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2LP
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MANANA 006LP
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Quasi is Ariwo's second album, after the release of their first self-titled album in 2017 (MANANA 002CD). Despite Ariwo's diverse mix of musicians (Cuba/Iran/Canada/UK) their music doesn't belong to any specific genre. In Quasi, Ariwo use the building blocks of deep bass, Afro-Cuban polyrhythms, carnival melody, and immersive live electronics as a starting point to engage with key players on London's jazz scene. The result is a hypnotic journey for the listener from techno to avant-garde jazz via West Africa and the Caribbean. Quasi aims to mirror the evolved direction of Ariwo's live set, which after extensive touring over the past three years has gradually become more stripped back and club-oriented. Many of the building blocks for this album started life as improvisations in live sets and have been developed into full tracks on Quasi. The album features guest appearances from MOBO winning saxophonist Binker Golding (Binker & Moses) and acclaimed UK keys player Joe Armon-Jones. Cuban trumpet players Thommy Lowry Garcia and Yelfris Valdes also feature on the album, bringing carnival melodies that interweave through the percussion and electronics. Ariwo have used songs from Quasi to create the music for Portals, a tour of Carlos Acosta's new contemporary dance company Acosta Danza in Havana.
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CD
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MANANA 002CD
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Ariwo are a Cuban/Iranian four-piece focused on the rich intersection between electronic music, Afro-Cuban rhythm and Iranian mysticism. Ariwo, their debut album, is the second release on Manana Records, launched as part of the !K7 Collective and inspired by 2016's groundbreaking Manana Festival in Santiago, Cuba. The band brings together Iranian electronic music composer Pouya Ehsaei and three of London's most influential Cuban musicians: Irakere and Carlos Acosta's Latin Grammy-winning percussion virtuoso, Hammadi Valdes, Yussef Kamaal and Sierra Maestra lead trumpeter Yelfris Valdes, and godfather of London's Cuban scene, Oreste Noda. To the band, the project's goal is to "connect our native musical traditions to electronic music in a way that pushes beyond traditional Cuban and Iranian identity, creating a sound that does not belong to any specific culture." The word "Ariwo" means "noise" in Yoruba, an African religion that came to Cuba during the transatlantic slave trade and heavily influenced the island's musical development. For the three Cuban musicians in particular, Ariwo is about shining a light on the incredible and largely unrecognized cultural heritage that resounds through the barrios of Havana, Matanzas, Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba. Ariwo features genres like yambú, songo, guaguancó, and changüí, as well as echoes of Havana's legendary conga processions. Ehsaei programs his electronics and processes the instrumentation live, constantly changing the intensity to create a real-time dialog that elevates these rich ancestral traditions. RIYL: Irakere, Miles Davis, Carl Craig, Ondatropica, Hugh Masekela.
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