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01 THE ADVICE OF SANGO
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02 LATINO
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11 INNER PEACE
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04 AJO
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07 ASHAKE
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09 THE SPANISH AFFAIR

Sotiris Papadopoulos (Salvador Sango')'s Groups

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Sotiris Papadopoulos (Salvador Sango')'s Page

SALVADOR ŞANGÓ (pronounced Shongó) world music orchestra is the brainchild of Sotiris Papadopoulos, a Greek who has been living and working outside Greece for the most part of his life. The band's name which, as it happens, is also Sotiris's artistic pseudonym, is not accidental: SALVADOR is the translation of Sotiris (saviour) in Spanish, whereas ŞANGÓ is the god of lightning, the protector of justice and the weak in the Yoruba pantheon, one of the most populous tribes in West Africa with a particular presence in music, dance and the arts in general.

Circumstances brought the Greek to the land of the Yoruba when he came to Nigeria for the first time in 1980 to play with Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the indisputable Afrobeat king. The same destiny brought him back -through UNESCO- eight years later to head the Physics Department of a Nigerian University, since this is what he has studied, having come from the research elite of Oxford. This position, however, could not keep Sotiris for a long time and after a series of personal and professional pursuits he returned to what he really loves, in spite of the fact that this could barely cover him existentially: the music. During this phase Sotiris formed his well known jazz quartet, SPICE, and has performed with numerous Nigerian artists including Femi Kuti, Orlando Julius, Victor Waifo, Batik etc.

While in the US (for his doctoral studies in Physics) he participated both as a student and as a teacher for nearly three years in one of New York's most renowned jazz seminars, Jazzmobile in Harlem. Yet, Sotiris is essentially self-taught. That's the case both for his instrument, the guitar, and for music as an academic subject (harmony, composition, arrangement). For the sake of acquiring this knowledge he has spent countless nights with the sole company of his guitar, his records and his books. In New York he got the foundations of jazz as he was opportuned to play with various groups and with stars of this genre like Billy Taylor, Frank Foster (Duke Ellington Orchestra), The Jazzmobile Ensemble and Tito Puente. In 1989, while still being an academician, he performed with Dizzy Gillespie during the latter's Nigeria tour.

The musical result of these and other experiences not mentioned here is the SALVADOR SANGÓ orchestra which was created in 2004 with the broader aim of presenting to the international audience a bridging through music of the cultural and racial gap which still reigns supreme in today's world of globalization. This is done, however, without sacrificing the individuality and particularities as much of the orchestra members as of the musical style itself. The result is world music par excellence. To a large extent, their music employs West African polyrhythms and folklore as its foundation but the final result surpasses by far the West African borders: it passes through Latin America for its salsa/afrocuban ingredients, North America for its jazz/blues influences, West Europe for classical/rock and the Mediterranean for flamenco/arabesque, finally returning to the founder's Ithaca: Greece. Yet, it remains unmistakably African.

The orchestra's works comprise vocal tunes sung in Spanish, Yoruba, English, Greek, Fon, as well as instrumentals. One could say without reservation that SALVADOR ŞANGÓ are hierophants of world music for, along with the musical message passed to their audiences, another one, more ethereal and spiritual is being passed which cannot be described by words but is felt through the wide spectrum of emotions and sentiments their music causes: joy and sadness, nostalgia, exaltation, tranquility and introspection. Yet, two of these are always absent: fear and anger. The other, particularly African, element in their music is the constant provocation to dance. It is very rare to see people sitting down during a SALVADOR ŞANGÓ concert.

The orchestra have performed extensively in West Africa and Europe and made waves in Greece in the summer of 2006 having played on various stages of the prestigious European Music Day Festival as well as the Samothraki Ethnic Festival in 2007. In February 2008 they became semifinalists in the International Songwriting Competition (top 300 out of 10,000). Their debut CD entitled “The Advice of Şangó” was released in November 2008 on ŞANGÓ RECORDS and is distributed worldwide through iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby.

With the exception of their band leader, all other members have had the church as their training / performance ground. Yet, they all share two things: their unending love for MUSIC and the grand dream of propagating their spiritual and musical message all over the world.

Further biographical and other details can be found at our website: www.salvadorsango.com

e-mail:info@salvadorsango.com

All rights reserved. © 2008 SOTIRIS PAPADOPOULOS

Sotiris Papadopoulos (Salvador Sango')'s Photos

Sotiris Papadopoulos (Salvador Sango')'s Blog

WHAT IT TOOK FOR US TO GET THERE..WHAT A STORY!

THIS IS A COPY OF A BLOG WE POSTED ON OUR MYSPACE PAGE (myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomsalvadorsango) IN DECEMBER 2008. PERHAPS ITS VALUE DOES NOT LIE IN THE MUSIC-TECHNICAL DETAILS PRESENTED BUT IN THE SUBTLE, YET VERY POWERFUL MESSAGE, THAT DREAMS DO BECOME TRUE WHEN FOCUS, PERSEVERANCE AND PERSISTENCE ARE INVOLVED....

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Saturday, December 20,… Continue

Posted on February 16, 2009 at 12:30pm

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At 7:03pm on March 18, 2009, Jewell Cornette said…: Hello Salvador, hope you are doing well and making lots of music! Your friend, Jewell

At 9:53am on February 21, 2009, Silja Saareoks-Kaldre said…: Thank you for joining the Meditation group and feel free to share your ideas. Thanks again!

At 12:51pm on February 19, 2009, Silja Saareoks-Kaldre said…: Love for you!

At 10:54am on February 19, 2009, Frizzey Greif said…: ♥ ♥ ♥Thanks for the friendship old friends of Salvador Sango nice to see you here on the great Architects site
heartly welcome inFrizzey Lights World♥ ♥ ♥

At 10:36am on February 19, 2009, Silja Saareoks-Kaldre said…: Really amazing music! Thank you for leading me here and for being my friend!

At 10:33am on February 19, 2009, Humanity Healing Foundation said…: Much Metta,
Humanity Healing Team

At 3:19pm on February 16, 2009, Jewell Cornette said…: Absolutely, Sotiris! Blessings and Light to you... Jewell Yalermai!!!

At 2:56pm on February 16, 2009, Jewell Cornette said…: Sotiris, your music is wonderful! Thanks so much for adding me as a friend... awesome!!! Power to the MUSIC! Yalermai!!! Jewell

At 2:54pm on February 15, 2009, Richard Lukens said…: Hi and welcome to the Architects site... glad to have you here... Please post some info on yourself and what looks like your band... look forward to knowing more about you...

-Rick