Source of Sound 52 Voodoo
In 1952 Gilbert Rouget, in collaboration with Pierre Verger, made recordings of Voodoo rituals in Benin or as it was then called; Dahomey. Gilbert Rouget worked as an ethnomusicologist at the Musée de l’homme in Paris and founded the museum’s record label. The recordings he made are still of high quality and are among the best of the genre. Pierre Verger was a photographer, who after much deliberation, decided to settle in Salvador de Bahia in Brazil in 1946. He was a member of the Candomblé and Voodoo where he even received a rank in the Ifa oracle in Benin as Babalao or father of secrets. His publications and photographs have put a spotlight on African religions, in particular Voodoo and the African-American spiritual culture of Santaria, Candomblé and Winti. In this episode, you’ll listen to recordings from 1952. These, and all other recordings by Gilbert Rouget and his companions, have been digitized by the CREM-CNRS (the French Center for Research in Ethnomusicology) and can be found on their website.
Gilbert Rouget
01 Chants des signes divinatoires Fa 33A-02 4’00
02 Ceremonie pour Ogun Igbo igbo 46-05 6’08
03 Chants pour vodun au temple de Sogbadji 53-05 2’45
04 Chants pour vodun au temple de Sogbadji 53-06 3’18
05 Veillée pour les revenants 54-02 3’07
06 Veillée pour les revenants 55-02 4’27
07 Veillée pour les revenants 55-04 4’40
08 Veillée pour les revenants 56-02 6’37
09 Cérémonie pour Ogun Igbo igbo 67-1 9’33
10 Chant rituel pour le culte de Shango 75A-04 3’20
11 Chant rituel pour le culte de Shango 75B-01 10’47
Gilbert Rouget Benin 1982
more on https://archives.crem-cnrs.fr
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