Okute. Okute.

Label: Chulo Records ‎– CH011
Released: 04 Jun 2021
Genre: Latin, Folk, World
Style: Rumba, Cubano, Son, Afro-Cuban

Credit: Danila Ravis at Latinjazz.net

Okuté Uncovers Deeply Rooted Pathways at the Intersection of Cuban Rumba and West African Music. Released by Chulo Records, Okuté Spotlights the Sound of 1960s Cuba with a Contemporary Spirit on Self-Titled Debut Album Produced by Jacob Plasse (Orquesta Akokán).
Okuté carves out a route nearly unspoken for decades in Cuban music. Improvised testaments to the requisite ingredients of West African music coursing through Cuban rumba and son are pressed straight to quarter inch tape on the ensemble’s self-titled debut album, Okuté (Chulo Records: June 4, 2021). While listeners are used to expected chord progressions, jazz harmonies, and timba patterns from Cuban musicians of the past half century, Okuté subverts these expectations, breathing new life into the genre with the voice, tres, and bass taking center stage. Producer Jacob Plasse of Orquesta Akokán introduces authenticity of mid-20th Century Cuban music at its finest on Okuté, where ancient African undercurrents inform idiosyncratic compositions.