LIFE ON THE FEN EDGE – WITH SIR DAVID ATTENBRADLEY
EPISODE 3 – THE YOUNG PEOPLE’S BEAT COMBO
from the BBC, the British Bradcasting Corporation
It is midsummer. The temperature is a balmy 24 degrees Celsius in this Fen Edge village. It is the height of the festival season. As the solstice approaches, so groups of musicians band together to strut their stuff with their unique instruments and vocal acrobatics. Here we see one such group, a young people’s popular beat combo at a “charity” event, helping to raise money for the education of female members of the wider pride in Africa.
This particular group goes by the tribal name of the Cottenham Community Centre Coffeeshop Collective, or C5 for short. Its origins lying in a randomly ritualistic Sunday evening Arts Night at the Centre that has been running for many years now. At the back, we see the “skins man”, hammering carved, hollow *drums* with sticks hewn from wood. You might also discern the occasional clanging of brass bells as the ritual unfolds. Standing we see several males plucking and strumming the strings of other instruments. With these, they create a multifarious sound upon which the alpha female will then apply her calls. Interrupted occasionally by some of the males who offer the occasional harmonic riposte.
When offspring of some of the “group” join in with the festivities in front of the staging area, we notice increased jollity among the members, especially in the expressions of the parents, the alpha female and the instrumentalist with the longer, deeper stringed instrument. They are secure in the knowledge that predators are kept at bay by other adults of the species.
Occasionally, we might hear other members of the community attempting to join in with the vocalisations of the alpha female or the male singers. But, as each section of the ritual concludes we might hear the appreciative whoops and hollers and the slapping together of hands of those in attendance. Of course, there is often a drinking vessel in hand so, at these punctuation points, some members of the “audience” might clap their free hand against a bare thigh or tap fingers gently on the drinking vessel so as not to spill its contents, all the while calling out their appreciation vocally.
It is worth noting that such rituals are carried out year round and that as we fast approach the winter solstice you might catch sight of C5 and its various members performing in the Coffeeshop or the White Horse public house in Waterbeach on Friday, the 14th of December from about 9pm-ish depending on how quickly they get set up and their soundcheck sorted.
LIFE ON THE FEN EDGE – WITH SIR DAVID ATTENBRADLEY
EPISODE 1: I Heard a Murmur
EPISODE 2: Goldfinch Dynasty
EPISODE 3: The Young People’s Beat Combo
EPISODE 4: The Cumulus Dynasty