BAKA BEYOND NEWS

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May 30th 2008

Sunrise Festival Cancelled
Unfortunately storms last night caused the Sunrise Festival site to be washed out so we won't be playing there. If you were hoping to see us there try to get to Bath on Friday 6th June to Burdall's Yard - Bath's newest venue. It'll be a great end of Bath Festival party so book your tickets now!!

Not a "world music" fan? Check out this review of the Bristol gig from Bristol Rocks

Apr 30th 2008

We're gigging again after a break



see our gig page here

Mar 19th 2008

Su Hart's single on iTunes

Su's single, "United States of Mind" is available on iTunes. It's off her album "Worth it After All" that will be in the shops from 7th April and is available now at our online shop


Feb 6th 2008

Kibisi's bass tutorial DVD

Kibisi Douglas, Baka Beyond bass player has finished his "African Bass Bible" - a detailed video tutorial on how to play Soukous style African bass guitar. It's available now at our online shop


Feb 1st 2008

Good News from Africa!

Dr Jerome Lewis has been doing some brilliant work with the Baka Pygmies in Cameroon helped by Forest People's Programme and the Cameroonian organisation, CED

Watch the news stories by Fergal Keane on BBC News

It's great to hear such a positive story on mainstream news from Africa but it's making me homesick for the forest. We'll be there at the end of the month so haven't long to wait.
We'll do our best to bring back some interesting sounds.


Dec 12th 2007

Su Hart's solo album, "Worth It After All" out now
Su Hart, singer from Baka Beyond, has finished her solo album and has made it available from this website before its official release in the spring.

Su describes it as "from songs of love and longing to quirky Calypso" and includes guests including Martin and Paddy from Baka Beyond, Ed Boyd and Brian Finnegan from Flook, legendary banjo star Leon Hunt, and the title track was recorded live in the Cameroon rainforest with Zow on guitar and Baka kids singing the choruses.

You can hear some tracks from "Worth It After All" on Su's Myspace site at www.myspace.com/singerpainter

Su's exhibition of paintings and drawings
As you might guess from her Myspace address, Su is also a painter. This weekend, Dec14, 15 and 16 she is having an exhibition in Walcot village Hall, Bath.

If you don't live near Bath don't worry. We have a selection of paintings and prints online at our website shop, but if you want them in time for Christmas presents you'd better hurry!

Album Downloads available from our site
We have started putting complete album downloads for sale at £4.99. For legal reasons we will only be putting the March hare Music albums on, but we will also be making a few live recordings available.

We are making them available as 160kbps mp3s, encoded at very high quality from the original masters, rather than quickly ripping the CDs as most mp3s are made, so you know that you will be getting the highest quality mp3s available from us, as well as knowing that the money goes directly to the musicians involved.

To encode at this quality takes time, so be patient with us! Keep checking the shop to see what we have ready.


Sep 11th 2007

We've been so busy touring since Martin returned that we haven't posted any news since. The tours all went well and the Baka musicians safely returned home after the concerts in Belgium.
Since then we have been to Canada and USA as well as the Isle of Man. We are off to USA again after the weekend.

The gig on the Isle of Man was recorded and you can listen to it HERE


Jun 5th 2007

Martin is off next week to Cameroon to meet the Baka musicians who are returning with him to England to tour with Baka Beyond.

See the tour dates HERE


Apr 16th 2007

The new album "Baka Live" has now been released. You can get it on iTunes, in our online shop or in good record stores.
You can listen to the single "Kobo" on our Flash mp3 player

Baka Beyond start gigging next week at Fiddlers in Bristol.


Mar 20th 2007

At last "Sogo" is released in USA, but only on iTunes and other download sites.
We don't know why Rykodisc never released this in America, but at least you can now hear it.
If you want a CD you can order one online


Mar 19th 2007

New single "Kobo" released today on iTunes
from the forthcoming album "Baka Live"

"Baka Live" was recorded during the tour with Baka Gbiné last May, so is a mixture of Baka Beyond and Baka Gbiné songs performed by all the musicians together.Click on album cover to hear songs

You can see a video of the track Hélène filmed at the Zodiac in Oxford here

Su Hart and Martin Cradick have returned from Cameroon where more building has been undertaken and links made with local NGOs to help the work move forward all year.


Jan 27th 2007

Baka Beyond are taking a break from touring until April 2007 so that they can concentrate on other projects.

Su Hart and Martin Cradick are returning to Cameroon at the beginning of February to again visit the Baka in their rainforest home, continuing their work with Global Music Exchange. They will be recording the womens' songs and hopefully putting on a concert of traditional Baka music at the Cameroonian Cultural Centre in Yaounde. They will also be preparing 4 musicians to return to UK at the end of June for some European festivals. They will be back in March in time to rehearse some new songs for the gigs in April and May.

