ABSTRACT
For those who thought the yodel was solely a European or cowboy thing, think again. Yodels are found pretty much everywhere but Antarctica—and maybe a hardy ethnologist will discover yodeling penguins there someday as well. In a strange instance of what-comes-around-goes-around, when Africans in Nairobi first heard Jimmie Rodgers they declared him a demigod for whom they wrote numerous “chimirocha” songs. But even before Africans ended up in the Americas, it seems African yodeling has had more resonance, presence, and enthusiasm than previously assumed. In this chapter, well examine some of these yodeling traditions, beginning with Africa's yodeling superstars, the Pygmies of Central Africa.
