The Peuls - Musical Atlas vol. 14 - Unesco Collection
EMI Italiana 3 C 064-18121 - P.1975
Side A
A1 Praise song, Flute Solo
A2 Praise Song, Stringed Lute
A3 Praise Song, Reed Pipe
A4 a) Jew's-Harp without frame *
A4 b) Jew's-Harp without frame *
A4 c) Rhythmic Song, Handclapping *
A4 d) Jew's-Harp without frame *
A5 In the Arabian style
A6 Song accompanied on the Flute and the Calabash
Side B
B1 Flagellation Song, Solo voice
B2 Song accompanied on the Flute and Calabash
B3 Solo Voice and Womens Choir
B4 Solo Voice accompanied by three young Women
B5 Pounding Millet
B6 Instrumental Music for Dancing
B7 Four Flagellation Songs
B8 Song for Dancing
* Note well, that track 4 a,b,c,d are one track on the LP, I split them for clarity as track 4c is not Jew's-Harp, as listed on the LP, but rather could be described as rhythmic song and handclapping.
This is an LP from EMI Odeon Italia in their series World Atlas. It was part of the Unesco Collection supervised by the General Editor Alain Danielou. The recordings and documentation was done by Simha Arom. They published maybe around 30 LP's in this series. I have only knowledge of the titles for most of them and I will post a few more. Maybe someone can help out with more information. I have been thinking of maintaining discographies online edited by several participators but more on that later.
The Peuls
The Peuls, (or Fulani) are spread across Senegal, Niger, North Cameroon, North Nigeria usually defined as a group by the common feature of being nomadic herdsmen and does not form an ethnic group or a race. They are also spread in Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Mali, Gambia, Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone. And the estimated total figure of the population at the time of recording in the early 1970ies was believed to be in excess of six million people. Since they are so spread out it is hard to get a updated figure but it is believed that the population have more or less doubled today. These recordings, judging from the liner notes, seems to have been made in Niger and possibly Burkina Faso then Upper Volta and also belong to that category of records where closeness and intensity is pulling the lister into the group of musicians. I especially like the women pounding millet and the non compromising and relentless suction of air in the frameless Jew's Harp pieces. It seems also that we tend to do all too little rhythmical clapping around where I reside.
