GHANA
Ancient Ceremonies, Songs & Dance Music Situated in the tropical belt of West Africa, Ghana lies between Togo and the Ivory Coast on the Gulf of Guinea. It is a land of lush tropical beaches and rocky lagoons, with grasslands and forest bush in the Central and Northern Regions. Beginning about 1500, when European settlers first began exporting slaves and gold, the area became known as the Gold Coast, famed for the rich deposits of gold found mixed with the sand of its riverbeds. Only when granted its independence from the British Empire in 1957 was the new nation renamed after the ancient Ghana Empire, an advanced civilization that flourished over a large part of West Africa from 300 A.D. until 1240. In Ghana, as in most of sub-Saharan Africa, music is an essential way of life. The numerous traditional ceremonies include music for dance and entertainment, along with dynamic percussive invocations and historical songs. The popularity of music as a way of passing time has produced a great variety of forms and styles as well as highly adept professional players; there is also great musical proficiency on the part of the general public. African musicians feel that they bring their instruments to life when they play them, just as God gives life to the musicians. Thus, individual instruments are believed to possess consciousness and are treated with much the same respect as that given to a living person. A close relationship exists between language and music in Ghana (as in most of Africa). Instruments can convey specific messages by imitating the patterns of pitch change in the words of African languages. These patterns, almost unknown in European languages, are actually short melodic phrases comprised of two or three adjacent tones of a diatonic scale. Since the patterns are constant for each word, musicians are able to “talk” with their instruments by reproducing the pitches alone. The misunderstanding that might arise when two words have identical pitch-change patterns is overcome by elaboration. For instance, if the word for “river” had the same pattern as another word, and the meaning could not be discerned from the context of the phrase, the musician might clarify by saying, “the river, whose waters flow to the sea.” There is a class of professional musicians known as griots who are indispensable to ceremonies and rites, indeed, to daily life. Among their many roles in the life of the community is that of historian, and they are famed for their infallible memories. In addition to recalling the significant events and people of a community’s past, griots also preserve and espouse the philosophical awareness and code of conduct of their community through proverbs and songs. Many griots lead a rather nomadic life, wandering freely, in total devotion to their art. This album was recorded in the Brong-Ahafo, Eastern, Western, and Upper Regions of Ghana and reflects but a small part of the rich diversity of traditional musical forms alive in Ghana today. DOGUMBO SONG (SANDEMA) (VOICE, DONNO, MPINTINTOA/RATTLE) In remote areas of northern Ghana, the weekly outdoor market days in the centrally located villages usually develop into festive occasions, thanks to the presence of wandering musical groups like the one heard here Beginning early in the day, they stroll through the marketplace, gradually accumulating a following of people who have finished with the day’s business and are now interested only in dancing leisurely along. By nightfall, the following has grown to include nearly everyone at the market. Finally, they all form a circle in which individual dancers perform short, expressive solos. The vocal style of this song, with its intricate, overlapping phrases sung in parallel harmonies, is characteristic of northern Ghana. The rattle heard in this recording—a small gourd containing dried seeds—is tossed back and forth between the player’s hands. DZIL DUET (ACCRA) The dzil, a xylophone with calabash-wood keys, is featured in many forms of dance music with drums and other percussion instruments throughout West and Central Africa. The name by which it is known in some African communities, madimba, would suggest that it is the ancestor of the South American marimba. In this recording, one dzil is played simultaneously by two men who sit facing each other on either side of the instrument. One plays melodically with his right hand while accompanying himself with arpeggiated patterns in the lower register with his left hand. The other player provides a purely rhythmic accompaniment, striking the ends of the keys where only overtones of the fundamental pitch are produced. GONJE SONGS (ACHIMOTA) Adolphus Micah performs the three songs presented here. The first is a Christmas song, the second, a song in praise of the chief, and the third, a war song. The gonje is well suited for vocal accompaniment, with its wide dynamic range and its adjustable pitch. Players often make use of harmonics to imitate the controlled “cracking” of the voice, a widespread African vocal technique. One-stringed bowed lutes similar to the gonje are found throughout Africa. DONNO DRUMMERS (YEJI)(DONNO, GYAMADUDU) This is a popular form of dance music, performed by five griots. Four play the variable-pitch donno while the fifth plays a large bass drum, the gyamadudu. The gyamadudu provides a steady rhythmic ostinato that serves as a constant temporal point of reference for the donno. Individual donno players interweave rhythmic patterns so as to produce composite runs consisting of very fast attacks which any one player would be incapable of executing alone. The simultaneous use of several meters and the precise articulation of the larger pulse heard are notable traits of West African drumming. KASSENA-NANKANI FESTIVAL (NAVRONGO) (NAMUNA, WIIK, GULU) This large wind-and-drum ensemble performed at a Ghanaian Independence Day celebration held in Navrongo in the Upper Region. Against the thundering background of the gulu drums, two groups of wiik players alternate notes in a repeated pattern, one group playing the pitch D and the other C. Harmonizing with this pattern are two groups of namuna players, alternating between the pitches F and E. One of the players in each of the four groups improvises freely above the overall pattern. AHANTA CHANT I (DIXCOVE) (VOICE, AXATSE) Beginning at sunset and lasting far into the night, a gathering of 18 women and girls performs this ceremony of the Makaba sect (a syncretistic religious group of the Western Region). Each member of the group sings and plays a large rattle, the axatse. In the process of adjusting to the timing of the axatse while finding a comfortable range and harmony for the repeated choral phrase, the participants achieve a level of total concentration. The purpose of this ceremony, in fact, is for each member of the group to achieve this inner state. I am standing before the crucifix. I am very quiet, but
the tears are streaming down my cheeks. Peter and Martha
are here too; they also have tears in their eyes.
