Customer Reviews

African Tribal Music & Dances

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having purchased and listened to many, many cd's on African and Afro-centric music this one rates right down the middle. While not electrifying (as some are) this gives you a middle of the road. text-book overview of "tribal music" in Africa. I have found on many of this type of compilation that many of the titles are mediocre at best. I would highly recommend the cd, "Africa; Music of a Continent" that accompanied a African Arts show in London. I would also like to see more liner notes on the tribes themselves w/ their histories, i.e. The Griot of West Africa. All in all $4.00 + shipping is pretty much a bargain, especially if you will be using this for a classroom.

This is the same CD as "All The Best From Africa" but at a lower price. Why? Don't know. I would have given it a five star but a lot of the songs fade out long before they are done. It has a good selection of different kinds of music, vocal, percussion, string, etc. The main reason I like it so much is that it features Babatunde Olatunji on tracks 2,3, and 14-20. This is rarely heard Baba music especially to those only familier with his "Drums Of Passion" recordings. Some of the sound quality is not that great but I've heard much worse on other recordings. The CD also has squat for liner notes, but all in all, for the price, it's definately worth it.

First of all, this same music is available for a dollar cheaper on Amazon (Laserlight: "African Tribal Music and Dances"--but you have to search for "Conga Groove Band" (!) to find the MP3s). I haven't compared the sound quality between these two cheapo releases. Second, it's not an overview of African "tribal" music; it's the recordings Gilbert Rouget made in 1952 Guinea (Malinké people) and Ivory Coast (Baule people), plus a record made by Sonar Senghor (Leopold's nephew) and his national Senegalese dance troupe. It is depressing to see how these recordings are mindlessly repackaged. That said, the Malinké/Baulé tracks are must-haves. Four different Mande harps are heard: kora on the "Hymn of Praise," the rarer soron on "Solo for the seron," and two bolon hunters' harps on "Dance of the Hunters." The "Duet for Flutes" is a great performance.

Wonderful music. The primitive yet refined rhythms touch the very soul. Unkindled fires light as you hear the earthy drums and enchanting voices of Africa. Well worth a listen!

i love this C.D. it's been providing hours of dancing.