Pulse of Africa, the

Coll: The Pulse of Africa ARC Music, 2004
Here the pulse is strong and rapid, a result of hours of dancing to this
engaging music. Five groups of master musicians play mostly drums from many
African countries’ culture and musical styles. Tradition and authenticity guide
the production, and the result is a sampling of rhythms from 30 of the 52 African
countries. The booklet has historical and cultural details for each track, and for a
bonus, there are pictures of many of the instruments used in the recording.
Faves: 1,2,4,7,8,10,11,17,18 (Dr D 09-04)
(All track titles and times on back of case)
1.Fast/med ,4 drums, shakers, bells and whistles, chants. Infectious beat ends suddenly
2 Slow/med, ‘wild pig’ drum, 4 or 5 others, bell and bush shakers. Grunts are cool!
3 Med, steady beat, 5 drums w. some random backgnd vox not a part of the performance
4 Slow; 5 drums, shakers, whistle, chants. Excellent interplay among the high and low drums
5 Med, 4 djembes+ bass drum, no vox or percussion. Trad Senegalese rhythm, lots of ‘talking’
6 Med, 7 drums, woodblock, shakers. Plenty talk, good pitch changes
7 Med, one two-sided drum plus multiple xylophones and thumb pianos. Unusual time signature
8 Med, ancient ‘bushman’ tune. 5 drums, lyre, flute, vox. Celebrates the oneness of all life
9 Med/slow, djembes, Zulu low drum, congas, bell, and shakers. A song of the magic chameleon
10 Med, Zulu bass drum, bush drums, bamboo flute, thumb piano and marimba. For all the birds
11 Med/fast, 3 drums, thumb piano, shakers, djembe phrases. Girls initiation ceremony
12 Slow, 2 drums, whistle, shaker. A typical Shangan dance rhythm for happy occasions
13 Med, a snake dance with women’s shouts. Venda big drum, carved from one piece of wood
14 Med/fast, 7 drums, shakers, and claves. A dance to celebrate girls’ initiation ceremony
15 Med/slow, a hunting dance. 3 bush drums, 2 bamboo flutes, whistle, shakers
16 Slow/med, 5 drums including a gangan (talking), Ken-Keni, and djembes. Dove song
17 Fast! 2 drums, sticks, shakers, thumb pianos, marimba. Honors the Mbum chief
18 Med, 40-gal drum, Zulu bass drum, djembes, bush drums, bamboo flute. Song of the beetle