Music of the Santal Tribe: Field Recordings by Deben Bhattacharya

This album not only has some wonderful music but is also a valuable ethnographic and historical record of the culture of the Santals of eastern India. Unlike some other Adivasi (indigenous Indian) groups, the Santals have coped better than many with India's industrialisation and now comprise the largest number of Adivasi people in the country. In the process they have also retained much of their traditional culture. The recordings here were made in 1954 and 1973 by the Bengali researcher Deben Bhattacharya and constitute one of the very few commercially available sources of Santali music.

Alongside the many examples of group singing, highly characteristic of village music-making in India, there are also tracks that showcase the madal, a barrel drum that is one of the best known Santali instruments, the shinga (buffalo horn), and there are also some fine examples of tiriyo (flute) and banam (bowed chordophone) playing. The tracks range from dances to devotional songs and give a fascinating insight into a musical culture that is rarely heard outside its own environment.