The Aka are a wandering Africanpygmy people, with large heads and slender necks, who live by hunting. Aka musicians appear on: Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and second most populous after Asia. ... Generally speaking, pygmy (from Greek pygmaios, fist sized, a kind of dwarf in Greek mythology) can refer to any human or animal of unusually small size, for example, the pygmy hippopotamus. ...
African Rhythms (2003). Music by Aka Pygmies, performed by Aka Pygmies, György Ligeti and Steve Reich, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Teldec Classics: 8573 86584-2. Liner notes by Aimard, Ligeti, Reich, and Simha Arom and Stefan Schomann.
These hunter-gatherers have a symbiotic market relationship with Ngandu farmers. Aka can refer to the following meanings: Aka is an initialism for Also Known As. ... György Sándor Ligeti (born May 28, 1923) is a Hungarian composer (now living in, and a citizen of, Austria), widely seen as one of the great composers of instrumental music of the 20th century. ... Steve Reich (born October 3, 1936; last name pronounced []) is an American composer. ... Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ...
In 2003, the oral traditions of the Aka were proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity is a list maintained by UNESCO with pieces of intangible culture considered relevant by that organization. ... UNESCO logo The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, commonly known as UNESCO, is a specialized agency of the United Nations system established in 1946. ...
Pygmies are smaller because in their early teens they do not experience the growth spurt normal in most other humans.
Simha Arom says that the level of polyphonic complexity of Pygmy music was reached in Europe in the 14th century, yet Pygmy culture is unwritten and ancient, some Pygmy groups being among the oldest known cultures in some areas of Africa.
In Greek myth, pygmies were a tribe of twenty-seven inch (2 feet, 3 inch) tall men in India who warred with cranes.