"I glanced at Kai. He was intent on the drums’ conversation. I tried to follow. Just as I thought I found the pattern with my primitive Western sense of rhythm, it flowed into something other, and more hypnotic. A phrase from the high singing drums rang out. A chorus of throaty midrange drums answered. Below these droned a deep heartbeat drum. It was not content to keep time, but happily jumped in with unexpected thunder. The yala, its voice unearthly and soulful, kept its poignant commentary, exuberant for a turn, then mournful, then lyrical again. The flutes rose and fell, vanished and re-entered in tight harmony as if their voices were chained together. All these rose above the chattering of the bead rattles gamely carried by the young children who mimicked the grown-ups in a tight orbit around the musicians.
I let go. I leapt in with the dark women as they swept near. Read more...