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[Note: See the following two excerpts from that thread. As is the case with all of these sample posts, those people who are interested in the topic are encouraged to read the entire discussion-and join it by posting to that specific thread]

Subject: Musical Roots
From: Torctgyd - PM
Date: 23 Mar 05 - 07:13 AM

Following on from the thread about the possible influence on Gospel music of the Gaels from NW Scotland one of the posters remarked that he would have liked the program to investigate the musical culture of West Africa where the slaves came from.

This made me think. How can musicoligists say that because the music of West Africa now is as it was 250 years ago? Might not the music of this region been 'contaminated' by missionaries from the very same area of Scotland (or the southern US for that matter) bringing their lining out to the native populations. Not just that but the 'contamination' from influences from all over the world via religous practices, radio and television and the introduction of new instruments.

We cannot be certain, for example, how Mozart's works sounded, or how he meant them to sound even though we've got the written scores. How can musicolgists talk about what was, or wasn't done, around the camp fires hundreds of years ago in the African bush? Just look at how many versions of songs and tunes there are from the British Isles and most of them are no more than 150 - 200 years old. This illustrates how quickly changes come about in oral traditions even in, what was at the time, the most advanced and literate nation in the world (possibly!).

Are similarites between two or more traditions just coincidence, related to each other or the result of convergent evolution? How can you prove it either way where populations have moved around, inter bred and traded goods, ideas and music for hundreds or thousands of years?

T

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Subject: RE: Musical Roots
From: Azizi - PM
Date: 23 Mar 05 - 08:00 PM

Torctgyd -

Those are interesting questions you are raising.

Here are some responses that I thought of:

There are some early records of map makers, adventurers and other relatively lone travelers who did not remain in the area to teach or convert but did document some aspects of the culture in a "by the way" or more observant manner.

Early field recordings and drawings/photographs of ethnic groups people can be compared with later recordings and drawings/photographs/videos.

Also there have been more isolated West African ethnic groups whose music and religion and other indices of their culture has been studied and documented after more "popular" ethnic groups such as the Ashanti and the Yoruba. ..

Furthermore one can ask people was things were like before. We use interviews with informants to find out information about other folk cultural offerings. Why not African music?

The West African musican class {called by the French word 'griot' but also known by the name/title "Jali"} are trained for years to accurately remember generations after generations of their ancestors=both their names and the deeds that they are known for. Jalis are historians/singers/musicians..and the Jali tradition lives on in Senegal and other West African nations [not to mention their practice of creating 'insult' songs lives on in Calypso and Rap music]

Furthermore, I believe that traditional African societies {like other traditional societies} had a different attitude towards and more respect & appreciation for the past than, say, most people in modern day USA do. I believe that certain customs and practices can be documented to have lived on in those societies because the some of the people [maybe fewer than before] want them to take pains for them to. Studying these traditions would also provide information about cultural continuity and change.

One other thought-anthropologist can also study the societies created by Maroons {runaway slaves} in Jamaica, Brazil and more isolated African American peoples like the Gullah people of the Sea Isles of Georgia to get an idea of what music, religion, and other cultural practices were like in West Africa.

Here is one example of cultural continuity from Colin M. Turnballs's 1966 book Tradition and Change in African Tribal Life {Avon Pubishing}

"The first boy born to a Bushman family is named for his father's father, and the first girl is neamed for her father's mother.
The next children are named after their mother's parents, and then, ift he family grows still further, names are taken form the children's various uncles and aunts. This is quite a widespread custom, although the details are different from tribe to tribe. It is all part of a pattern that creates a special bond between old and young people..But it is more than juet a mark of affection, it is part of the whole tribal system. It is the belief that somehow the tribe that is living today is a reflection of the past, and will also extend into the future. Past, present, and future all fuse into one. That is why some important rituals are performed exactly, to the smallest detail, as they are believed to have been performed by the original ancestors. The coronation of the Kabaka, or king, of BaGanda is a fine example of this, he has actually to retrace the footsteps of his ancestor, the founder of the kingdom, and go through the various events that befell him". {pp. 44-45}

end of quote..
{It should be noted that this is the page that the book opened to when I went to see what I could find on your question}...

BTW, Torctgyd-"natives" and "African bush" are loaded terms which can be more than a bit off-putting..But that's the way society generally refers to African societies. I have seldom heard these terms being used to refer to persons born in rural areas of, say, England or Germany...

Just something to think about..

Azizi