Denise Rowe is currently in Senegal working on learning and teaching some new dance.


Dec 4th 2006

Su Hart is in Arba Minch, Ethiopia at the moment organising The Festival of a Thousand Stars, a festival of traditional music and dance from the diverse people of Southern Ethiopia. Its a free event once you get to Ethiopia, but travel is fairly easy there (tarmaced roads all the way - not like travelling in West Africa at all) and its cheap to live there. The people are friendly and hospitible and glad to dispel the foreign image of Ethiopia being full of starving people.

Martin Cradick has just finished mixing an album of tracks recorded during the Baka Beyond/ Baka Gbine tour in May last year. We will be releasing this in the spring and putting some of the tracks onto Myspace early in the new year. He will be travelling to Ethiopia to meet Su very soon.

A CD of last year's Festival of 1000 Stars is now available here
Watch a video here

Martin and Su will both be travelling to stay with the Baka in Cameroon in February 2007. They will continue their work with Global Music Exchange, helping continue the projects already started, and keeping the Baka up to date with what developments are happening. Mobile phones have now reached their village in Cameroon and Martin will be looking at ways of using mobile phone technology to get funds earned in Europe and USA by the Baka musicians directly back to them.

We are currently booking a summer festival tour with four members of Baka Gbine. There is a lot of interest and provisional dates, but no confirmed ones yet. When dates are confirmed we will post them on Myspace


May 1st 2006

BAKA GBINE Channel 4 News report available HERE


April 27th 2006

For those in the South West of England tune in tonight, 27th April, to Points West following the news to see a Baka Beyond broadcast featuring Baka forest people with Baka Beyond.


April 13 2006

GATI BONGO debut album scores with Songlines magazine!

Gati Bongo is awarded Top of the World status in the May/June issue. The band, Baka Gbine, are over the moon at the news.

Buy the GATI BONGO record HERE

Songlines Website


April 10 2006

BAKA BEYOND WEBSITE CONTEST

Answer the question below and win Two tickets to see Baka Beyond on the 'DONT MISS GROUND BREAKING TOUR MAY 06'

Question: What is the name of a Baka forest harp and what wood is it made of?

one entry per participant, mail your answer to su@baka.co.uk


March 22 2006

The Baka Gbine 'Gati Bongo' album will be released on April 24th. Click here to go to the shop page and pre-order the CD. Don't forget to check the tour section for new gigs scheduled in UK, Baka Gbine will tour with Baka Beyond !!!


March 06 2006

Baka Beyond & Baka Gbiné Embrace the spirit of the forest

Baka Pygmy musicians, the inspiration for the multi cultural Afro-Celt pioneers Baka Beyond, have formed their own band, Baka Gbiné. For the first time ever they will be travelling from their rainforest home to tour UK to promote their album Gati Bongo.

Music is an integral part of life for the members of Baka Gbiné and their community. Song and rhythm are essential to their lives for many reasons, including the sheer fun they bring.

Baka Gbiné will be performing with Baka Beyond, internationally acclaimed for its high-energy performances. This unique collaboration has been built up over 14 years of travel by members of Baka Beyond to the Baka’s Forest home.

Together Baka Beyond and Baka Gbiné will bring this joyous, spiritual, vibrant and fun music to you, transporting you to the Heart of the Forest where music and magic, song and dance, merge together.

Prepare to be amazed, Prepare to be moved, Prepare to dance!!!


Jan 12 2006

Exclusive single by "Orchestre Baka de Gbiné" to be released on iTunes. For more info about the BAKA click here.

Recorded on Apple Powerbook on location in rainforest


New album RHYTHM TREE available now online. click here to buy. The New BAKA FORUMS are opened. Join this new community and chat with band members there.


Martin has just returned from another trip to the music house with builder Andi Main. A small medical centre has now been built. Martin again was helping them record their music using a laptop and a makeshift solar-powered studio. We intend to produce a new record of the Baka's own music recorded on site as soon as possible (probably the end of the year, realisticly)
If you want to be informed as soon as it's available then join the mailing list by emailing mailing@baka.co.uk from the address you want on the list.


Baka Beyond have been busy touring throughout 2004, mainly in UK but also in USA. Their new album is now finished and is scheduled for release in UK on March 15th 2005.

While Martin, Su and Denise were in Cameroon helping the Baka build their music house last year, Eka Morgan, a radio journalist visited and her program has been on BBC Radio 3. You can still hear it on the BBC website at www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/