, contact:
Neyda Martinez, Founder/Exectuive Producer, Habana | Harlem (TM) Cell: 917 656 7846; neydamartinez1@hotmail.com
Onel Mulet, Artistic Producer, Habana | Harlem (TM) Cell: 718 909 6464; onelmulet@hotmail.com
Tickets on sale now! Only $15! http://www.joespub.com/component/option,com_shows/task,view/Itemid,40/id,4752
In 2001, after many years of dedicated research and hard work on the part of Dr. Ivor Miller and the members of Enyenison Enkama Nigerian Ékpè and Cuban Abakuá met to display their related traditions, likely for the first time since separation through slavery some 200 years ago. The mutual excitement of this summit meeting, held at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, led to several further meetings, each incrementally larger. When the Obong (paramount ruler) of Calabar visited the USA in 2003, the Abakuá who arrived to greet him received invitations to visit Calabar. In 2004 the Governor of Cross River State, his Excellency Donald Duke, arranged for two Abakuá to visit an Ékpè festival in Calabar, where the Cubans won the hearts and respect of Ékpè leaders. In 2007, the Musée Quai Branly of Paris invited two groups, one Nigerian Ékpè, and another Cuban Abakuá, to perform onstage for a series of five concerts exploring common themes in the music, chants, body masks, and visual signs of each group. The conversation that unfolded onstage demonstrated to both groups the significance of their links.

This recording by Proyecto Enyenisón Enkama features many world class musicians such as Pedro Martinez, Paquito D'Rivera, Oriente Lopez and Steve Turre in 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.

Cuba Calabar Radio

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This is a collection of nine songs cited in Dr. Ivor Miller's latest publication The Voice of The Leopard. I hope you will enjoy this latest stream and continue to grace us with your comments and feedback. We would really like to hear from all of you.