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Project Lineage
Project Lineage is an exciting and innovative production company that passionately connects the arts, creativity and knowledge to it organ!
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Benin, Africa
On the Path to the
King of Dogbo
This clips above captures a moment from August 2025, when saxophonist, composer, and ethnomusicologist Godwin Louis traveled to meet the King of Dogbo, Benin, in search of deeper insight into the history of the Adja people—their origins in Tado, their migrations, and the cultural and spiritual traditions that continue to shape their identity today.
The story of the Adja does not end in West Africa. Through the transatlantic slave trade, many people of Adja (Fon/Dahomean) ancestry were brought to the Americas, where their cultural imprint remains profound.
Their legacy lives on in:
• Dahomey Dance by John Coltrane, referencing Dahomey (present-day Benin)
• Haitian Vodou, where Rada rites trace directly to Fon/Adja spiritual systems
• Brazilian Candomblé (Jeje nation), preserving Dahomean deities, language, and ritual structures
• Cuban Arará traditions, maintaining ceremonial music and rhythms from Dahomey
• The foundations of triplet–duple tension—central to Black American and Afro-diasporic music—are heard in blues phrasing and in the swing feel (triplet-based subdivision over duple meter).
This is not just history—it is a living continuum.
This moment is part of a larger journey tracing the movement of people, culture, and spirit—from Tado to the Americas.
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More to come on Project Lineage
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