Search - Various Artists :: Echoes Of The Forest: Music Of The Central African Pygmies

Intimate and fascinating Sounds

Jason P. Gubbels | 04/30/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While this cd may only appeal to anthropologists, there are numerous pleasures to be found. Blessed with a helpful booklet crammed with photos and informative essays, the packaging manages to make a foreign and unfamiliar sound accessible to anyone with an open mind.Comprised of eighteen seperate tracks recorded by three different anthropologists over the span of forty years, the cd offers a wide variety of traditional music from the Pygmies of the Ituri rainforest in Central Africa. The opening track is truly wonderful - seven minutes of a large group of men singing a song in preparation of an elephant hunt, with a storm brewing in the background. It's impossible not to thrill to the majesty of this music, and when a huge crack of thunder shatters the mood at track's end, to the nervous laughter of the men themselves, it's a moment to savor. It's also a fine example of how music in non-Western cultures primarily serves as a social function, not idle entertainment.Other highlights include the varied talents of a young man named Portasi, who plays three variations of a song on three seperate instruments - a sanza or thumb piano, a lote or notched flute, and a one-stringed violin. In these performances, it is possible to hear links to the American South and the roots of the blues, and yet the melodies and rhythms of the pieces are far removed from Mississippi.This cd is not for easy-listening, nor is it immediately accessible to those new to non-Western music. But it's a feast for the ears, and a wonderful trek through a fascinating culture that is fast disappearing, and deserves to be protected."