Toronto, ON · afro-cuban · latin jazz · world

OKAN

1 upcoming festival

Cuban-born, Toronto-based duo of violinist Elizabeth Rodríguez and percussionist Magdelys Savigne: Santería chants and batá rhythms folded into indie jazz and pop, sung in Spanish and Yoruba. Their album Okantomi won a Juno.

Elizabeth Rodríguez and Magdelys Savigne both trained in Cuba's conservatory system and both played in Jane Bunnett's Maqueque before leaving that group in 2017 to form OKAN in Toronto. Rodríguez studied violin, Savigne percussion, and the two split the singing. The name comes from the Lucumí word for heart. They work both as a duo and as leaders of a larger combo with session musicians.

Their arrangements start from Afro-Cuban rhythm and folkloric song, then add string writing and jazz harmony, with lyrics moving between Spanish, English and Yoruba. Much of the material deals with leaving Cuba and settling in Canada.

OKAN's debut album, Sombras, came out in 2019 and drew a Juno nomination for World Music Album of the Year. Its follow-up, Espiral, won that award outright in 2021, and their 2023 record, Okantomi, repeated the win in 2024, giving the pair back-to-back Juno recognition for consecutive albums.

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