An old Mampruli jingle is a reminder of the famine that plagued northern Ghana in the late 70s and the corruption that exacerbated its horrific effects.
Great West African Music from 2017
Here are a few of my favorite West African albums that came out in 2017.
Uganda’s Adungu Harp
I was recently visiting churches in the refugee camps of northwestern Uganda and came across these wonderful instruments. Called an adungu (or ekidongo or ennenga in other languages) it is a sort of arched harp. When arriving at one church, I heard music coming from inside. The bass was so clear that I assumed it was […]
Traditional Mamprusi Hunting Songs
Zɔkri of Nalerigu, Ghana is a soothsayer but also plays a two-stringed banjo and flute that his late father passed down to him. The guitar is made of goat skin over a gourd with the strings being rubber strips. We visited him on July 17, 2017 with musicologist Sarai Brinker and our language teacher Philip Jangdow. […]
The Soothsayer’s Flute
I was just looking for a flute when I entered the man’s courtyard and couldn’t have anticipated
Kusaal Songs at a Courtyard Pounding
I’ve been working on a video project about the courtyard poundings the women in our community do together. Here are two songs one awesome lady sang yesterday at the one I attended. They are in Kusaal but a friend helped me translate:The first has some lyrics along the lines of: “A living being? Fear him.”“Is […]
Dancing at a Funeral
Thanks to a babysitter, Heidi and I were able to attend a friend’s father-in-law’s funeral together last week. Their family lives in the center of town and are a big part of this tight-knit community. The funeral wasn’t a particularly large one, but all the “regulars” were there. Immediately when we showed up the drummers […]