Search - Batile Alake :: Waka Queen

Entrancing compilation of traditional West African music

banerjee@foreignservice.org | Washington, D.C. | 09/22/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The music on this disk in an unadulterated representation of the West African bush. It conjures images of village celebrations, palm wine, kerosene lanterns and open air markets. Its hypnotic beat and traditional harmonies are mesmerizing. The sound is real - as real today as it was fifty years ago. This is the perfect disc to focus your mind, or to carry it half way around the world. Unlike so many 'world beat' albums that fuse old with new, this one is a fly on the wall - listening silently, and enjoying immensely."

Deeply moving...

RCMears@Aol.com | Dallas, Texas, USA | 01/02/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a lover and student of all indigenous cultures, I consider this CD to be a rare find--for in it we experience the creativity, vitality, and, yes, even some of the magic of a strong and powerful people. The drums are hypnotic, the rhythms used are ancient and timeless. Any serious study of percussion must go back to these roots, for all the rhythms to be heard in modern pop music are derived from these ancient African rhythms. Where the Native Americans used drums with great skill as well, it was the African peoples that perfected rhythm, and anyone with a personal interest in drums should find this CD rewarding on that basis alone. Then there is the singing, much of it in a singer/chorus format, where the singer sings and the chorus repeats his words or an answer. Hopefully, a complete translation will accompany this CD, and I eagerly anticipate learning whether these songs are prayers, war songs, or songs that tell stories. As the music gets into you, it is not impossible to imagine a night 2000 years ago somewhere in Africa--a time in which the people were happy and stars lay across the black sky like a blanket of jewels with mother moon hanging big and low in the sky. One need only close one's eyes to see the beautiful masks, the strong powerful dancing bodies, the look of wonder in young eyes when the young warrior's gaze falls upon the woman he loves. These gatherings were an expression of the sense of community for which the modern world hungers, and Chief Batile Alake and his entourage bring it to life like a shining jewel."