Pazar 16 Mar 2008, 1:07

A wonderful recap of the origins of this song comes from Wolfgang Martin Stroh, professor emiritus at the University of Oldenburg, Germany:

Joe Arroyo y la Verdad "Yamulemau"

In 1971, when he was only 16 years old, Joe Arroyo began singing in Fruko y sus Tesos, the most important salsa band of the time. The happy vibrancy of his voice and the mischievousness of his movements soon made him famous, and he recorded and performed with other popular bands. He finally started his own band, La Verdad (The Truth), in 1981. With his own orchestra, Joe Arroyo could now give free reign to his creativity as an arranger, singer-songwriter and composer.

Arroyo is a versatile singer of many Caribbean rhythms and sings music ranging from sones and boleros to the cumbias and fandangos of his native region. A native of Cartagena, he was exposed to and inspired by African and Afro-Caribbean music from a very young age, and he regularly invents new rhythms and styles with roots in these traditions.

"Yamulemau" was originally recorded as "Diamoule" by Laba Sosseh, a singer from the West African country Gambia. An interesting example of cultural interaction between Africa and the Americas, Sosseh was first inspired by popular Cuban music and salsa. Arroyo sings "Yamulemau" in the original African language, imitating the phonetics much the same way African artists like Sosseh have done with Spanish.

Yamulemau fue grabada originalmente como Diamoule por Laba Sosseh, un cantador de el país de Gambia. Un ejemplo interesante de la interacción cultural entre Africa y las Americas, Sosseh fue inspirado primero por música popular cubana y la salsa. Arroyo canta Yamulemau en su idioma Africano original, imitando las foneticas en la misma manera que artistas africanos como Sosseh an hecho con el Español…