Congo to Cuba (Official Putumayo Version)

Track Listing: 1. Chico Álvarez – “Val' Carretero” 0:00 2. Mama Sissoko – “Safiatou” 6:57 3. Alfredo Valdes – “Canto A La Vueltabajera” 12:23 4. Gnonnas Pedro – “Yiri Yiri Boum” 18:11 5. Tshala Muana – “Lekela Muadi” 23:17 6. Balla Tounkara – “Le Monde Est Fou” 28:39 7. Laba Sosseh – “Son Soneate “ 33:24 8. Monte Adentro – “Igualita Que Tu” 38:11 9. Chocolate Armenteros – “Ritmo De Mi Son” 42:25 10. Mama Keita – “Tougnafo” 49:10 11. Pape Fall – “African Salsa” 53:22 Bonus Tracks 12. Alune Wade & Harold López-Nussa - “Aminata” 59:00 from "Putumayo Presents African Rumba" www.putumayo.com/african-rumba 13. Le Sahel - “Jammo” 01:03:58 from "Putumayo Presents African Rumba" www.putumayo.com/african-rumba 14. Sonlokos - “Rumba Con Sabor a Melao” 01:07:30 from "Putumayo Presents Cuba! Cuba!" www.putumayo.com/cuba-cuba 15. Neto Amado - “Santomense” 01:11:36 from "Putumayo Presents Afro-Cubano" www.putumayo.com/afro-cubano 16. Manu Dibango - “Bessoka” 01:14:08 from "Putumayo Presents Afro-Cubano" www.putumayo.com/afro-cubano

This album is beyond exquisite. My faith in the youtube algorythm is almost restored for recommending me this.

I am a Mexican who loves to listen to Cuban music

Man sad , man listen to salsa ,man happy 😊😊

Got this album from the public library when ripping cds was still a thing, crazy to see it so many years later on the algorithm.

Saludo a todos los hermanos latinos, directamente desde Brasil 🇧🇷 hasta la victoria siempre ✊🏿

Love from Cameroon 🇨🇲

Love from Irish/Australia. Fantastic, much respect to Cuba and it's people ❤

As a Latina, I will always appreciate this rhythms, they come from the heart, joy and hard work. Cuba is made out of hard working people, I love them. As for Africa, my brothers need those kinds of rhythms, their struggles need to focus on the joy that still is possible. I cherish them too. ❤️ Great done, putomayo music!!!

This used to be one of the albums my parents always played in the car when we rode on vacation. So many good memories and such amazing music! Also the cuban festival in Begur, Spain was always a banger. Unique vibe.

Que mas profundido en la vida ? Compartir y bailar todos juntos...

Love from Afghanistan 🇦🇫

Damn im high i wanna cook with this music!!!!

Words cannot describe how much joy this album has brought me

Africa and Cuba may be separated by thousads of miles of ocean, but they share profound cultural connections. Nowhere is this more evident than in music, which overcomes barriers of history, distance, and division to reveal the strong bonds that remain between the cultures of two disparate worlds. Cuban popular music is rich with African influences which were originally provided by slaves who were brought by Spanish colonizers to labor on the island's sugar plantations. Torn from their families, cultural traditions and social institutions, Africans in Cuba used music as a means to preserve their customs and overcome their sorrows. In a short time, the Spanish and African cultures began to blend, resulting in new musical fusions and styles which on the surface sounded quite defferent from the distinct sounds that preceded them. Fundamentally, however, Cuba's new musical creations continued to share a common core, one that was instantly recognized by the Africans who first began hearing Cuban son, guaguancó, and guajira on scratchy 78s that made their way across the ocean from Havana in the 1930s. People in Congo, Senegal, Mali, Cote D'Ivoire, and beyond, whose ancestors had been the victims of the slave trade, heard something familiar deep within the syncopated rhythms and call-and-response melodies of Cuban music. Soon, Africans began incorporating the new sounds that had been incubated in Cuba into their own music, and a cultural interchange that has transformed the world's music entered a new and exciting phase. By the 1950s and 60s, Cuban music's influence had swept across Africa, leading to new styles like Congolese soukouss and rumba. Africans who couldn't speak a word of Spanish began imitating the language they heard on the popular albums that played endlessly at parties and nightclubs, resulting in a fascinating and unique onomatopoeia singing style. Cuban bands like Orquesta Aragón, and New York-based salsa pioneers such as Johnny Pacheco and the Fania All-Stars began to regularly tour Africa in the 1970x, and they were welcomed like long-lost brothers. In the 1970s, Africans began traveling to Havana and New York to record with local musicians and producers. Artist like Laba Sosseh and Boncana Maiga revealed to Latinos in New York the innate talent and understanding of Cuban music these artists shared. Meanwhile, New York based record label SAR began recording albums in a rootsy nostalgic style remniscent of the 1950s, with the intention of reviving the old Cuban conjunto sound. While broad commercial success eventually discovered a dedicated and passionate audience in Africa. Eventually, many Latin artists began exploring and celebrating their African roots. Images of the syncretic religion santeria began appearing on album covers and African words and expressions were used frequently in song lyrics. The blind Cuban tres player and bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez, became the symbol of African influence in popular Latin music, and countless New York-based bands strived to imitate Arsenio's gutsy soulful sound. Arsenio's direct African lineage (Arsenio was fluent in the COngolese language of his grandfather, and incorporated many Congolese words and symbols into his songs) led to a sound to which people in West Africa felt a deep-rooted connection. Today, the mass appeal of the Cuban son sound has died down a bit in Africa, replaced by uptempo dance styles that speak to a new generation. However, the connection between African and Cuban music is maintained in the work of the artists featured on this album as well as others like Ricardo Lemvo, Africando, and Orquesta Baobab. Congo to Cuba is a celebration of the ways in which music has helped keep the African-Cuban connection vibrant over the years. It features a number of the classic SAR recordings that were so popular in Africa during the 1970s and 80s, as well as work by African artists who pay tribute to the Afro-Cuban sound. While time and distance may keep them apart, common heritage and family ties between West Africa and Cuba have provided a bond that cen never be broken. The tracks on Congo to Cuba represent a grand, musical family reunion. Jacob Edgar

What a cracker of a collection... Putumayo, this is an absolute delight to listen to. Friday evening or Sunday morning!!! Love it!

Damn this is a gem I don't understand the language but I understand and vibe with the music completely.

Love from Armenia 🇦🇲

Love from Portugal!🇵🇹

Te amo, américa latina. Te amo!!!!!!!!