Ewe gospel song from Benin with David Sax and cool 24 beat bell pattern (see description).

Описание: I adore this song/video and I couldn't find it anywhere online, so I thought I should post it. I first heard it when Melbourne percussion legend, Ray Pereira https://www.raypereira.com shared it on Facebook, asking his friends what they thought the rhythm was doing. He'd been sent it by fabulous Ghanaian musician Nii Tettey Tetteh (whose guitarist had found it), seeking Ray's opinion. Ray initially thought it was a fast version of Fume Fume (a 12 beat pattern as 2-2-3-2-3).
I heard it as being like the traditional Ewe/Fon piece, Adohu Kadodo*, in which the 8 beat bell pattern (1-2-1-2-2), is played 3 times over a 24 beat cycle, with 8 pulses ("3 in the pulse" or triplet feel) across the cycle. But the bell in this song isn't a straight 8 beat (1-2-1-2-2) pattern, and yet isn't quite the fast Fume Fume either. And in this song, even though the phrasing often hints at an 8 (x3) pulse, they give no clear pulse until 2 minutes in!

I put the track into my recording software (Reaper) and found that it all locks to a 122bpm click (for the 8 pulse or 91.5bpm for the 6 pulse). I've made a version with the 8 pulse beatboxed throughout to help feel it, which is definitely worth a listen: http://malwebb.com/BeninPieceWith8Pul...
In my opinion, they recorded the piece to a 122bpm click (and maybe even with a fuller rhythm track that was later mixed out).

My Ewe drumming teacher from uni days, Chris Lesser, agreed that it's a 24 beat cycle and analysed the 8 beat bell pattern (on atoke bells muted on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th stroke) as being more like 1.5-1.5-1-2-2 (see notation: http://malwebb.com/EweGospelBell.jpg ). This would mean the first two strokes are duplets against the 8 pulse of the 24 cycle. In looking at the sound file of the bell (before the sax comes in), I noticed that the 4th stroke is also often quite late too, which makes it closer to the Fume Fume-ness that Ray heard.

And I think the musicians wanted to accentuate the feeling of a 6 pulse ("4 in the pulse"), so when the 8 pulse comes in at 1:59, it's more exciting. Then they go further, at 2:22, by putting duplets across the 8 pulse in the extra Axatse part (calabash/bead rattle), making it 16 against 24. And then at 5:38 the lead singer really accentuates the 6 pulse.

My Ewe friend Kofi Kunkpe confirmed that the song is indeed Ewe language (pronounced Evweh and often spelled Eʋe), from either Togo or Benin, with gospel lyrics. The sax player, "David Sax (Jesuhu)" seems to be from Benin: I've tried to contact him, via Facebook and his website, with no luck yet.

This all lead to me revisiting my (limited) studies of Ewe drumming, contacting my teacher, Chris Lesser, and his teacher, Kobla Ladzepko (which was a joy in itself). And videoing my live looping version of one of the songs of Adzohu Kadodo (    • Atsɔm do gbexo mi ya (Adzohu Kadodo), an A...   which was an adventure in itself!)

Interestingly, 24 beat patterns became a feature of 2020 Covid times for me: The Zoom ringtone is 24 beats and so I made a mashup:
http://malwebb.com/BeninPieceWithZoom...
And then Avishai Cohen made this track, also a 24,    • Avishai Cohen - A Moment In Time (Official...   , so I made a mashup of all 3, which is perhaps a little ugly... but fun!
http://malwebb.com/BeninPieceWithZoom...

 *Yeko Ladzekpo tells me that Kadodo is now also often performed with the standard 12 beat bell of West Africa ("tin - go - gogo - go - go - go" or 2-2-1-2-2-2-1) and that the 24 beat pattern (1-2-1-2-2 x3) is referred to, by Kobla, as the "true bell" of Kadodo. Another piece from the Adzohu suite, Ago is also a 24 beat bell cycle. Check out my string quartet version of it!    • Adzohu Ago for String Quartet, arr. Mal We...  

Note: This is the version of video Ray shared on Facebook. I haven't (yet) been able to find it anywhere else. A better quality version be nice!