In a rain forest you are surrounded by the natural world. Sound becomes your primary means of navigation and your strongest sense.
The Baka, hunter-gatherer Pygmy people, live in the forests of the Congo basin. In their world of dense green they have always been dependent on listening for survival and are renowned throughout Africa for their music and spiritual dance – “The Dancers of the Gods” as the Pharaohs called them.
They are now using their skill at music and dance to make a living in today’s world.
In spite of living in a remote forest the Baka have always been interested in the outside world, and especially its music.
In 1992 when Baka Beyond’s Martin Cradick and Su Hart first visited a family near the Cameroon – Congo border they found Baka musicians already mixing the Makossa and Soukous they had heard on the radio with their traditional rhythms.
