Musical Anthology of the Aka Pygmies

In #114 we reviewed an Ocora CD of Aka Pygmy music that focused on their instrumental accompaniment. This latest album from the same label is a lavish collection of examples of the distinctive polyphonic singing of the Aka hunter-gatherer Pygmies of the Central African Republic. It is for their outstanding vocal technique that Pygmy music is best known. The music is divided into different social functions, such as rituals associated with the hunt, honey gathering, lullabies, children's games, the dedication of a new encampment, dance music and the ritual of divining.

To really appreciate the album, the listener needs to study the extensive liner notes (in French and English) which reveal many intricacies and helps us to assimilate the cultural significance. The description of the track ‘Mokondi’, for example, explains the entire social function of this particular ceremonial dance: the dedication of a new encampment. In the text we learn in great detail how a lone adolescent dancer progressively moves with small body flexings in a rising manner that replicates a mythical animal, ancestral spirit or forest demon. Equally stirring and hypnotic are tracks associated with the hunt, and the delicate and enchanting voices of the children in their singing games. Listening to this music while following the descriptions of the vocal counterpoint, yodels and improvisations, we begin to understand something of this remarkable ancient tradition. Fascinating for anyone interested in the human voice or the tribal culture of Central Africa.