ABSTRACT
Do twentieth century, East London, acid jazz music and the ancient Aka Pygmy music of Central Africa have anything noteworthy in common? Yes, they do. ere exist pieces of music in both domains that use rhythmic timelines that possess the rhythmic oddity property. But that is getting ahead of our story. First, we must backtrack half a century to 1963, when a 33-year-old horn player with the symphony orchestra of an Israeli radio station received an invitation to work on a project spearheaded by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Aairs: the setting up of a youth orchestra in the Central African Republic. e horn player’s name was Simha Arom, and although he was not overly enthusiastic about the project itself, he was excited by the possibility of discovering a world of music unknown to him. Besides, he was ready to break up the routine that had enveloped his life. When he rst heard the music of the Aka Pygmies, he was instantly overwhelmed. He felt that their music not only had ancient roots, but that it also touched roots deep inside him.* e rest is history. Arom went on to develop original methods of musicological research, and new tools with which to collect data. He made multiple recordings of African traditional music, and created a museum of the Arts and popular traditions. He studied the music of the Aka Pygmies for decades, becoming one of the foremost systematic ethnomusicologists in the world.
