1889 Jrnl. Manch. Geogr. Soc. 5 285 The beating of time on some stick or on their [sc. Yorubas] tongueless native bell called agogo.

1892 C. R. Day in A. F. Mockler-Ferryman Up Niger xiii. 271 An instrument of iron, shaped somewhat like a bell, and called agogo, is also to be found. It is sounded by being struck with a metal bar, and is held suspended from the hand.

1942 Musical Q. 28 231 A glass bottle, struck with a nail, was employed as a makeshift agogó.

1975 S. Marcuse Musical Instruments (rev. ed.) 7/1 Agogó, Afro-Brazilian hand bell, tulip-shaped, of iron or tin, riveted, used in voodoo rites in Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco.

1992 Down Beat Feb. 38/3 The ensemble..expertly layer traps, congas, Brazilian agogo bells, and talking drums over a clave beat that Afro-Cuban devotees will find familiar.

2007 I. McDonald Brasyl 13 The twang of berimbaus, the cheerful clatter of the agogô.