The music of the Cameroon includes diverse traditional and modern musical genres. The best-known contemporary genre is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi.
Pygmy music refers to the sub-Saharan African music traditions of the Central African foragers, predominantly in the Congo, the Central African Republic and Cameroon.
Ottmar Liebert is a German guitarist, songwriter and producer best known for his Spanish-influenced music. A five-time Grammy Award nominee, Liebert has received 38 Gold and Platinum certifications in the United States, as well as certifications in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. His debut album Nouveau Flamenco (1990) was certified Platinum in the United States.
Deep Forest is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats. Their sound has been described as an "ethno-introspective ambient world music".
The Aka or Biaka are a nomadic Mbenga pygmy people. They live in south-western Central African Republic and in northern Republic of the Congo. They are related to the Baka people of Cameroon, Gabon, northern Congo, and southwestern Central African Republic.
Rick White is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter. Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, he was a member of indie bands Eric's Trip, Elevator, Perplexus, and The Unintended. White first played music, in a band called "Bloodstain", in 1984, before starting his own band "in 1986", called "T.C.I.B", which later transitioned into the band name, "The Underdogs", which lasted from the summer of 1987, until June 1988. By the summer of 1989, The Underdogs had broken up, and Rick had joined another band, "The Forest", which lasted from the 1989, until June 1990, with a one-off recording session happening in December, 1990. Prior to Eric's Trip, and while in Eric's Trip, White also recorded two solo-produced albums, one in March 1990, and another in August 1991, but both were not released until 2022. Known for lo-fi recording, he has also recorded and produced music for The Sadies, Orange Glass, Joel Plaskett, One Hundred Dollars, Dog Day, HotKid and his former Eric's Trip bandmate Julie Doiron.
The Baka people, known in the Congo as Bayaka, are an ethnic group inhabiting the southeastern rain forests of Cameroon, northern Republic of the Congo, northern Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. They are sometimes called a subgroup of the Twa, but the two peoples are not closely related. Likewise, the name "Baka" is sometimes mistakenly applied to other peoples of the area who, like the Baka and Twa, have been historically called pygmies, a term that is now considered derogatory.
The Paperboys are a Canadian folk music band from Vancouver that formed in 1991. The Paperboys blend Celtic folk with bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul and country influences. The band has had a variety of members and line-ups since its original formation, with Landa remaining as the sole founding member, although veteran banjoist/bassist Cam Salay often returns as a guest performer. Known for consistently creating pop songs with melodic hooks, their music has been called versatile, with a wide range of influences, melding diverse musical influences more successfully than some other Irish rock bands have previously.
Outback were a world music group founded in the late 1980s by multi-instrumentalists Graham Wiggins and Martin Cradick. The group fused traditional Australian tribal music, represented primarily through Wiggins's didgeridoo, with modern Western music, mostly Cradick's steel-string guitar. Before the band dissolved in 1992, it had been joined by Senegalese percussionist Sagar N'Gom, French violinist Paddy Le Mercier and drummer Ian Campbell.
Baka Beyond is a world music group formed in 1992 with members from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures, fusing Celtic and other western music styles with traditional Baka music from Cameroon.
Su Hart is a British musician, as of 2006 living in Bath, UK, and vocalist of the band Baka Beyond which was formed in 1992, when she and her partner, guitar, mandolin and bouzouki player Martin Cradick travelled to south-east Cameroon to live with the Baka tribe in the rainforest and record their music. The band was inspired by the Baka, "one of the oldest and most sensitive musical cultures on earth".
William Coulter is an American Celtic guitarist, performer, recording artist, and teacher. Since 1981 he has explored the world of traditional music as a soloist with ensembles including Isle of Skye, Orison, and the Coulter-Phillips Ensemble.
New Earth Records is an independent record label focusing primarily on new age and world music, with offices in Boulder, Colorado and Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1990 in Munich, Germany, by European entrepreneurs Bhikkhu Schober and Waduda Paradiso. Initially called Tao Music, Schober and Paradiso opted to change the name to New Earth Records. New Earth is one of the first labels to pioneer the introduction of meditation, yoga, and world music to a worldwide audience.
Green Suede Shoes is an album by the American band Black 47, released in 1996. It was a commercial disappointment.
Polkas for a Gloomy World is an album by the American band Brave Combo, released in 1995. The band intended for it to be a return to their traditional polka fusion roots.
Trance is an album by the Moroccan musician Hassan Hakmoun. It was released in 1993. He is credited with his band, Zahar. Hakmoun supported the album by playing "The Musical World of Islam" concert series, in 1993, as well as Woodstock '94.
No Sant is an album by the Senegalese musician Wasis Diop. It was released internationally in 1996.
Raven in the Snow is an album by the Native American musician Bill Miller, released in 1995. The first two singles were "River of Time" and the title track. Miller supported the album by opening shows for the BoDeans and then Tish Hinojosa.
Land is an album by the Native American musician Robert Mirabal, released in 1995. The album originated as a score for a dance piece by Eiko & Koma, which was first performed in 1991. It was nominated for a First Americans in the Arts award. Mirabal and Eiko & Koma adapted part of the score for later productions.
Romantic Depressive is an album by the American musician Don Dixon, released in 1995 via Sugar Hill Records. The album was part of an attempt by Sugar Hill to expand its roster beyond a traditional acoustic style. Dixon supported the album with a North American tour that included shows opening for Hootie & the Blowfish. Romantic Depressive was nominated for a NAIRD Indie Award.
