Recently Baka Beyond have had something of a renaissance. The injection of some young blood in the form of Clyde Kramer on drums (who has spent several months himself playing music with the Baka in the forests of Cameroon) and Ellie Jamison on vocals (who 10 years ago at the age of 18 toured with Baka Beyond and is on their album “East to West”) has invigorated their sound.
The new album is more of a “band album” than their last release “Beyond the Forest”. The interplay between Clyde’s drumming and Ayo’s percussion particularly give the album a vibrant “live” feel.
“The original Afro-Celtic band is back after 5 years away from the studio with a mystical, enchanting release that takes you to places you’ve only heard in dreams–and you don’t have to get your neck bitten. An utterly mind blowing world music release, this overwhelms by under playing and just letting you fall into it as it wraps itself around you. Weaving sounds and voices into a seamless whole that would make a spider web jealous, this is the kind of thing those cheesy nature records can only aspire to. Hot stuff that’ll shoot to the top of the armchair travelers play list in no time flat”.
Midwest Record 3rd May 2014