Bayaka: The Extraordinary Music of the Babenzele Pygmies and Sounds of Their Foresthome

Lured to the Central African forest by pygmy music he heard on the radio. New Jersey native Louis Sarno now lives with the Babenzele pygmies, or Bayaka as they call themselves. Living there not as anthropologist or missionary, but as a welcome member of a cooperative community, Sarno is free to record songs and rituals previously un-heard by western ears - music he calls "one of the hidden glories of humanity." His other recordings of the cicadas, birds, frogs and countless other species that share their lush, complex forest, reveal an exquisite environmental orchestra untouched by industrial sounds. For Bayaka, renowned nature recordist Bernie Krause combines Sarno's recordings of Babenzele music and sounds of the forest, illuminating the timeless harmony that has existed between the Bayaka and their home. That relationship shines through as you hear the forest providing a dense rhythmic background for their songs and ceremonies, including a gleeful wedding song and the echoing gathering rounds of the Babenzele women. Full-color photography and extensive notes on life in the forest and Babenzele music, bring these 11 beautiful and rare recordings to life.