The Arthur S. Alberts Collection: More Tribal, Folk, and Café Music of West Africa

A musical exploration of West Africa from the late 1940s, this Endangered Music Project compilation is comprised of 19 songs culled from an enormous archive by recordist Arthur S. Alberts. During a six-month, 4,000-mile jeep tour of West Africa in 1949, Alberts recorded a broad range of musics using state-of-the-art equipment (for the time). The album features popular music found in clubs and cafés, sacred songs, work songs, and school children’s chants. This anthology, with its rich and varied styles of singing, percussion, hand-claps and other instruments, highlights the depth and diversity of West African music. The Arthur S. Alberts Collection: More Tribal, Folk, and Café Music of West Africa was issued in 1998 as part of the Endangered Music Project, a series curated by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart featuring material from the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center (now part of the Mickey Hart Collection made available by Smithsonian Folkways).

Visit mickeyhart.net for additional photos and videos from this album

Track Listing

101	Malinke: Guitars and Kora Three Malinke djelis (griots) with guitar and kora	04:05
102	Mano: A Capella (1) Mano schoolboys in Ganta, Liberia	02:01
103	Mano: A Capella (2) Mano schoolboys in Ganta, Liberia	02:20
104	Igbo: Lamellaphones, Bottle and Knife, Drum, Ngedegwu Igbo migrants from Nigeria recorded in Accra, Ghana	04:10
105	Mano: Hammers and Chisels (1) Mano stonecutters, Ganta, Liberia	03:17
106	Mano: Hammers and Chisels (2) Mano stonecutters, Ganta, Liberia	02:11
107	Ashanti: Percussion Sticks, Guitar Ashanti singers, Ghana	03:36
108	Baule: Cylindrical and Frame Drums, Metal Gong Baoulé drummers and singers, Côte d'Ivoire	04:02
109	Fanti: Frame Drum Fante migrants from Ghana recorded at Marshall Island, Liberia	04:32
110	Liberia: All for You Ms. Eupheme Cooper	02:56
111	Malinke: Bala, Percussion Dioubate Brothers of Kankan, Guinea	04:16
112	Loma: Harp Loma singer with ngoni (harp), Liberia	03:47
113	Ashanti: Talking Drum (Atumpan) Ashanti atumpan (talking-drum) player, Ghana	01:02
114	Bindendela: Water Drums (1) Water-drum players, Democratic Republic of the Congo	01:12
115	Bindendela: Water Drums (2) Water-drum players, Democratic Republic of the Congo	01:34
116	Bindendela: Water Drums (3) Water-drum players, Democratic Republic of the Congo	01:25
117	Kinshasa: Clarinet, Concertina, Guitar, Frame Drum, Bottle and Nail Musical group in Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo	02:57
118	Bobo-Dioulasso: Balas, Drums Lizahbet and Bambara balafon ensemble, Burkina Faso	03:36
119	Bobo-Dioulasso: Balas Bambara balafon ensemble, Burkina Faso	02:18