Ian Fleming's West Africa trip

Ian Fleming is a long time friend of On the Wire. A little while ago Ian travelled to a few countries in West Africa and he happened to visit the village of Natitingou in Benin - home of the Star Feminine Band. Knowing that we had supported them recently playing tracks from their album Ian thought we may be interested in his trip:

“As a regular to On the Wire, I always listen to Fenny and Steve 'nattering over the garden wall', and they mentioned that they would like to visit Natitingou - home of the Star Feminine Band. As I have been fortunate enough to visit as part of a tour of West Africa I thought they might like some photos.
It is not much more than a small market town, not spreading much from the main road. No sign of the 'famous residents' and no record shop to browse in!.

We stayed in the best hotel in town. The main attraction of the area is a visit the traditional Tambermavillages. Their ancestors fled from religious persecution in Mali to practice their form of voodoo and build their fortified houses in their traditional 'Tata' style. They also practice intricate facial scarification rituals, and performed some ritual dancing to drum accompaniment I recorded a “bonus track” taking my finger off the shutter button long enough to record a snippet of the ritual dancing in the village near Natitingou.

This drumming recording was taken in the town of Sokode in Togo, the main centre of the Tem people (also known as Tembo or Kotokoliare). They are known for their traditional fire dances with rousing drums. In the town of Kumasi in Ghana we attended an Ashanti funeral. In this culture the funeral is a major event. All the family travel home to ensure that the deceased can join the ancestral spirits.

Ian