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Jamaican folk music blends African, European and East Indian (in dialect: Bongo, Backra and Coolie) roots into something distinctly Jamaican. Kumina, a magico-religious cult of predominantly rural peasantry, includes invocation of and possession by gods and ancestral spirits aided by songs and drumbeats. Convince, another magico-religious cult that likely originated among the Maroons of the Blue Mountains, differs from kumina on two basic accounts: ghosts called “duppies” rather than gods do the possessing and convince music never uses drums. Yet, kumina and convince share similar lineage from African cultural practices. Also sampled here are examples of “Hindustani” music intended for dancing. These selections use the tabla drum, the “Indian fiddle” (a bowed three-stringed instrument) and a nasal vocal tone. Volume Two (FW04232) continues with Zion Revival, quadrille bands and fife and drum music.

This collection of three virtuosos from the island of Andros is a compilation of several recordings not previously released on Samuel Charters’ series of Bahamian music (see SFW40066, FW03845, and FW03846). Opening with the country’s premiere folk guitarist, Joseph Spence, whose distinctive playing style is only matched by his own half-singing/half-grunting through his pipe, this collection includes the music of John Roberts and Frederick McQueen who demonstrate the islands’ fading art of three-part anthem singing.