Track Listing

1. Battu (Benin) - Ang�lique Kidjo
2. Jambo Bwana (Kenya) - Them Mushrooms
3. Mbube (South Africa) - Mahotella Queens
4. Hello Hello [Congo] - Mose Fan Fan
5. Sing Lo-Lo (Senegal) - Vieux Diop
6. Kalimba (South Africa) - Dr. Victor
7. Hendry (Madagascar) - Tarika Sammy
8. Munomuno (Uganda) - Samite
9. Hoya Hoya (Ethiopia)
10. Sangoma (South Africa) - Bakithi Khumalo,
11. Laba Laba (Nigeria) - Ken Okulolo
12. Barco Di Papel (Cape Verde)
13. Lange Mo (South Africa) - Aura Msimang

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16979 in Music
• Released on: 2003-03-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

African Playground
My two children (3 and 5 years old)took an instant liking to the music on this compilation album. The upbeat rhythms and catchy tunes were instantly likeable and they were soon dancing around the room. An appealing aspect of the music is the simplicity of many of the lyrics. "Jambo Bwana" soon became my kids' favourite as it is easy to sing the simple lyrics, and with help from the CD booklet I was able to sing along and tell them the meaning of the words. "Mbube" is another favourite; the adults listening to it may recognise the tune as it became a popular song in English ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"). The booklet which goes with it has some pictures of African children and instruments and child friendly information on the music. A great introduction to the music of the continent, for any child.

Calm in the Car
I bought this CD when my daughter was only 3 months old - she loved it then and still loves it now at 8 months. When we travel in the car and she starts to get bored and fractious, this CD always calms her down - without fail. I like the fact that I can put on a CD that my husband will enjoy too - he tolerates nursery rhyme CDs but wouldn't choose to put them on - this is music he likes!! We listen to a lot of world music anyway but it's good to have this CD for our baby as we can singalong and the tunes are great.

Fantastic!
This is a real treat for children and adults alike. If you want to feel soaked in the African exuberant spirit then this is the CD for you. We play it a lot and often play it in our van on the way to gymnastics on a saturday morning to get the kids in the mood and to do some warm ups, shaking their hands, heads, wiggling their toes etc... It never fails to properly wake us all up and put us in a cheerful mood.

It is enlivening and beautiful music for children without being patronising or dumbed down like some awful children's albums. Sheer magic. If you go on the Putumayo website, there are free downloads associated with the album, and info on the awards it has won. The most exiting and easy way into understanding a culture is to feel it's rhythms - far more fun and important than learning facts and figures and geography as taught in textbooks - this will do much more to get your kids interested in Africa - it will get under their skin and breathe new life into them!