Published by admin on 26 Oct 2009
Sunshine in Africa
On Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m., UNM Professor of Anthropology and Music Steven Feld will present his new documentary on African Por Por (pronounced Paw Paw) music. The documentary introduces the audience to the funerary music of bus and taxi drivers in the Accra township of La in Ghana. Feld explores the way Por Por music changed and grew into something resembling jazz. The music was first made by squeezing old fashioned automobile horns and by beating wrenches on tire rims. It grew and changed as drivers experimented with enema bulbs and modified the sound by shaving reeds to fit the bulbs. Listen to a sample of Por Por music in this tune titled “Sunshine in Africa.”
