The Creole Choir Of Cuba

The Creole Choir of Cuba, made up of ten singers descended from Haitian slaves (six women and four men — Rogelio Torriente, Fidel Miranda, Teresita Miranda, Marcelo Luis, Dalio Vital, Emilia Díaz Chávez, Yordanka Fajardo, Irian Montejo, Marina Fernandez, and Yara Diaz), bring a joyous bounce and groove to everything they touch, as well as a gospel-like intensity. This isn't a choir in the gospel sense, though. In Cuba each region has its own professionally supported choir, not associated with any church, capable of singing at weddings, funerals, birthdays, parties, parades, or anything else that pops up, so these guys are a different kind of choir, and an amazing one. Formed in 1994, the choir set its purpose to revive the old Haitian songs for a new era, and everything is sung in Creole. Signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, the choir has released two albums on the label, 2010's Tande-La and 2013's Santiman.