The Meeting Pool
Studio album by
Baka Beyond
Released1995
LabelHannibal[1]
Baka Beyond chronology
Spirit of the Forest
(1993)		 The Meeting Pool
(1995)		 Outback
(1996)

The Meeting Pool is an album by Baka Beyond, released in 1995.[2][3] It was a collaboration between British musicians and the Cameroonian Baka.[4] Martin Cradick, the founder and guitar player for the group, decided to make a second album after the success of the first, Spirit of the Forest.[5]

The album sold more than 50,000 copies in its first year of release.[6] Cradick set up a foundation to distribute royalties to the Baka people, for the songs that were considered traditional.[7]

Production

The album is based on field recordings made in Cameroon in 1994, with Baka percussionists and vocalists; Cradick then took the recordings to the studio.[8][9] Cradick used more Celtic musical styles, compared to the first album.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide[10]

The Toronto Star determined that the attempt "to merge gentle Celtic themes and original music of the Baka people of Cameroon's forests ... just doesn't work."[13] The Santa Fe New Mexican stated: "Occasional Irish overtones emerge from this strange brew; the overall feeling is one of a pulsing dreaminess, grounded by a happy percussive underbeat given heart by recurring female vocal tonings."[14] Music & Media called The Meeting Pool "a lush, complex and richly rewarding album," noting the "beautiful melodies and haunting rhythms."[15]

AllMusic wrote that "Meeting Pool has moments of real piquancy, as on 'Ohureo', a traditional from the Western Isles of Scotland ... This macabre lullaby, dressed up with African drums and [Paddy] LeMercier's fiddle commentary, is achingly entrancing."[11] World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East deemed the album "a truly inspired cultural mish mash that defies categorisation."[16]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Woosi" 
2."Ancestor's Voice" 
3."Lupé" 
4."Ohureo" 
5."Meeting of Tribes" 
6."Journey" 
7."Ndaweh's Dream" 
8."Booma Lena" 

References

  1. ↑ Hesmondhalgh, David (October 15, 2000). "Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music". University of California Press – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Andrews, Jon (Dec 1995). "Worlds in collision — The Meeting Pool by Baka Beyond". DownBeat. 62 (12): 75.
  3. ↑ Tearson, Michael (Dec 1995). "The Meeting Pool by Baka Beyond". Audio. 79 (12): 99.
  4. ↑ "Baka Beyond Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  5. ↑ Langley, Martin (6 May 1999). "Stretching the boundaries of fusion music far out of Africa". Birmingham Post. p. 15.
  6. ↑ "When worlds collide". Billboard. 108 (21): 35. May 25, 1996.
  7. ↑ Melville, Caspar (2017). "Valuing Tradition: Mali's jeliw, European publishers and Copyright". Journal of World Popular Music. 4 (1): 35.
  8. ↑ Allen, Patrick (1999). Developing Singing Matters. Heinemann. p. 19.
  9. ↑ Feld, Steven (1996). "Pygmy POP: A Genealogy of Schizophonic Mimesis". Yearbook for Traditional Music. 28: 23.
  10. 1 2 MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. pp. 52–53.
  11. 1 2 "The Meeting Pool - Baka Beyond | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  12. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 372.
  13. ↑ Chapman, Geoff (14 Jan 1996). "World Music". Toronto Star. p. K13.
  14. ↑ Cummings, Jim (22 Dec 1995). "ECLECTIC MIX OF ROLLICKING NEW ACOUSTIC, JAZZ". The Santa Fe New Mexican. PASATIEMPO. p. 61.
  15. ↑ "Ethnic Music Hip 'N' Hot". Music & Media. 13 (21): 13. May 25, 1996.
  16. ↑ World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, Volume 1. Rough Guides. 1999. p. 607.
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