Prepare to be blown away: hear the passionate melodies, wild harmonies and richly textured arrangements of these ten inspiring vocalists and you will know this is something new from Cuba, the most original vocal sound to come out of the island in a long while.  The Creole Choir’s Cuban name Desandann means literally ‘descendents’ and with songs like Papa Danbala, Tandé or Liman Casimir they tell the stories of their Haitian ancestors who were brought to Cuba to work in the near slave conditions in the sugar and coffee plantations until the 1959 Revolution.  Desandann sing in Creole, Cuba’s second language, spoken by almost a million people, a pragmatic fusion of African, French, and other languages.  It’s the language of a people twice exiled: first to Haiti from Africa through the iniquitous slave trade; then from Haiti to Cuba tricked into second slavery by their French masters after the Haitian Revolution of 1790.  Other Haitians arrived in the 20^th century fleeing political upheaval, poverty and oppression during the barbaric regime of Papa Doc Duvalier which held power from the 1950s to 70s, marked by reigns of terror and the brutality of his private militia, the Tonton Macoutes.

This vibrant ten piece group – five men and five women who dance when they sing – are a cornucopia of remarkable voices.  They hail from beautiful Camagüey, Cuba’s third city, two thirds down towards the eastern end of the island, designated a UNESCO World heritage site in 2008 for its colonial architecture where they’ve studied music to university level and are all members of the Provincial Choir, which the leader Emilia directs.  Desandann emerged out of the choir in 1994, a difficult time for Cubans when the economy fell into a black hole after the end of support from the Soviet Union.  While times were hard, the singers were encouraged by re-claiming the traditions of their families, “For us music is like food, it feeds the spirit and is a major inspiration for everyday life.”

The choir tell a story of riding from Camagüey, to Santiago de Cuba during these years and the train breaking down.  They sang and soon the whole train was listening: tremendous applause and more singing ensued and suddenly the train got going again!

Multiple award winners, this Grammy nominated Choir sing the vital music learnt at home from grandparents and parent as well as the songs of some of the foremost groups of contemporary Haitian scene.  From laments to protest song like Tandé permeated by the homesickness of exile and the eternal dream of returning ‘home’, to ritual prayers and celebratory freedom dances each song tells a powerful Haitian story kept alive in Cuba.  The Creole Choir have taken these songs back to Haiti where their enthusiastic reception at festivals around the island has inspired them to learn direct from Haitian artists.  As they sing in Eden Chanté – Listen to us!