Shango’s Dance profile picture

Shango’s Dance

Regla De Ocha in a Global Sound

About Me

    "Shango's Dance" performs jazzy interpretations of the songs and dances from the Afro Cuban Santería religious tradition. (The powerfull rhythms and chants the West African slaves use to worship their ancestors and gods.) It is music that evokes images of African rituals as well as impressions of "Big City Life". International artists performed and recorded with "Shango's Dance" are a.o. the legendary Amelia Pedroso, Miguel 'Anga' Diaz, Martha Galarraga, soloists of the: Conjunto Folklorico National de Cuba, Conjunto Folklorico de Oriente, Raices, Yoruba Anabo and Clave y Guaguanco, Lucumi, Thelonious Monk Competition prize winner Marc van Roon.The 'Yoruba Love Affair' started with the encounter between flutist Mark Alban Lotz and Master Bata drummer Javier Campos Martinez in 1996. The musical exchange ended up with three CD recordings - some of them at the ICAIC studios, Havana - featuring many household names among the cognoscenti of the Cuban Orisha music. Soon invitations to attend major music festivals such as The Percuba Festival in Havana and the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Netherlands followed.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/19/2008
Band Website: lotzofmusic.com
Band Members: Line up from 9 up to 11 musicians and dansers: Martha Gallarraga, Jazmin Saavedra, Ariel Bridon, Javier Campos, Jorge Martinez, Ivan Rodriguez, Mark Alban Lotz, Maarten Ornstein, Marc van Roon, Jos Machtel, Liber Torrientes, Jos De Haas, Jens Kerkhoff, Maria Estella, Raphael Castellanos.

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Sounds Like: Says the press:

    Combining smart and funky contempo jazz with Afro-Cuban ritual music is always a good idea but it doesn’t always work. No one is better at it then Mark Lotz! It’s a mix he’s gotten good at, like the person designated to make the fresh squeeze lemonade because they make it best. (Latin Jazz Program jazzbuffalo.com) The CDs by Mark Alban Lotz are the best examples I’ve heard of successfully blending bata drums with non-Latin music. I highly recommend them. (Mark Corrales, batadrums.com) A stew of bata rhythms peppered with uplifting solos. Envigorating energy and a spiritual edge. (Straight No Chaser, UK) One of the best seven percussion driven releases of the year. Music feature by Jason Finkelman. (The Hub, US) Blues for Yemayá should be looked at as the most successful multicultural project of the nineties. (Music and Show, NL) Without a doubt the best dutch production of traditional Afro Cuban music ever. (Big Band, NL) The funny thing is: Lotz has nothing to do with the son revival going three or even four steps beyond it! (Nieuwsblad v.h. Noorden, NL) .... striking outing from the Netherlands. ...veering between the campfires of enslaved Cuban worshippers and the smoke-filled clubs of New York. (fly.co. UK) The concept sounds as natural as birdsong. (Pan, UK) This is not just an exotic flirt but a real organic fusion. (De Volkskrant, NL) Invigorating and fascinating. (Cadence, US)

Record Label: Via Jazz, LopLop Records & Random Chance Records
Type of Label: Indie