The Honey Harvest
- Authors: Group of Mbuti Pygmy men , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Songs, Swahili , Mbuti (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Pygmies , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Mbau-Mbili f-cg
- Language: Congo Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168205 , vital:41551 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0125-07
- Description: These pygmies who live in the South Eastern part of the Ituri forest, North of the small town of Beni are of the Mbuti tribe. They are small light coloured men, good looking and diginified in their bearing, far more so than the Nande, a neighbouring Bantu tribe which exploits their activities in hunting and honey gathering, frequently taking from them by force or right more than half of what they catch or gather. Instantly, at the sound of these pipes which they also play for dances the small men threw up their heads and with lips extended as if making the sound "oo" produced yodells or other notes far more powerful than one would expect from ones so small. Yodelling song, the second with sticks.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Hadithi ya umbu (The story of the mosquito)
- Authors: Ramadhani Fataki and Saidi Salum Nana , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Tabora f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179856 , vital:43241 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR170-12
- Description: "How a mosquito overturned a lorry." A lorry was involved in a serious accident, when several of the passengers were badly hurt with broken limbs and other injuries. This was all caused by a mosquito biting off the road into the ditch. Humorous sketches, with a mandoline and Udi.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Kitungule changu
- Authors: Mzee Juma with Shirazi men , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Zanzibar f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179965 , vital:43279 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR171-10
- Description: "My onion."Like the French who sometimes call their lovers "little cabbage" the Swahili also frequently refer to their beloved as a vegetable such as an 'onion', or 'corn con' or other food studd. Most instruments of this kind are brought to the island of Zanzibar by migrant labourers. It was known what tribal orign the Kidebe may have had. Ndebe dance song with Kidebe Mbira and Kayambi tin rattle.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Jean Ndjela ku parquet (Jean Ndjela before the court)
- Authors: Ombiza Charles , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Folk songs, Zande , Alur (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Stanleyville f-cg
- Language: Zande/Vongara
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168090 , vital:41540 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0124-10
- Description: Jean Ndjela before the high court, Parquet, is the slang French term used for the court. This song recounts how Ndjela was condemned to prison together with a number of others, Maria Pilipili and the mulatresse amongst them, and ends by saying "Ndjela you cannot take stolen goods to the grave." Topical song, with guitar, bottle and friction stick.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Dawa mziwanda kula,kula upata afia
- Authors: Kaluta Amri Bin Abedi , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Kigoma f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179265 , vital:43023 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR160-02
- Description: "Oh! my yongest child, take medicine, take it so that you may be healthy." This poem as sent in a letter in reply to his friend Saadani Abdu Kandoro's Poem "Sili nisichotamani". Mashairi sung poems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Dada Mwajuma nifichie siri yangu mpenzi
- Authors: Chipukizi Rumba , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Mwanza f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179595 , vital:43122 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR170-05
- Description: "Keep it secret, my love Mwajuma. What we did yesterday is known. Tell mother only, because she is kind. Do not tell father or I will be thrashed." This cheerful noise made by a band of youngsters is typical of he bands found in the small towns of Tanganyika who cannot afford the common run of European dance instruments and make do with whistles. kazoos and anything that comes handy. Swahili Rumbas with 2 Banjos, 1 Mandoline, 2 bass drums, 1 conical drum, laced, 2 kazoos, 2 whistles and a flute.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Staharaki kwa tendo
- Authors: Saadani Abdu Kandoro , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Kigoma f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179463 , vital:43067 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR169-10
- Description: "I act with care." Short poem revealing an interesting side of the African poet's mind. Mashairi sung poem
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Mbuti drum rhythm
- Authors: Mbuti Pygmy men and women , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Songs, Swahili , Mbuti (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Pygmies , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Gombari f-cg
- Language: Congo Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168268 , vital:41558 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0125-14
- Description: The Pygmies of the forest borrow the instruments of the Bantu people outside. They have few if any instruments of their own. The slit drum was beautifully proportioned, semi-circular in shape, 41" across the diameter and 3" broad. The slit was 1" across and was carved out a hole through it to act as an insulating foot while playing or a handle to bang it up by. It is called Ndundu. The two conical drums were called Gude and were the usual laced drums of the district and measured 22" x 13" head and 30" x 8" head. Both made of very light wood. Conical laced drums, 1 semi-circular slit drum and basket rattle.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Mawaidha
- Authors: Kaluta Amir Bin Abedi , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Kigoma f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179415 , vital:43061 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR169-05
- Description: "With the name of the Lord I should begin. And with his name I should finish. That I may compose them evenly with good things exultingly." Much of the Mashairi poetry, they say, is religious in nature. The African authors demonstrate the extent to which Arab culture has penetrated along the old trade routes. The speaker was fluent in Arabic and his Swahili appears to be more 'classical' than usual. Mashairi sung poems
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Mama Yangu
- Authors: Mudumbu , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Songs, Swahili , Bira (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Pygmies , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Gombe f-cg
- Language: Bira
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168434 , vital:41581 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0126-10
- Description: A song about his mother, his country and people. Swahili words are interspersed with the Buudu as Swahili has rapidly become the 'lingua franca' for this part of the Congo having been first introduced by the Arabs and now officially in schools, business and administration. Topical song with Likembe (Mbira).
