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This article explores the historical changes in Trinidadian Shango drumming between 1939 and 1960. Building on dissertation field research conducted from 2008 to 2013, the study is focused on archived field recordings from Trinidad. The recordings reveal two styles of Shango drumming: one that by 1960 had coalesced into the modern style still performed today, and another that in 1939 revealed an older, more polyrhythmic style perhaps representative of nineteenth-century Yoruba drumming in Trinidad. The findings show that the study of field recordings can lead to a reconsideration of academic and popular discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a tribute to Professor Willie Anku, a Ghanaian scholar on African rhythm. It has two parts, the first being a eulogy in the traditional Ghanaian tradition and the second presenting insights from his study of African rhythm. Three articles written by Anku are discussed, two of which focus on African drumming. The author relays Anku's wish for a fair representation of indigenous African musicians' perspectives in musical research.