Again going back to that thing of African's being the masters of Rhythm - In Ghana they have hundreds of their own different percussive instruments - one of my favorites is the Koshka or Pendulum Shaker which was always to be found in the hands of an artist called Wanlov Kubulor who performed a cover version of Hollie Smith's 'Bathe In The River' in The Making Tracks show which you can watch here -Anyways, Yaw had a pair which he's not bad on - and sung a little ditty as well. I tried to steal them off him, but he wouldn't let me.
About Beats In Our Backyard with Nick Dwyer
Beats In Our Backyard is an exploration of New Zealand's multi-culture through music. All my life I've been all consumed with the discovery of new music and over the last ten years I've been traveling the world in search of new and exotic sounds from all around the globe - especially in the last 4 years with a TV series I present and direct called 'Making Tracks'. Last year I was given the opportunity to host at the Auckland Cultural Festival and it was really then that I realized the extent of our ethnic diversity. From Burundi and Somalia in Africa to Mongolia and Nepal in Asia to nearly every Caribbean Island nation - New Zealand is home to over 150 different nations - each of these people has an extraordinary story to tell, and for alot of them the best way to do that is through their music, which they are all incredibly proud of. The idea behind Beats In Our Backyard is to shine the spotlight on these communities and their music, and hopefully as a by-product you'll learn a little bit more about your relatively new neighbors along the way.