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Iyo-o-u-o
- Authors: Mosis, Magdalena, and Terasa (Mambuti women) , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Songs, Swahili , Mbuti (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Pygmies , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Mbau-Mbili f-cg
- Language: Congo Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168183 , vital:41549 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0125-05
- Description: These songs were sung by three very small pygmy women all crouching on the ground close together. Their songs, it is said, asre composed mostly of vowel sounds or very simple words without much attempt to form a lyric. They were clothed only in a small strip of cloth each strung between the legs with each supported by a waist band of bark string. Each had a single string of beads around the neck and black markings were painted on their faces and necks. These songs, they said,could also be used as lullabies. At the end of the second and third items the bleat of a goat kid can be heard. Wedding song.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Nimepata mpenzi, mtoto mdogo, mzuri simwachi (I have found my love, a beautiful girl)
- Authors: Chipukizi Rumba , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Mwanza f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179604 , vital:43123 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR170-06
- Description: This tune, an adaptation of a South American type of rumba, is perhaps the most popular of all town dance songs at the present time (1950) being sung in all the tons of Tanganyika and on the island of Zanzibar. The young men playing this version of the song did not know the words and sanf 'ia-la-la' instead. Swahili Rumbas with 2 Banjos, 1 Mandoline, 2 bass drums, 1 conical drum, laced, 2 kazoos, 2 whistles and a flute.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Mahaba
- Authors: Kaluta Amri Bin Abedi , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Kigoma f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179442 , vital:43064 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR169-08
- Description: "What awakens love, is fair and kind. When the heart's seed is touched. How wondorous sweet and how it burns. He loves not foolishly who loves the giver. The Mashairi poem gives greater scope for love poetry than the usual African song. Short poem revealing an interesting side of the African poet's mind. Mashairi sung poem
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Tahadhari, tahadhari, dunia ina maahara
- Authors: Saadani Abdu Kandoro , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Kigoma f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179273 , vital:43025 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR160-03
- Description: "Beware, beware! The world is full of troubles." The reciter of these Mashairi poems, the poets themselves are known as "Staharaki". They take their art seriously and beleive implicity in its moral purpose. Mashairi sung poems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Lalala lise
- Authors: Zande elephant drivers , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Folk songs, Zande , Alur (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Dungu f-cg
- Language: Zande/Vongara
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168004 , vital:41530 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0124-02
- Description: The song was learnt from the original Indian trainers who came across to Africa from India with Indian elephants when the experimental training of African elephants was begun in North Eastern Congo in 1910. The songs taught to the local Zande mahouts or trainers (locally called Cornacs) have survived though local words have partly replaced the original words of the Indians. The original Indian mahouts impressed upon the Zande the need for singing to their elephants, an instruction they have never neglected. Work song for riding and driving tamed elphants.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Bwana ukinipa usitie moyoni
- Authors: Three Wamusha Daku criers , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1950
- Subjects: Folk music--Africa , Folk music--Tanzania , Swahili-speaking peoples , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Tanzania Tabora f-tz
- Language: Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:43088 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR170-02
- Description: The metal shallow drum (of Tambourine type)is made from the top of a metal can or bucket and is pegged African fashion and not laced like the metal cylindrical drum whose duble heads are laced onto the metal, and is played slung over one shoulder. The chants were sung to the same tune. The size of the cylindrical drum was 13" x 8". The size of the shallow drum was 11 1/4" x 3 1/2". Moslem chants (Wamusha Daku), with 1 metal cylindrical drum, laced, 1 metal frame drum, pegged (-14.91-), 1 basket rattle (-12.54-).
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1950
Boyoka Malinga
- Authors: Albert Yenie and Alex Singoma , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Songs, Swahili , Bira (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Pygmies , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Bunia f-cg
- Language: Bira
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168458 , vital:41584 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0126-12
- Description: This tune is also an attempt to transpose a popular guitar tune well known in Southern Congo and elsewhere onto the Likembe (Mbira) of the district or vice versa. This is made possible by the fact that locally the Bira tribe uses a heptatonic scale. Duet on the Likembe, (Mbira) - Sanzo apido (treble) x 20 notes, and Sanzo ababo (bass) x 22 notes.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Mbuti hunting cries
- Authors: Moke with Mbuti men , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Songs, Swahili , Mbuti (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Pygmies , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Gombari f-cg
- Language: Congo Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168277 , vital:41559 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0125-15
- Description: The hollow clapping sound in the first song was produced by the Pygmies slapping the hollow of their crooked arms held against the chest with their hands. This kind of clapping indicates pleasure or rejoicing and takes the place of the two handed clapping which they do not appear to use. These cries, they said, were used when hunting the iddi, the small forest antelope, driving it into the hunting nets.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Masida Ngalima
- Authors: Ombiza Charles , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Folk songs, Zande , Alur (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Stanleyville f-cg
- Language: Zande/Vongara
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168102 , vital:41541 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0124-11
- Description: Masida Ngalima is the name of a woman. Like so many other African guitar players, Ombiza Charles appears to play the whole of his considerable reportoire in one key only. Most of his songs, like this one were about the well-dressed, perfumed beauties of the town, their charms and their msideeds. "The girls of today know how to dress" he sings. This claim is well justified as the girls of Stanleyville are, in our experience, perhaps the best dressed of all urban girls in the Congo. Topical song with guitar, bottle and friction stick.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952
Pygmy dance I
- Authors: Mambuti Pygmy men and women , Hugh Tracey
- Date: 1952
- Subjects: Songs, Swahili , Mbuti (African people) , Swahili-speaking peoples , Pygmies , Folk music , Field recordings , Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa Democratic Republic of Congo Gombari f-cg
- Language: Congo Swahili
- Type: sound recordings , field recordings , sound recording-musical
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168241 , vital:41555 , International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa , TR0125-11
- Description: Amongst these little people the words for song and for dance are almost synonymous. Because so few local Bantu are able to speak the Pygmy language, it is most difficult to obtain exact informationfro them on this account. Much argument and discussion went on before and after each item. The high pitched beat is the sound of the stick striking the outside of the drum. Dance with conical laced drum, pipes and hand clapping.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1952