Giles Swayne the Senegal

British Library Collection

Nearly 20 hours of Jola music recorded in January and February 1982 in The Gambia and Senegal by British composer, Giles Swayne, much of whose work is often directly or indirectly linked to his knowledge and experiences of African music. So taken was Swayne by his initial hearing of African music (some ‘pygmy polyphony’ that inspired his 1979 composition Cry), that he ventured to Africa to find and record some music himself. He embarked on a trip to record music of the Jola (also known as the Diola, Diola-Fogny, Dyola, Jâoola, Jola and Yola) people in the Casamance region of Southern Senegal and The Gambia, a culture group that had previously been only minimally recorded and researched. Jola music is characterised by chorus singing and as a rule they will sing as groups of men or women only as they set about their respective work and other activities.

Swayne recorded many men’s and women’s songs, providing insight not only into musical characteristics but also into gender role divisions within the society. An important genre in Jola music is the Bugaar or Bugarabu, a celebratory dance (performed at marriages, baptisms, confirmations, circumcision ceremonies or any other joyous occasion), which uses three (differently) tuned drums played by one man, who usually wears jingles on his wrists. Both men and women will dance in a circle and at the same time a row of men sing and a semi-circle of women clap, often with wooden sticks / clappers. Their rhythm is distinctive: first they clap altogether and then, when someone starts to dance, they clap in an interlocking pattern of 6 claps to the original beat. The dance can last from an hour to several days! Swayne’s composition A song for Haddi, Op. 35, “uses hand-drums (two pairs of large congas), which are the nearest readily available equivalent to the Bugárabu drums of the Loa drummers of the Gambia and Southern Senegal. The piece is not in any way, however, an imitation of Jola drumming” (Swayne, Giles: taken from programme notes for the work) Another dance Swayne recorded was that performed during the Futamp circumcision festival, which uses Mandinka Kuttiro drums, iron bells and elit end-blown whistles. This festival is only celebrated every 15 to 20 years and all boys from ages 4 to 18 will go into a sacred forest for 2 to 3 weeks to get circumcised and to be instructed in their new roles as adult men.

Towards the end of his stay, Swayne attended and recorded an all-night wedding, which can also be heard in this online resource. Other instruments recorded were the Jola simbing spike harp; the Mandinka kontingo plucked lute; a music bow; the ebongei, a lamellaphone; the kasihök horn played together with a flute during wrestling songs and some kyeba sticks, used to accompany some songs recorded in Kabajo.

(Sourced from the British Library Sound Archive)

This music belongs to the British Library. All the music of this page has been recorded and preserved by the British Library Sound Archive under World and Traditional Music and can also be found on their website with more detailed information.

Source: The British Library Sound Archive

Giles Swayne Senegal Collection

Official British Library Sound Archive Website - World and Traditional Music