Here is an extract from another ultra-rare record, entitled African lament by the great singer Miriam Burton.
This is a big-time exotica heavyweight. An album of deeply felt musical impressions of a continent making the tense transition from old to new. No attempt at ethnic authenticity has been made, this is simply a presentation of musical pictures which relate to certain African facts and folklore. The orchestra is filled with African percussive instruments and, to capture the spirit and pain of the African caught in turmoil, Miriam Burton's soaring wordless vocals (recalling Leda Annest) serve as a dramatic introduction to a truly great talent.
A friend of Harry Belafonte, Miriam Burton was at first (in the fifties) a jazz and Broadway singer and appeared in several musicals such as Porgy and Bess and House of flowers. Because of her big soprano voice, she was compared to Yma Sumac and this record was indeed conceived as an African counterpart of Yma's Andean lyrics.
Enjoy this song, which describes, in the style of Bas Sheva's Passions, the effects of palm wine!
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