The London Lucumi Choir

As we gathered in St John’s Church in Waterloo last Thursday to hear The London Lucumi Choir perform, on the same day people in their thousands were making the pilgrimage to the Church of San Lazaro in Cuba. In that church, just outside Havana, pilgrims walk or sometime crawl the few miles to the Church, often bearing gifts of rum and cigars as penitence. It is a sign of the times that songs to the orishas – the deities that populate the Yoruba religious pantheon, who all have their own distinctive, trance-inducing rhythms – can also be heard in a Christian church in London.
Our presence reflects a syncretism between the death-defying San Lazaro (Saint Lazarus), and the orisha of healing known as Babalu Aye.

It’s not that long ago that England’s Christian emissaries to the colonies banned the drums of their African slaves but on this freezing, snow-flecked night, a stone's throw from the River Thames, the sound of the bata drums – the Iya Itole, Okonkolo - resounded around this church providing the complex rhythmic pulse that underpinned the multi-layered voices and harmonies of the 20-strong London Lucumi Choir.

Lucumi means "friendship" and that is the basis of this community choir. It was formed in 2006 and is spiritually linked to Ifa, the divination and belief system of many slaves transported from West Africa. It is best known in Cuba (where the Yoruba became known as Lucumi) and the USA as Santeria and in Brazil as Candomble. While it was once underground and shrouded in secrecy, the orishas, who interact between this world and God (Oludumare), are now celebrated by artists as diverse as David Byrne, Gilberto Gil and members of the Buena Vista Social Club

Led by the powerful voice of its MD, Daniella Rosselson, this award-winning choir embraces both women and men and draws its members from around the globe. Argentina, Malta, Jamaica, Ghana, Spain, Cuba and the UK were all represented. After opening with songs and dance for Elegua – who resides at the crossroads and is the opener of the pathways - and the female river deities Afrekete (Yemaya), Oya and Ochun, we reached the centrepiece of the performance, "Time and The Trickster’s Heart". Conceived by pianist/composer Juwon Ogunbe this was a witty tale aimed at conveying the wisdom of the Yoruba belief system and it featured an array of scintillating vocalists.

The third set of the performance culminated with songs for the Winter Gods, evoking the power of Chango (a warrior and orisha of thunder), the wisdom of Obatala (syncretised with Jesus Christ) and respect for powers of Babalu Aye who is both loved and feared as he can both cure and bring forth plagues.

As the bata drums gathered momentum around master drummer Javier Campos Martinez, so the power of the vocalists grew. This was reflected by the charged performances of both Daniella Rosselson and Mish Aminoff. It is left to Elegua, the trickster who lives at the crossroads, to close the session. As the mischievous and often misunderstood Elegua controls forces both beneficial and malevolent, and has the keys to all doors, it is a song dedicated to him that closes the session. It was a fitting and spiritually uplifting prelude to a fast-approaching Christmas.

Paul Bradshaw edits Straight No Chaser

- The arts Desk