**A superb collection of recordings from Somalia!**
The music on this album was all recorded in one town, Baraawe which is on the Somali coast about 120 miles south of the capital, Mogadishu. The musicians heard here play regularly together in various combinations. Like almost all African musicians, they are part-timers. Some are shoemakers. Two are soldiers (Africa has long had an amazing number of fine dance bands made up of police or army personnel). The main traditional instrument of Somalia is the 'ud', imported from Egypt or Lebanon and known locally as the 'kaban'. Another common instrument is the 'taruumbo', or flute. The one heard on several of these tracks was a homemade, end-blown version cut from a piece of plastic tubing. All the pieces they perform on this recording are love songs.