| At the time of the Duvalier regime (1958-86), Roots music was considered subversive on Haiti and was banned as a result. However, groups formed in the island's forests and fought the ban with their music. One such group was Foula, gathered around bassist and bandleader Chico Boyer. In the early 1990s, as repression increased, the musicians left Haiti and founded Ayibobo, together with Jean-Paul Bourelly, in New York. The band's concept combines Voodoo music traditions with the aesthetics of modern urban improvisation. Rosna, the band's singer, is a fascinating figure: the incarnation of gracefulness and femininity within Voodoo culture - Brooklyn style. Singer and percussionist Mariana Baraj is typical of a young generation of Argentinean artists who are resisting against the mainstream in their home country in a conscious effort to establish respectful links with their African roots. On her first album, released in 2002, she was accompanied by musicians such as Fernando Tarrés and Rodrigo Domínguez; her music alternates between Argentinean folk melodies, African rhythms and subtle jazz modulations. Her sound will be integrated with Ayibobo extending links between this new artist and Afro-Caribbean music scene.
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