Palm-wine music
:
Maringa redirects here. For the Brazilian city, see
Maringá.
Palm-wine music (known as
maringa in
Sierra Leone) is a
West African
musical genre. It evolved among the
Kru people of Sierra Leone and
Liberia, who used
Portuguese guitars brought by sailors, combining local melodies and rhythms with
Trinidadian calypso. Palm-wine music was named after a drink,
palm wine, made from the naturally fermented sap of the oil palm, which was drunk at gatherings where early African guitarists played.
Palm-wine music was first popularized by
Ebenezer Calendar & His Maringar Band, who recorded many popular songs in the
1950s and early
1960s. Palm-wine music left an influence on many styles, especially
soukous and
highlife. Though still somewhat popular, the genre is no longer as renowned as it once was. Other renowned Palm-wine musicians include
S. E. Rogie,
Daniel Amponsah,
Abdul Tee-Jay and
Super Combo.
*
A brief introduction to Palm Wine Music*
Music of Sierra Leone*
Music of Liberia
