Talk:Gumbe

Gumbe began in the West Indies. The Gombay - a kind of frame drum, spread from Bermuda and the Bahamas to Jamaica. The word "Gombay" also means "rhythm". In Jamaica the genre of percussive music using this family of drums was called "Gumbay". It was brought to Freetown, Sierra Leone, by freed Maroons at the turn of the 19th Century. The Krio people in Freetown immediately adopted this music. During the early 19th Century the British forced carpenters from Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast (Ghana) to go on construction and manufacturing expeditions. The meeting of these cultures began the spread of Gumbay throughout West Africa. The Fernando Po Islands were one such place. This enabled the spread of Gumbay to Guinea Bissau where it became popularised, with the addition of guitar, drumset and other instruments. This is a far cry from the original Gumbay music played on Gumbay drums, bass box and saw-and-knife (a kind of metal scraper). Gumbay also led to other forms of music, such as Milo Jazz and Jolay society music. The Gumbay dance is typical of youth of Sierra Leone. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.19.59 (talk) 02:42, 31 August 2007 (UTC)