Baka
in the Forest: Traditional songs of the Baka women
recorded live in the Cameroon rainforest
(March Hare Music)
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CD/hear samples
Martin
Cradick & the Baka at Gbine: Baka Beyond
the Forest (March Hare Music)
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CD/hear samples
My
first exposure to the songs of the rainforest pygmies
was in a cassette of field recordings done by Louis
Sarno in the 1980s (the tape a companion to his
book Song
from the Forest).
The
sounds of otherworldly yodels and melodies drifted
among animal noises, and were labeled with evocative
titles about hunting, gathering honey and mushrooms,
and weddings.
Soon
afterward, I was enjoying elements of those songs
in the music of Zap Mama, Pierre Akendengue, and
Baka Beyond. The latter group has done an admirable
job of giving back to the Baka, the people of the
rainforest, creating a an organization to funnel
profits back to the musicians communities and even
building a solar-powered multitrack studio for the
Baka in 2004.
The
two new CDs are natural companions, and could easily
have been issued as a two-CD set. Baka Beyond
the Forest is more familiar Baka Beyond fare,
as the guitars of Martin Cradick and vocals of Su
Hart combining with a variety of Baka instruments
in their usual Afro-Celtic style.
Baka
in the Forest returns to the raw sound that
so fascinated Sarno: the yodeling notes of the Baka
yelli hunting songs echoing throughout the forest,
simple string melodies on indigenous instruments,
water drumming in the river. Unfortunately lacking
is any information on the specific Baka artists
on Baka in the Forest, but in a personal
note Cradick mentions that among the songs on the
CD are recordings of an artist named Bounaka playing
the ngombi (a stringed harp constructed entirely
of materials from the rafia palm tree). These recordings,
Cradick writes, "are very special to me as
[Bounaka] was very ill and made a big effort to
come out of his hut to play them one evening in
January." Bounaka, whose family first looked
after Hart & Cradick when they visited the Baka
in 1992, died just a few weeks ago.
Together
these albums paint a marvelous picture of a people
finding a way to balance their traditions with a
changing world. For those of us who may never get
to Cameroon's rainforest to experience Baka culture
first hand, the magical songs on these two albums
are the next best thing to being there.
Tea:
Dreams (Teajuana Music)
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Four
years ago, I had mixed
reactions to the debut album by the group Tea,
made up of French guitarist Franck Balloffet, California
drummer-keyboardist Phil Bunch, and some musical
friends. The group's second release has a similar
vibe, with lush, rich Afropop tunes more suited
for chilling out than for gettin' down.
The
songs following are widely varied, from the pop-ballad
languor of "Haunty" to the club-beat "Ibiza,"
to the hint of reggae on the upbeat "Envie."
And while music never really cuts loose, the musicians
and vocalists are top-notch. Steve Kgondo, (formerly
with Tabu Le Rochereau) sings the opening track
"Vibration," which sounds something like
Youssou N'Dour meeting a jazz-fusion band. And Brian
Auger's B3 work on "Bilobela" is downright
tasty.
No
song notes or lyrics are included, so one may conclude
that the group's emphasis is on the gently upbeat
mellow vibe of the music. And that's fine, but as
with a pleasant but somewhat bland meal, I'm left
wanting to reach for a splash of something hot,
something spicy. In the end I find myself wanting
to like this album a lot more than I actually like
it.
Santero:
El Hijo de Obatala (City Hall
Records)
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CD/hear samples
I
don't know of a lot of music out of Guatemala, and
when I hear songs about the Orishas, I tend to think
of Cuba or Brazil, or perhaps Colombia or Uruguay.
But a musician called Santero is rearranging my
musical world. Incorporating traditional Orisha
chants and rhythms with hip-hop and soul elements
(just check out the horns and organ on "Oba"),
Santero concocts a pump-it-up blend of post-national
music. Santero's family bounced around Central America,
then various cities in the USA, laying the foundations
for his music with various bands and DJ gigs. But
he has always kept a connection with his spiritual
roots.
"The
way we speak with our ancestors, the way we call
them down, is dance and song, but mostly through
rhythm and bata drums," Santero says. "All
the tracks are transposed traditional bata drumming.
... My ideal goal is to expose people to the Lukumi
tradition in a non-judgmental way. The traditional
isn't as strong and I just want to make sure there
is a whole new generation exposed to it."
The
album is sung and rapped in Spanish and English,
with lyrics ranging from condemnation of ocean pollution
to prayers (danceable prayers!) to Orisha dieties
Obatala (on "Baba
Ade") Ogun (on "Machete") and
"Ochosi."
Cuba's past and present blend beautifully in the
hands of Santero, from whom we'll be eager to hear
more.
©2009
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media |
