Afro-Cuban bata rhythms adapted to drumkit.(PERCUSSION)

Santeria, also known as La Regla de Ocha (the rule of the orisha), is a belief system that originated in Cuba from the interaction of the traditional religious practices among Yoruba slaves, other African religious practices in Cuba, and European Roman Catholicism. The orisha worship of the Yoruba--orisha being the name of their deities--made its way to the Americas via the transatlantic slave trade, which, in the case of the Yoruba, was most intensive in the first half of the 19th century.

In the religious ceremonies of Santeria, music plays an important role in establishing its community's relationships to the sacred and social aspects of its musical and religious tradition. Santeria's …