OKAN

What OKAN makes

Topics afro-cuban, jazz, music, cuban-roots, immigration

OKAN fuses Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, resistance and love. Taking their name from the word for heart in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria, OKAN is led by the Cuban-born violinist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist Magdelys Savigne, both Grammy and Latin-Grammy nominees. Having recently worked with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta, and Dayme Arocena, OKAN’s Juno-winning sophomore release Espiral was debuted at number 1 on !Earshot and was included in CBC Music's top 20 and NPR's top 10 Alt Latino's albums of that year. Called "lush and vibrant, urgent but specific and deeply intentional" by CBC Music, OKAN’s second album Espiral delves deeper into the group's rich Cuban roots, finding renewed inspiration in this powerful musical heritage. The Santeria influences are most evident in the title track, which uniquely blends guajira, the folk genre of Eastern Cuba, with Santeria-derived chants.

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