Bamboo Tamboo: Bongo and the Belair

Recorded in the hills of Trinidad, here is a fascinating juxtaposition of three music and music / dance practices of non-urban dwellers derived from African roots. Bamboo-Tamboo evolved out of the ban European colonizers imposed on drumming: dry, hollow bamboo poles were cut to varying lengths to produce different pitches when thumped against the ground. These bamboo instruments are used to accompany or speak about calinda (stick fighting). Belair (bélé) is a dance of older women accompanied by drums and shakers, often danced all night long; whereas bongo, also accompanied by drums as well as bamboo sticks, is danced exclusively by men at wakes in order to guide the spirit safely into the next world. All three musics share similar chanting styles and percussive styles.

Track Listing

101	Is a Burial Today	n/a	02:40
102	We Goin' Cut the Wood	n/a	01:52
103	Calinda (1)	n/a	03:23
104	Calinda (2)	n/a	05:09
105	Grand Bélé	n/a	04:21
106	Eloir éh	n/a	04:45
201	Mama kilio, kilio	n/a	01:13
202	Gabitan Bombé	n/a	01:54
203	Douma Dance	n/a	02:38
204	Play Young Boy, Play	n/a	02:52
205	Nooka boné patates de lingo (We Are Digging Potatoes)	n/a	02:18
206	Give Me My Top	n/a	02:52
207	The Water Too Cold	n/a	02:26