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Music of Equatorial Africa

Various Artists
Music of Equatorial Africa

This 1950 compilation utilizes recordings made in former French Equatorial Africa, a territory out of which the countries Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of Congo, and Cameroon were formed. Performers include members of the N’Goundi, Bongili, Babinga and other tribes. Ethnic Folkways Library editor Harold Courlander provides an essay explaining the ways in which African music has influenced many styles of American music, including cowboy and Latin–American songs. Song selections emphasize how music in Africa is connected to the activities of daily living, such as a song in which N’Goundi girls “scoff at a young boy who has bragged too much about his own capabilities.”

Track Listing

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101
Buduma boatmen, Ogooué River, Gabon
01:38
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102
Buduma boatmen with sansa, rattle, horn, Ogooué River, Gabon
01:33
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103
N'Goundi man with sansa, mixed chorus
02:06
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104
N'Goundi girls' chorus with handclapping
01:15
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105
Mboko man with musical bow
01:53
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106
Four Mboko men with zither-harp, wooden sticks, rattle
01:21
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107
Female chorus with drums
01:40
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108
Yasua xylophone ensemble
01:35
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201
Bongili girls with pestle sounds
01:17
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202
Bayaka men and women with rattles, horn, and bells
01:57
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203
Mixed chorus with antelope horn, iron bell, and rattle, Pomo village
01:38
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204
Koukouya (Teke) ivory-horn ensemble with vocal chant and drum
01:38
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205
Babinga women with flute, handclapping
01:16
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206
Babinga mixed chorus with drums
01:52
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207
Kouyou men with horn, drums, sticks, handclapping
01:22
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208
Kouyou women with drums, bell
02:04