Côte d’Ivoire: Baule Vocal Music

Various Artists

The liner notes relate the legend of Queen Aura Poku, who sacrificed her son to allow her people to cross a river to freedom. After her people were safely across the river, the queen could only repeat the word bauoli, meaning: the child is dead.

Queen Aura Poku and other legends are represented in Baule music, which is well known throughout Côte d’Ivoire. Two or more voices are usually joined by bells, rattles, and a variety of drums. They also use a fiddle and a harp-lute to accompany singers, creating layers of complex sounds. Although many children begin training in vocal polyphony at a young age, the finest musicians, especially singer-instrumentalists, are thought to have been chosen by the spirits. This album was recorded in 1965 and 1966.

FREE DOWNLOAD
Please enjoy a free download of the song “Dance of the Elephant Mask”

Dance of the Elephant Mask

MP3

FLAC

This album is part of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. More than 125 albums are being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to make the series publicly available, including a dozen never-released albums of musical traditions from around the globe.

Track Listing

101	Kpanda dance	Kpouébo village	3:33
102	Song to conclude the kpanda dance	Kpouébo village	2:32
103	Dance of the Queens' masks	Sakasso village	6:32
104	Dance of the elephant mask	Lolobo village	3:41
105	Dance of the excised girls	Agbakro village	2:58
106	Music of a guardian spirit	Sakasso village	3:55
107	Little girls' sung games	Kanoukro village	4:29
108	Song with forked harp accompaniment	Béoumi town	3:14
109	Song accompanied on the musical bow	Konsou village	3:28
110	War song	Sakasso village	3:24
111	Song with harp-lute accompaniment	Ouoko village	3:41
112	Song with sanza accompaniment	Kondorobo village	3:09
113	Song of two little girls	Kpouébo village	2:31