Bamboula Dance and Music - Then & Now, Part 4

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part IV of a four part pancocojams series of posts on on the African roots, and the music & dance traditions of the Bamboula in the Caribbean, and in the United States.

Part IV showcases selected videos of music that was inspired by the Bamboula and/or Congo Square.

Part I of this series provides an overview of the Bamboula, and features several videos of dance traditions from a few African ethnic groups in West Africa, the region from which most Black people who were enslaved in the Caribbean and the Americas came.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/bamboula-dance-and-music-then-now.html for Part 1 of this series.

Part II of this series focuses on descriptions of the Bamboula dance in the Caribbean, and features several videos of the Bomba, which is considered to be similar to the Bamboula. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/bamboula-dance-and-music-then-now-part.html for Part 2 of this series.

Part III of this series focuses on the Bamboula in the United States, and features a 19th century sound file entitled "Bamboula" and contemporary gatherings in Congo Square in New Orleans, Louisiana. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/bamboula-dance-and-music-then-now-part_10.html for Part 3 of this series.

These posts are presented for historical, folkloric, educational, and aesthetic purposes.

Videos in this series of posts are numbered in consecutive order throughout the entire series. No order of preference is given to these selected videos.

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VIDEOS OF SELECTED RECORDINGS
[Showcased without any editorial comment.]

Video Example #15: Sonny Landreth - Congo Square



Uploaded by leintje113 on Jun 14, 2008

Van album "Down in Louisiana"

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Video Example #16: Congo Square - The Neville Brothers



Uploaded by Tulip Jackson on Jul 13, 2008

Slideshow Neville Brothers

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Video Example #17: Odadaa! Excerpts from "Congo Square"



Uploaded by aminaaddy on Dec 25, 2009

Odadaa! Excerpts from "Congo Square"

Excerpts of elder Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy and his exceptional ensemble Odadaa!'s performance of "Congo Square", a 2-hour co-composition by Yacub Addy and jazz titan Wynton Marsalis, at the Montreal Jazz Festival 07. "Congo Square" is the ground-breaking 2-hour co-composition by Yacub Addy and Wynton Marsalis that celebrates the historic Congo Square in New Orleans. The only place in America where African slaves were allowed to perform their own music and dance in the 1700s-1800s, it established the roots of American music by providing a means for African music to enter and mingle with American forms.

An exceptional ensemble of artists from Ghana, Odadaa! includes drummers, instrumentalists, singers and dancers of the Ga ethnic group, and a single American-born singer.

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Video Example #18: "Congo Square" Premiere



Uploaded by aminaaddy on Dec 25, 2009

April 23, 2006 a historic new composition was premiered in New Orleans - "Congo Square", co-written by Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy and Wynton Marsalis. Presented in historic Congo Square for a wildly enthusiastic crowd, it was intended by it's creators as spiritual support for the Crescent City's recovery from the ravages of Katrina. The ground-breaking work, which combines Ghanaian percussion and vocals with jazz forms, was performed by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Yacub Addy and Odadaa!. Part of the opening selection is currently being used by HBO in it's promo for the new series "Treme".

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