Yemaya Folklore Group: Purity of white and wisdom

 
Pablo Calzado made me aware of a special gig he had organized as part of the Esplanade festival A tapestry of sacred music a couple of Sundays ago. The invitation sounded interesting enough for me to go to the esplanade to check it out.

 

As I arrived a bit before show time I noticed  the setup was a bit like a very high-end street performance. Street because there was no stage, high end because there was a big sound system and stage lighting set up around the performance area. 

Since I was assuming people would get close because they could, and by now you know I think they should, I positioned myself between the impressive set of drums and one of the man-high speakers.

As the, almost all Cuban band started to play

Diosdado Hechavarria (Cuba)

Eddy Fleitas Del Sol (Cuba)

Leo Munoz (Mexico)

Mario Calzado (Cuba)

Pablo Calzado (Cuba)

It quickly drew a small enthusiastic crowd. 

As we were two tunes into the first set, and I had aimed my camera at one of the gentlemen behind the drums, I suddenly saw a blue image fly into the frame. I immediately recognized the face after I looked up from behind my camera but was slightly surprised to see this particular woman dancing.

I have heard Meyvis Sahili’s, the fifth Cuban in the band, lovely voice when singing and heard her play a mean conga at several venue but I had yet to see her dance for  performance. 

 

Dressed in a lovely blue, she danced a wild powerful dance, depicting what I later understood was Yemoja the spirit of water the gift of life.

Sahili explained to me later that the two sets of the performance were dedicated each to a spiritual character.Yemoja the lady in blue

as mentioned and Orunmila a senior spirit, the spirit of wisdom, represented by white clothing.

The music and dance had drawn in a crowd of at least 150 people standing around and being entertained through chants and song presented by Eddy and Sahili, regularly interrupted by high rhythm drum solos. A group dance was unavoidable, only few can resist the Cuban charm

I usually keep myself far away from the religious and spiritual practices of all societies, so far that I cannot even say I am a non-believer and I am also not a habitual follower of international politics practiced by the United States. This time however, I was happy that, like the United States, I allowed myself to open up to some segments of the Cuban culture.

The Musicians Guild of Singapore.

I’ve often said that the group of musicians that I know in Singapore, give me the sense that they are one big family. 

 

On several occasions I have seen them organizing one or the other benefit event to help out one of the “family” members that got into some kind of a squeeze.

I grew up in a very easy environment where everything seemed to be arranged and clear from very early on in my life, but then again my parents never had to deal with me wanting to have a career in arts. 

 

My father used to be in insurance and he would have liked me to go into insurance, which I tried for a very very short time, with a lot of his help, but I guess pride made me want to find something by myself and I found a job in procurement. Dad was OK with that too, it appeared to be a respectable job with a reasonable prospect of a decent middle class future. So my escape from insurance was as far as our  difference in opinion went on that subject.

Therefore I never had to deal with any type of emotional blackmail around my career choice. My parents were easy going, so I doubt that I would have had problems if I wanted to be an artist ,other than of course convincing them I had the talent, because I don’t. Not like others

That story, for many artists, can be quite different, I have heard. Making a career out of art, is an art in itself and probably a continuous uphill battle where you find few friends. Friends that are not artists themselves that is.  "Art is great but… as a hobby".

 

Convincing people that art is where your heart is and you want to make it a career, is only one facet, and for most,  no matter how many facets they polish the stone will never be a diamond. 

So to have a place where you can find sound advice and support is a good thing and maybe that is why musicians here have such a strong sense of community,  because it is good to have a back up.

Trust worthy support does not come without some planning and organization and I believe that is what the Musicians Guild of Singapore wants to do. I know, some think immediately of union and rate agreements. I don’t think that is the objective. 

 

I think it is really the intend to have some kind of head of the family. Somewhat like my parents,  rather than to give you a direction to help you follow your direction, like a mentor, and to provide a bit of a safety net where reasonably possible.

I had not heard of Professor Koh before. Shame on me. I have to admit I was duly impressed with his talk at the launch of the Musicians Guild of Singapore at this equally impressive new venue 10Square @ Orchard Central

Speaking words of wisdom in such a gentle and endearing way is what you would be looking for in a mentor. 

I am sure direct access to his wisdom is not found easy but as a patron of the guild I assume he will be instilling some of it into the board members, 

who, by the way, individually already sound impressively competent. With that alone, musicians can earn just a little bit more… respect!