The World Music CD Listener’s Guide: Baka Beyond and Celtic African Fusion
by Daniel Finn
I started a vinyl marketplace to discover and share music with others. I found a world music guide at a thrift store, so now we use it to discover music one artist at a time.
Follow along as I work through it. I’ve also built a playlist for anyone who wants to listen to these artists. Obviously only good music makes the cut.
We’re moving into Baka Beyond.
Baka Beyond started as a project between British musicians Martin Cradick and Su Hart after they travelled to Cameroon and spent time with the Baka people of the Central African rainforest. Inspired by the Baka’s vocal traditions and the wider sounds of West Africa, they began exploring how these sounds could connect with European folk music.
The project brings together Celtic folk melodies, West African rhythms, and acoustic instrumentation from different musical traditions. You hear instruments like guitar, violin, whistles, kora, balafon, and percussion working together, creating music with a strong Celtic character alongside West African rhythms from regions including Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Listening through the music, I started noticing how much the Celtic and African elements rely on each other. The flowing guitar lines and violin melodies create an almost dreamlike atmosphere, while the percussion gives the music movement and energy. It’s not a traditional Baka recording, but a Western-led world fusion project inspired by the music they encountered and the relationships they built.
Beyond the music, the project also became connected with supporting the Baka community in Cameroon. Royalties from the project have contributed to community initiatives, including the creation of a music house and other projects.
I think Baka Beyond is difficult to put into one category. There’s a clear Celtic folk influence, but the African rhythms, kora, percussion and Baka vocal traditions give the music a completely different character. It’s also important to recognise that this isn’t traditional Baka music. It’s a Western-led fusion project inspired by Baka music and culture. But listening to it on its own terms, I found the light, acoustic sound and bouncing rhythms incredibly easy to get lost in. The more I listened, the more I understood why people describe this as world fusion. It feels like a project built around curiosity, collaboration and the idea that different musical traditions don’t have to stay in separate boxes.