Onaida by Natascha Rogers

With "Onaida", Natascha Rogers shares a liberating folk spell that draws inspirations from Yoruba spirits, Afro-Cuban rhythms and her Native American ancestry.

Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a father with Amerindian origins, Natascha Rogers dares to be intimate and unveils a highly spiritual chiaroscuro record, raising purity, care and reconciliation to the level of the art, through folk enchantments.

Sensitive to the ancestral call of the drums, she travelled the Black Atlantic for several years and received the teachings of the greatest Mandingo and Afro-Cuban master percussionists. As a distinguished percussionist and vocalist she has graced the stage and has accompanied artists around the world, but for Onaida she set out on her own, retreating to a studio to escape the noise, rush and fast information cycles of our modern world.

This album marks a rebirth for Natascha Rogers, as it symbolizes her return to the piano, her first instrument. Channelling these inspirations for Onaida, Natascha Rogers, has created a space of her own, where themes of humanity, spirituality, nature and womanhood are centre stage while also paying tribute to her ancestors. Sung in English, Spanish, or Yoruba, the album is a tapestry of intimate ballads and universal prayers, drawing inspiration from dreams, Amerindian poetry (Joy Harjo), and Cuban santería with ritualistic batá drum pulsations. On the powerful folk-tinged song "The West", she invited gifted singer-songwriter Piers Faccini.

Onaida is a true initiatory experience, a second birth for Natascha Rogers who finds balance and accuracy with this singular opus. Natascha Rogers headed to the quiet commune of Pommerit-le-Vicomte, to write this new release, accompanied by sound engineer Joachim Olaya and published on acclaimed French imprint Nø Førmat!.


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