the beat of the Gamba

• slaves
• African music
• hymns
• Gamba
• Music
• songs
• Afro-Indigenous
• Amazonia
• Indian
• missionary
• 19th century

Gamba is a fusion of African music brought to Amazonia by the slaves with Indian songs and missionary hymns. In the 19th century, slaves fleeing the plantations and the hardships of captivity took refuge in the forest. They lived there with the Indians, who taught them to survive in the hostile environment of the big forest. From their meeting sprang this astonishing Afro-Indigenous music, based on drums, song and dances.