Tag: drums

Heartbeat of Africa ‘Musical Rituals of the Giriama’ SAPRA

Side 1 a) GONDA: A bewitching dance for young adults. Girls don ostrich-feather Head-plumes and enticing skirts. Others wall as drums pound out rhythms in dramatic bursts of energetic ferocity. b) LUMBOMBOMBO: The ‘Lumbombombo’ is a very rare one-stringed violin. In this song the singer praises his skills as a player in an almost-forgotten-melody. c) MUCHECHEMEKO: Calabashes, flutes, tins, rattles and drums combine to create an erotic atmosphere on the shores of the Indian Ocean. d) SPIRIT DANCE: In the middle of the night, a witch doctor encourages a patient to shake to the medicine of the drum. Hysteria follows.
Side 2 a) KAYAMBA: The most famous of all Giriama dances, featuring the weird, wonderful ‘Bungo’ horn.b) MWANZELE: The strange, eerie sounds, often used at funerals, created by metallic percussion.c) EARLY HOURS SPIRIT DANCE: The spirit of the drums gather momentum, hotter and hotter, as the night becomes day. d) KAYAMBA FANTASTIQUE: A larger horn bellows forth in brilliant improvisation. e) GIRIAMA FINALE: A sensational beat erupts with bursts of the ‘Bungo’ horn, then dies away into the wilderness.

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Heartbeat of Africa ‘ Drums of Africa’ SAPRA

Side One 1. KILUME DANCE, of the fun-loving Akamba people, is sedately energetic and traditionally restricted to elders-of both sexes-of this large Kenya ethnic group. 2. TYPICAL OF BORDER DISTRICTS of Uganda and the eastern Congo is this enchanting beat, played by two leisurely drummers as evening falls. 3. SPIRIT-EXORCISM, a rhythm of Kenya’s Teita people, in a rare, secret ceremony called “upepo” 4. GAY GIRIAMA, of the Kenya coastland, play their drums under the palms when the hot African sun makes work a burden.
Side Two UGANDA DRUMS, in a banana grove outside Kampala, capital city of one of Africa’s most beautiful countries. 2. CHUKA DRUMMERS, from Embu District, Kenya, perform precise and measured dance movements, carrying their tall drums between their legs. 3. ABOARD A DHOW, sailors celebrate a home-coming with happy rhythms. 4. KAMBA DRUMMER-some of Africa’s most accomplished-are urged on by dance leaders eager to call villagers into the moonlight.

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