LISTEN

Below you’ll find both field and studio recordings of kumina songs.  The field recordings were made during Tambufest in 2018 and 2019 in St. Thomas.  The studio recordings were done in 2020 in Norwich, Portland.  Practitioners were gathered in the studio together at one time in order to record a live performance.  Before going into the studio with the musicians, Junior had visited the African-Caribbean Institute of Jamaica to listen to recordings that had been made by Cheryl Ryman, Marjorie Whylie, and other researchers who had collected materials in the 1970s.  He wanted to compare those recordings with how the songs are sung today, and to re-introduce some of the songs he remembered from his youth back into contemporary kumina repertoires.  We hope you enjoy them!