Saturday, January 15, 2011

Polyphonies Mongo - Batwa Ekonda rec. by Benoit Quersin


Polyphonies Mongo - Batwa Ekonda
Ocora - OCR-53 - P.1971





Side A

A1 Sortie de Walekele 1'21
A2 Sortie de Walekele (suite) 3'46
A3 Sortie de Walekele (suite) 2'39
A4 Chant Ekonda avec accompagnement de chitare sur bâton 3'35
A5 Chant Ekonda avec accompagnement de chitare sur bâton 1'26
A6 Danse esoya 1'25
A7 Chœurs de femmes Ekonda 6'31

Side B

B1 Chœurs d'hommes Ekonda 14'00
B1 Chœurs d'hommes Ekonda (suite) 3'27


Recordings made by Benoit Quersin in the Democratic Repblic of Congo during the months April and May in 1970. This region is near the Equator in an area between Lake Tumba and the village Itipo. The population in the area around the lake consist of Ntomba and furteher away of the Ekonda, there are also a number of Batwa of pygmy origin. The lanscape is flat and almost entirely covered by large equatorial forest.

The Ekonda like most inhabitants of the central Congolese basin belong to the Mongo group and have very similar cultures. Here are some of the most enjoyable vocal polyphony recorded from this region that I know of, not only musically but also with regards to ambiance and atmosphere.







4 comments:

arvind said...

Some wonderful polyphony here, I've been enjoying this all day. Thanks a lot for the share, bo!

Anonymous said...

I seem to love almost any music that comes out of the Congo :)

Wonderful sounds and an important historical document. Thanks bolingo, and keep doing what you do!

roberth said...

oh my i am in heaven,
what a great nation
when the links were down
i used to look at the post and druel
great stuff
ocora is such a wonderful label
thanks again
robert

Anonymous said...

Hey man, Can you re-up this one?