August of 1791 is when the African population of the Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue rose up in rebellion against its French occupiers, eventually achieving independence in 1804–resulting in the creation of the first free republic of diasporic Africans in the Western hemisphere. That rebellion is commemorated and celebrated on this album by RAM, a project of Haitian-American musician Richard Morse. Morse put his group together in Port-au-Prince, creating songs and arrangements that combine traditional Haitian instrumentation and song forms with Western elements such as electric guitar and keyboard. The sound is big and dense, sometimes bordering on the chaotic and sometimes loping with a mid-tempo grace. There’s lots of call-and-response singing and tons of gorgeously soaring melodies. Recommended to all world music collections.