Hear Gourd Musical Instruments at Their Best

Review of Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra’s First and Latest CD

Mar 5, 2009

Musicians contemplating making musical instruments from home-grown gourds will want to check out the amazing sound these instruments are capable of producing.

Anyone who doubts homegrown gourd instruments can pack professional sound, need only to peruse a CD or two from the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra. They’ll enjoy the expected percussive drive of drums and rattles, but are likely to be surprised by complex melodies and harmonies from the gourd flutes, trumpets, guitars, lutes, harps, and balafons. Every instrument featured on the CD is handcrafted by members of the band and incorporates some variety of gourd.

Refuge in a Gourd, RIGO’s first CD, was recorded in the spring of 1997. Their latest CD, Gourd Shack, came out in 2003. After hearing the quality of these handcrafted instruments, the overwhelming variety of sounds possible with gourds, and the skill of the musicians, one thing’s for certain. Musicians who’ve ever contemplated branching out and creating their own instrument are bound to find themselves flipping through seed catalogues this spring.

Musical Bow is the first track on Refuge in a Gourd. The instrument from which the song derives its name is supposedly the very first instrument created by humans and consists of a string attached to a flexible frame just like a hunting bow with a gourd resonator. The track’s driving beat from this ancient instrument and bass kalimba is backed with the rhythm of water drums and rattles.

Refuge in a Gourd, the CD’s title track consists of brief quotes set like poetry against the laid-back music of gourd flute, bass kalimba, balafon, guiro, rattles, and drums. Listeners are treated to twenty second monologues painting a picture of gourds across the ages. They learn how gourds factored into Native American life, led slaves on their path to freedom, and played a role in some of the world’s oldest legends.

The CD’s third track entitled Kundalini Calabash gives the thumb piano, or mbira, a workout. The whimsical tune is backed by a rhythmic balafon, rattles, and drums.

The lyrics of Lopsided Gourd Dance invite listeners to move their bodies with the ethnic beat of a balafon, bass kalimba, mbira, drums, water drums, and rattles.

The heavy rhythm of Dance of the Pollinators evokes images of evening shadows and the creatures which make an appearance as blossoms open on the gourd vine for one night only. A delicate flute melody flits throughout the piece like a ghostly sphinx moth.

A haunting rainstick and gourd lute plucked in a minor key lend an edgy, surreal feel to the track entitled Lament. Nocturnal Blooms is a rhythmic piece difficult to listen to without moving. It features the balafon backed by the drive of rattles and drums. And The Vine Divine is a haunting melody plucked out on a harp with a hint of the oriental.

In Wild Pigs, The balafon, water drum, and rainstick play a rhythmic melody over the bass grunts and groans of a friction drum.

For the track entitled Shaky Hips Jam, the thumb piano plucks out one of the more laid back tunes on the album. Drums, balafon, rattles, and the bassline of the kalimba back the melody with a relaxed, jazzy sound.

Swamp Jam closes out the CD by combining the lead shaker, drum, bass kalimba, balafon, rattles, water drums, and mbira in a tune as slow and bright as the sultry sun over a Bayou bog.

The first track, Land of Gourds and Honey, gets everyone moving. A frenzied balafon drives the melody in turns with a funky bass line. In contrast, Getting to the Seeds has a laid back groove that showcases the wild possibilities of the bass kalimba.

A strong oriental flavor is conjured by the gourd harp in Gourd Bazaar. And in Moon Over Pangaea, tribal rhythms prevail with fun solos from the gourd flute, bass kalimba, and talking drum. It’s a fabulous piece to play full blast and experience the effects of stereo recording.

That Ain’t Your Gourd, Neighbor is a comical song whose lyrics highlight the difficulties of growing a plant that leaps chain link fences and creeps fifty feet across the lawn. Jez Grew (Like the Kudzu Do) has whimsical lyrics also based on the fast-growing gourd vine. Drums and what sounds like a gourd steal guitar are the backbone for this bluesy piece.

The track entitled Tendrils has a rhythmic climbing feel borrowed from the balafon and bass drum. This tune is reminiscent of the relentless march of the fast-growing gourd vines.

Gourdcentricity is a fun piece showcasing the unique vocalizations possible with a gourd horn. The instrument seems at times to be on the verge of speaking. The track entitled A Gaggle of Gourds takes experimentation with the gourd trumpet one step farther as a cacophony of gourd horns come together in what sounds exactly like a musical flock of geese.

A mystical Asian-Indian motif prevails in Climb the Vine. The song’s lyrics explore a reverence for the ancient plant which furnishes the instruments heard throughout the CD. And in the last song, Wings of Delight, mellow lyrics float just above the surreal and blend seamlessly with experimental background rhythms.

The copyright of the article Hear Gourd Musical Instruments at Their Best in Musical Instruments is owned by Marcy Paulson. Permission to republish Hear Gourd Musical Instruments at Their Best in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.