Yoruba Drums From Benin

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 23, 1996)
• Original Release Date: January 23, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000001DLI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,505 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #14 in Music > World Music > Africa > Benin

Editorial Reviews

Benin, West Africa is the home to several Yoruba religious cults based on a pantheon of gods. Overlapping rhythms embedded with symbolic religious meanings are played by a variety of drum ensembles including cylindrical bata drums, hourglass-shaped dundun talking drums, and the tall gelede drums.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential. One of the must-have discs., August 6, 2003

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Yoruba Drums From Benin (Audio CD)

If you're reading this review, do yourself a favor and buy this cd. For several years now this has been one of the first cds I always ask people about if we happen to discuss anything about West Africa. My thought being that if the person is already into various West African musics but they don't have this cd, they need to have it. Also, if they are just curious but don't have anything, they need to have it.

Performance-wise, this cd is a dream, and it's recorded equally well. What we have here is a great mixture of excellent bata and dundun ensembles. The one thing that saddens me about this disc is that it had to be presented like this. Just like 1-5 tracks from each different ensemble. I wish there was more mass-interest in music such as this. There is not one ensemble on this cd who isn't worthy of an entire cd (or more) all to themselves.

The liner-notes will also be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about the cultures represented here, and Yoruba in general. The notes are quite musically detailed also, in case you are a musician. If none of that interests you though, don't worry. Even if you never even glance at the liner notes you will still have a fantastic disc of very powerful drumming. From the springy, rubbery tone of the dundun ensembles, to the taut, tighter, staccato tones of the batas. The bata ensembles are sometimes almost like an orchestra of layered, overlapping, musical machine-gun fire.

I'd also like to recommend the Master Drummers Of Dagbon 2-disc series. Totally different drumming styles but for me, these cd's are all joined at the hip. I wouldn't even want to try living without any of them.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great liner notes, interesting drumming, May 4, 2001

By 

www.batadrums.com (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yoruba Drums From Benin (Audio CD)

This CD may be worth buying for the liner notes alone. There are almost no commercially available recordings of Yoruba bata drumming, and this is a good one. In contrast, there are dozens of recordings of Cuban bata drumming, which is the form that grew out of Yoruba bata drumming during the slave trade. Bata drums are the sacred drums of the king-god Shango, and are used in ceremonial music for the Orishas in AfroCuban Santeria, as well as in Yorubaland (present day Nigeria mostly) to speak praises and for Egungun (ancestor) masquerades. I'm glad this CD was produced and is now easy to find. ...

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Ancient Spiritual Drumming, December 9, 2007

By 

James W. Kitchens - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yoruba Drums From Benin (Audio CD)

Drumming without vocals. Music for the Orishas. Comes with a booklet that tells stories of the Orishas as well as technical info on the drums. Excellent cd for practionishers of African based religions. Also would be of interest to scholars of African culture or music. I loved it.