\n\tInside Kingsway \u2014 a historic, gorgeous New Orleans residence that legendary producer Daniel Lanois turned into an idiosyncratic recording studio in the late \u201880s and \u201890s for Bob Dylan, U2, R.E.M., Emmylou Harris and others \u2014 Afro-Caribbean rhythms are vibrating and Vodou priestesses are singing.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n \t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\tAlthough it\u2019s loaded with instruments (and a Senegalese fertility bed for those in need), Kingsway<\/a> is no longer a recording studio these days, but the sound of music still hits different in the house. Built in 1848, this French Quarter home reverberates with history, even when music isn\u2019t filling its 12,000 square feet. (Depending on who you talk to, including a few rock stars who have refused to sleep there, it\u2019s haunted\u2014but then again, what historic house in New Orleans isn\u2019t?) Thanks to Kingsway owner\/hotelier Sean Cummings, a man with a deep love for the music, food and foibles of his city, Kingsway opened its wrought-iron gates on a rainy Friday night to Vodou practitioners, storytellers, priests and priestesses hailing from Haiti, Benin, Cuba, Congo, Martinique, Angola, Ghana and, of course, New Orleans. It\u2019s the night before the third annual New Orleans International Vodou Day on Saturday (May 23), and the attendees are gathered to greet, eat, drink and mingle.<\/p>\n \n\tIn a spacious room next to the foyer, Mami Moun \u2014 a Manbo Asogwe (high priestess) and powerful singer \u2014 and Malou Beauvoir, a Haitian-American singer-songwriter, are blending their voices for an impromptu performance. Elevating the last-minute performance is Andrew Wiseman, a nimble local drummer and an instinctive conduit to rhythm, as well as the room itself, a space with a warm, vintage acoustic personality.<\/p>\n \n\tTraditional Vodou songs are intended to awaken the Lwa (also spelled Ioa), spirits created by Bondye (the supreme deity) to help humans in their daily lives. But when delivered by gifted singers such as these two, the music reaches deep into the spirit of anyone within earshot, whether they\u2019re a believer or not. The music seems to evoke centuries of power and pain, soaring with an indomitable strength despite everything the African diaspora has been subjected to.<\/p>\n \n\tIn case you\u2019re wondering, yes, this is Vodou \u2014 spiritual practices and beliefs in Haiti, parts of Africa and the African diaspora \u2014 not voodoo. The latter term, often associated with a Westernized caricature of the practices, is rejected by some practitioners of the Afro-Caribbean religious practices who are hoping to shed misconceptions thrust upon them by Hollywood.<\/p>\n \n\tFor many, keeping alive (or rediscovering) these traditions is personal, spiritual, artistic and academic all at once. During Saturday\u2019s International Vodou Day Symposium, a dozen speakers gathered at Xavier University of Louisiana to share historical knowledge and present experiences. <\/p>\n \n\tEthnomusicologist Houngan Collin Edouard was one of them. Like many collegiate lectures, the word \u201contology\u201d made an appearance; unlike most academic gatherings, attendees occasionally shouted out \u201cayibobo!\u201d (a Haitian Creole affirmation) while he was speaking. Edouard, a PhD student at Yale<\/a> who studies music in Vodou ceremonies, explored the transtemporal idea of music as a means of connecting with ancestors and Lwa spirits. In his heartfelt, well-researched presentation, he placed the musical Vodou voice in the context of the slavery these Afro-Caribbean traditions began to codify within, noting that \u201cthe voice travels if the body cannot.\u201d Of traditional Vodou songs that people, himself included, still sing, he wondered, \u201cWhich one of my ancestors tried to sing that song while someone silenced him?\u201d<\/p>\n
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