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Music of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone's music is a mixture of native and French influences. Palm wine is representative, and is played by an acoustic guitar with percussion in countries throughout coastal West Africa. Palm wine, the drink, is the source of the name of the music and the clubs where it was both drunk and played.

Sierra Leonean palm wine music is known as maringa, and it was first popularized by Ebenezer Calender & His Maringar Band, who used styles that came from freed slaves from the Caribbean, especially Trinidadian calypso. Calendar's most popular song was "Double-Decker Bus".

Bissaun gumbe music was popular in Sierra Leone, and has led to a unique offshoot called milo-jazz.

In the 1980s, SE Rogie became the most prominent Sierra Leonean musician, playing to large audiences across Europe and North America.

References

• Ashcroft, Ed and Richard Trillo. "Palm-Wine Sounds". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 634-637. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

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