Gumbe


Gumbe, also goombay or gumbay, is a West African style of music found in countries such as Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. Sierra Leonean gumbe music is indigenous to the Sierra Leone Creole people and was derived from the Jamaican Maroon ancestors of the Creole people.

Etymology

It is likely that the etymology of African-American musical genres goombay of the Bahamas originates in Guinea-Bissau gumbe. Gombey music from Bermuda and the Jamaican square maroon drum called goombay could also be related.

Origins

Gumbe is a specific genre, mostly influenced by the fast tempo zouk style called "zouk béton" ; though the same term also refers to any music of the country. True gumbe is a fusion of several Bissau Guinean folk traditions. Gumbe is the genre most closely associated with Bissau Guinean music worldwide.
Gumbe is a primarily vocal and percussive music that has been associated with nationalist thought since colonial times.