Pygmy Music

This might seem like a post exclusively for anthropologists. It is not. The music of the pygmies is rich and complex and sounds truly fantastic. One of the pygmy groups that have received most attention in musical terms in recent years is the Baka living in the Cameroonian rain forest close to the Congo border.

Much of this attention is due to British guitarist Martin Cradick and his wife Su Hart who since 1992 have travelled 9 times to visit the Baka pygmies, have recorded several albums with Orchestra Baka Gbine band, and created theGlobal Music Exchange NGO, that channels royalties from the recording back to the Baka Pygmies and help them both exist in the modern world and preserve their traditions in the forest.

But now to the music. The tune below is a live recording the “Nawa” track from the Gati Bongo album by the Orchestra Baka Gbine, a group of around twenty singers and musicians, whipped up a rhythmic mix on bass, guitars, percussion and mandolin and the result is simply stunning. The track features the intervowen yodelling that the Baka is know for and the guitar sounds reflect the sound of early Congolese rumba. Enjoy.