October 22, 2024 – Last month we premiered the lead single “Priorities” by Roy Hargrove’s Crisol from their long-archived album, Grande-Terre, which was recorded back in 1998 but was released for the first time only last week. The album has received rave reviews from The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, among other major publications, and “Priorities” has been added to jazz radio station playlists nationwide.
There is a fascinating backstory behind the song. If you have not yet heard it, “Priorities” begins and ends with the drummer, Julio Barreto, speaking in a language that, at the time of the recording, neither his band members nor their producer understood; they assumed it was a form of scatting or other vocalizing. But after the single was released, a fan on social media speculated that Barreto might be speaking in the Abakuá language, which sent this author down a rabbit hole of all things Abakuá.
Abakuá is a Cuban religious fraternity founded in 1836 in which those initiated take an oath not to reveal the teachings and rituals of the society. It derives largely from the Ékpè society of West Africa, and music is an important part of their rituals. Notably, Cuban musicians who are members of the Abakuá have sometimes included ritual chants or other reflections on their society in recordings, usually in their secret Abakuá language. And that is apparently what happened during the recording of “Priorities.” Professor Ivor Miller, an editor of The Sacred Language of the Abakuá (2020 U. Miss. Press), has confirmed that Barreto was performing a ‘nkame’(chant) in Abakuá, “which is a standard greeting by an initiate to all the forces of nature and the initiated members.” Twenty six years later, that “secret” is now finally out! We urge you to have a second listen, and enjoy.
By Robb Patryk
