A type of small boat or goatskin drum used in Caribbean and West African music, particularly in calypso and folk traditions.
From West African Yoruba or Fon origins, related to drums in African diasporic communities; brought to the Caribbean through the African slave trade and cultural transmission during colonial periods.
Gombay drums are living history—the rhythms and instruments enslaved Africans brought across the ocean survived in Caribbean music and became the backbone of genres like calypso, keeping African cultures alive when everything else was taken.
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