The Meeting Pool

The Meeting Pool is an album by Baka Beyond, released in 1995.[2][3] It was a collaboration between British musicians and the Cameroonian Baka.[4] Martin Cradick, the founder and guitar player for the group, decided to make a second album after the success of the first, Spirit of the Forest.[5]

The Meeting Pool
Studio album by
Baka Beyond
Released1995
LabelHannibal[1]
Baka Beyond chronology
Spirit of the Forest
(1993)		 The Meeting Pool
(1995)		 Outback
(1996)

The album sold more than 50,000 copies in its first year of release.[6] Cradick set up a foundation to distribute royalties to the Baka people, for the songs that were considered traditional.[7]

Production

The album is based on field recordings made in Cameroon in 1994, with Baka percussionists and vocalists; Cradick then took the recordings to the studio.[8][9] Cradick used more Celtic musical styles, compared to the first album.[10]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide[10]

The Toronto Star determined that the attempt "to merge gentle Celtic themes and original music of the Baka people of Cameroon's forests ... just doesn't work."[13] The Santa Fe New Mexican stated: "Occasional Irish overtones emerge from this strange brew; the overall feeling is one of a pulsing dreaminess, grounded by a happy percussive underbeat given heart by recurring female vocal tonings."[14] Music & Media called The Meeting Pool "a lush, complex and richly rewarding album," noting the "beautiful melodies and haunting rhythms."[15]

AllMusic wrote that "Meeting Pool has moments of real piquancy, as on 'Ohureo', a traditional from the Western Isles of Scotland ... This macabre lullaby, dressed up with African drums and [Paddy] LeMercier's fiddle commentary, is achingly entrancing."[11] World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East deemed the album "a truly inspired cultural mish mash that defies categorisation."[16]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Woosi" 
2."Ancestor's Voice" 
3."Lupé" 
4."Ohureo" 
5."Meeting of Tribes" 
6."Journey" 
7."Ndaweh's Dream" 
8."Booma Lena" 

References
  1. Hesmondhalgh, David (October 15, 2000). "Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music". University of California Press – via Google Books.
  2. Andrews, Jon (Dec 1995). "Worlds in collision — The Meeting Pool by Baka Beyond". DownBeat. 62 (12): 75.
  3. Tearson, Michael (Dec 1995). "The Meeting Pool by Baka Beyond". Audio. 79 (12): 99.
  4. "Baka Beyond Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  5. Langley, Martin (6 May 1999). "Stretching the boundaries of fusion music far out of Africa". Birmingham Post. p. 15.
  6. "When worlds collide". Billboard. 108 (21): 35. May 25, 1996.
  7. Melville, Caspar (2017). "Valuing Tradition: Mali's jeliw, European publishers and Copyright". Journal of World Popular Music. 4 (1): 35.
  8. Allen, Patrick (1999). Developing Singing Matters. Heinemann. p. 19.
  9. Feld, Steven (1996). "Pygmy POP: A Genealogy of Schizophonic Mimesis". Yearbook for Traditional Music. 28: 23.
  10. MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. pp. 52–53.
  11. "The Meeting Pool - Baka Beyond | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  12. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 372.
  13. Chapman, Geoff (14 Jan 1996). "World Music". Toronto Star. p. K13.
  14. Cummings, Jim (22 Dec 1995). "ECLECTIC MIX OF ROLLICKING NEW ACOUSTIC, JAZZ". The Santa Fe New Mexican. PASATIEMPO. p. 61.
  15. "Ethnic Music Hip 'N' Hot". Music & Media. 13 (21): 13. May 25, 1996.
  16. World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, Volume 1. Rough Guides. 1999. p. 607.
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