Chorus: Holy Mary is Adam’s grandchild. EL AHANTA CHANT IL (DIXCOVE) (VOICE, AXATSE) In the past if was not customary for Ghanaian women to drum: their admission into public performance came about during the cultural revolution triggered by colonialism. WIIKS AND MPINTINTOA (WIAGA) While dancing energetically, five boys of the Builsa tribe perform this music as entertainment for a group of children and their teacher, a traditional doctor. Two play mpintintoa drums and sing while the other three play a tuned set of wiiks. MARILLI (YEJI) A young girl sings this song in her hometown of Yeji, in central Ghana, where she is known for her compelling vocal technique and sunny disposition. By a controlled buzzing at the back of the roof of her mouth, she can produce two and sometimes three pitches simultaneously. CHOHUN AND GYAMADUDU (NIMA) This music performed in the streets of Nima (a section of Accra) serves as accompaniment for a dance. As the dancers complete their performance, spectators join in for an enthusiastic finale. The chohun is played here by two musicians facing each other, accompanied by a single gyamadudu. DONNO DRUMMERS (YEJI) This is another example of donno drumming, in which the lead drummer’s melodic improvisations can be heard clearly. THE INSTRUMENTS AXATSE A large rattle consisting of a hollow gourd surrounded by a loose net with many small beads or shells attached. Tension of the net is controlled with one hand, while the player shakes the gourd and strikes it against his leg. The rich sound of the axatse, believed to be highly favored by the gods, is closely associated with religious music. CHOHUN A xylophone, like the dzil, but slightly larger and with a greater number of tuned keys. DONNO A variable-pitch double-headed drum with an hourglass-shaped body made of wood. Held under the armpit, the donno is struck at one end with a single curved stick. By squeezing the instrument between his arm and his side, a player can produce a wide range of pitches with remarkable control. The donno’s combined melodic and rhythmic capabilities make it an excellent “talking” drum. DZIL A xylophone consisting of 15 to 18 tuned hardwood keys mounted on a frame made of sticks: an acoustically matched gourd resonator is suspended beneath each key. Over a small hole at the bottom of each resonator is a thin membrane made from spider webs which produce a buzzing timbre when a key is struck. The dzil is played with rubber-tipped wooden mallets. GONJE A bowed lute with a single string made of horsehair. Its resonator consists of a bowl-shaped section of a calabash, with lizard skin stretched across its open side and a sound-hole cut in the skin. Players stop the string on the side with their fingertips; delicate “pitch bending” on certain notes of a tune is achieved by pulling or pushing on the neck. GULU A double-headed cylindrical drum suspended from the shoulder and played either with one hand and a curved stick, or with two curved sticks. GYAMADUDU A double-headed bass drum with a cylindrical body made of wood. It hangs vertically in front of the legs and is played with one hand and with one heavy, straight stick. MPINTINTOA A single-headed drum made from a large gourd, with a goatskin head. The mpintintoa hangs against the player’s chest and is played with both hands. NAMUNA A transverse trumpet made of animal horn, with a raised lip surrounding the tone hole. WIIK An end-blown vertical flute with three finger holes. It is most often used in ensembles of three or more, with the players alternating notes hocket-style to produce a melody. — Stephen Jay ©1979 Elektra Entertainment. a division of Warner Communications, Inc. Special thanks to John Sackey and Warren Weinstein for invaluable advice.
Technical production, editing and mastering: Robert C. Ludwig
Coordinator: Teresa Sterne
Art direction and design: John William Costa
Cover photo: Paul Strand, Market, Tuya, Ghana, 1963
©1971, Aperture Foundation Inc., Paul Strand Archive
First Released 1979 (Nonesuch H-72082)
