British Library Sound Archive - West African Recordings 24th July 2017

Events Podcasts Videos News About NTS Supporters Help and Feedback

iOS App Android App Join the Chat Newsletter

Live now

DONNA LEAKE

Dive into Donna Leake's ever developing taste, drawing sounds from all over the globe and all over the clock including jazz, reggae and psych.

The Trilogy Tapes

Clandestine record label, The Trilogy Tapes, tear up the NTS studios once a month, ripping through the grittiest and muddiest tracks. No words on this one, just tunes.

Field Recordings

Selection and mix by Andrea Zarza. Thanks to Janet Topp Fargion for her ideas and to all the recordists for agreeing to have their recordings shared on NTS. The programme is dedicated to all of the unnamed performers who appear in the recordings. One hour of unpublished ethnographic field recordings from the British Library Sound Archive. All the recordings were made in West Africa by British anthropologists and sound recordists as early as 1909 on formats ranging from wax cylinder, reel-to-reel tape, cassette and DAT tape.

You can check out a full detailed breakdown of the tracklist here.

Tracklist

Xylophone Music, Xylophone Music, Unnamed PerformerUnnamed Performer
Recorded By A.V. King, In Nassarawa, Jos (Nigeria), 1962
Lasana Mané Playing Ebalei / Balafon, Lasana Mané Playing Ebalei / Balafon, Sadaga Sané On Ebalei / Balafon And Unidentified Female Singers
Women's Songs With Ebalei (Recorded By Giles Swayne On 14 January 1981
Solo Unaccompanied ‘Ora Flute’ Alternating With Male Speaking Unknown Language
Recorded By Thomas Northcote Whitridge In Nigeria 1909

A Well In Dry SeasonA Well In Dry Season
Recording Made By Alison Redmayne Near Zinder, Niger On 14 February 1974
Bubu Music From Tasso Island. Unnamed Performers
Recording Made By Dennis Furnell On Tasso Island, On 24 January 1991
Rock Gong RecordingRock Gong Recording
Made By William B. Fagg In Jarawa, Nigeria, 1965
Rock Gong RecordingRock Gong Recording
Made By Anna Craven In Pikworo Slave Camp, Upper East Region, Ghana,On 26 September 2007
Tuareg Night Watchmen Talking Together And Playing The Pipe
Recording Made By Alison Redmayne Near Zinder, Niger, 28 February 1974
Men: Sonkai Wrestling SongsMen: Sonkai Wrestling Songs
Recorded By Giles Swayne On 13 January, 1982
Jarawa Harp Piece, Jarawa Harp Piece, Unnamed PerformerUnnamed Performer
Recorded By A.V. King, In Nassarawa, Jos (Nigeria) 1962