Search - Various Artists :: Arthur S Alberts Coll: More Tribal Folk

The power of fantastic music.

01/04/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1949, Arthur S. Alberts and his wife drove 4000 miles all around West Africa recording the people's varied music along the way. The original release of these tapes (only about 2% of what was recorded) was hailed as a landmark recording achievement. Nearly 50 years later, the Library of Congress opened their vault for a sequel to that release and it's absolutely breathtaking. You can hear the roots of everything from Jazz to R&B to hiphop embedded deep within these songs. By recording tracks amongst different tribes in Nogeria, Ghana, Zaire and more, he got a varied taste of what music was coming from the land. This ranged from "talking drums" to choral songs to fishing songs to religious chants. Each one has been remastered so exquisitely, you could swear you were right in the middle. The liner notes describing the journey is impeccable. Listening to this draws you in and entrances you to listen to every note made by the native instruments and people. The call and response is so strong, you may actually find yourself singing too. That's the power of fantastic music."