Songs on the vanilla trail: lullabies and nursery rhymes from East and Southern Africa

An enchanting collection of 25 traditional songs that pay homage to the rich cultural heritage and multilingual communities of East and Southern Africa. The highly mixed musical styles that are unique to each region demonstrate how these communities welcomed new horizons through contact with others.

A wide array of styles—skipping rope songs from Mozambique, lullabies from South Africa, counting songs from Réunion, traditional dance tunes from Madagascar—are all performed exquisitely by men, women, and children in more than a dozen languages and dialects. Vibrant compelling artwork and homegrown instruments, such as the tube zither, kayamb, bobre, segakordeon, and ravanne drums round off this wonderful celebration of history, language, and culture.