This 1957 compilation attempts to provide a musical overview of the entire Sub-Saharan region, and also represents the scholarly contribution of American ethnomusicologist Alan P. Merriam (1923 —1980) to the Folkways catalog. Merriam, who is best remembered for the book The Anthropology of Music, produced the album and provided an essay and track notes. This title went a long way towards dispelling prejudices and misconceptions listeners of the time may have had about African music. Merriam wrote, “The African music system works by its own rules and satisfies those who play it and sing it; it is neither necessarily older nor younger nor better nor worse.”