Deadsplinter Up! All Night: Spirit of the Forest

11/3/21 Loveshaq 16

I first heard Baka Beyond in the early 90’s and was blown away at how different it was, they defined “World Music” and then when I heard the story of how the music came about, I was even more intrigued.  From Wikipedia:

Baka Beyond began in 1992, when vocalist Su Hart and her partner – guitar, mandolin and bouzouki player Martin Cradick (formerly of the group Outback) travelled to south-east Cameroon to live with the Baka tribe (hunter-gatherer Pygmies) in the rainforest and record their music.[1] The band was inspired by the Baka, “one of the oldest and most sensitive musical cultures on earth”. Su Hart said “It was the amazing bird-like singing or yelli that first attracted me, … The women get together before the dawn to sing, enchant the animals of the forest and ensure that the men’s hunting will be successful. Song and dance are used by the Baka for healing, for rituals, for keeping the community together and also for pure fun.”

The band didn’t just use the tribe for success like some might, they spent much of the profits from the albums improving things in the rain forest.  Through the charity Global Music Exchange they continue to work with the Baka to give them education, healthcare and help them obtain national ID card which are needed to get basic citizen’s rights in Cameroon.  So tonight it’s time to sit back and enjoy the forest if you have one, if not, close your eyes and imagine you are chilling with the Baka or jamming along with Baka Beyond.

Thanks for your support of DUAN.

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16 Comments

  1. You may like the Spirit of the Forest.  But I go for the Spirit In The Sky.

     

  2. @Loveshaq Have you read Song From the Forest by Louis Sarno? There’s a documentary by the same name but I haven’t seen it. Sarno traveled to Central Africa to record the music of the Bayaka. He stayed, marrying a Bayaka woman and having children.This is one of the recordings he made

    Two Aka Girls – Moola

     

     

     

    Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile – Fear Is Like A Forest

     

     

     

    • I have not but I will check it out!  Thanks.
       

  3. Kokoko:

     

  5. Tangential, but laughably so:
     

  6. Howard Devoto – Rainforest (Variation N16)

  9. Not about a forest but another African Celtic fusion band that came after Baka Beyond – Afro Celt Sound System – a little more celtic than african on this song. I loved Baka Beyond – great pick Loveshaq!
     


     
    And, Boubacar Traore – Hona
     

     
     
     
     

    • I saw Afro Celt w/ Peter Gabriel at Womad & it was amazing. Huge fan.

  10. The Wonder Stuff – Them Big Oak Trees
     

  11. Oh my goodness, @Loveshaq! This album existed in our household, thanks to one of my relatives. What a trip down memory lane–I still remember the opening chants. (Shout out to people who knew people who shopped at Discovery in the ’90s.) 
    Branching off greatly into African Electronic Music, here’s to Francis Bebey. 
    Francis Bebey, “Divorce pygmée” 
    https://youtu.be/4O4KfQ4nCBU 
    Francis Bebey, “Esok Am” 
    https://youtu.be/sUAXFRPg9nQ 
    …and for the forest-y end of the theme: 
    Pulp, “Trees” 

    • JFC. Here I go again. 
      Branching off greatly into African Electronic Music, here’s to Francis Bebey. 
      Francis Bebey, “Divorce pygmée” 


      Francis Bebey, “Esok Am” 

       

      • I can relate to African techno!
         
         


         

  12. huh…the spirit of the forest sounds a little different over here

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