Various Artists
Mbuti Pygmies of the Ituri Rainforest (CD)

SFW-CD-40401

The music of the Mbuti is primarily focused around vocal music, and this recording beautifully captures the extraordinary variety and tonal quality of the solo and choral traditions. The songs are primarily about the Mbuti's nomadic life and the forest, from which their lives and those of the animal kingdom are sustained. This compilation set a new standard for quality ethnic field recordings for all labels in ethnic music. These prized recordings have been remastered and resequenced to reflect Dr. Turnbull's original mode: the recording begins in the forest with music associated with hunting and gathering, then moves to the village for a Bantu initiation ritual and finally returns to the forest for the Mbuti rituals. This record documents the music discussed in the book The Forest People, read by many anthropology classes. A superbly annotated favorite among world music enthusiasts. "...[F]rom the moment Colin Turnbull lets the chatter and work rhythms of the encampment he's approaching engulf the jungle's ambient insect and bird music, I'm hooked." — The Village Voice

Published: 1992

Genre: Africa & Percussion & Didgeridoo
Label: Smithsonian Folkways