Consumer Guide Album

Okuté: Okuté [Chulo, 2021]
Shouted declaratively in Spanish by baritone Pedro Francisco Almeida Barriel, Tata to you, and named after the not exactly benign but culturally potent god or life-force former West Africans believed brought them to Cuba, this spare Havana-based ensemble is sometimes said to incorporate the legendary percussionist Machito. Since Machito died in 1984, I'm inclined to suspect this tale culminates a confused fusion between a compliment and a myth. But I guarantee that compared to, for instance, Congo Brazzaville's '80s/'90s Balka Sound, Okuté generates the kind of catchy momentum outsiders like me associate with soukous, albeit with its own unique, slightly choppier groove. A find. A-