I’m really excited to announce the launch of a really exciting project that has been in the pipeline for years (literally):
Tasumakan – The sound of Fire, is the latest way to learn djembe drumming online.
As a way of saying thank you we are giving away a free “review copy” away to one lucky person (drawn at random) every day on the forum from Friday the 8th until Tuesday the 12th of July.
All you have to do is come and say hi in this thread on Friday and make sure you have Introduced yourself.
The idea of a review copy is that you tell us what you think. There’s of course no way to enforce that, but …. meh…. we’ll see what happens
We are also giving away a copy to 5 lucky people who come like my “Tasumakan” post on the djembefola.com facebook by Friday
If you want to support djembefola.com, this your opportunity – we’d love any help you can give us to spread the work!
Liking on Facebook is the easiest or why not forward this to a friend.
I genuinely think these are top quality training videos and they would help most beginner to high advanced intermediate players become better drummers.
In case anyone missed it have launched our African Music Calendar for 2011. It’s a mostly oriented towards African drumming and dancing, but the shots are beautiful to appreciate in and of themselves, plus there was shots of Ngoni, Balafon and other things.
In fact I would say the general focus of the calendar is on people rather than instruments.
If you like what we do at djemebfola.com and you want to support us, this is your opportunity. In addition 30% of any profit will go to ‘Les Voies du Monde‘ who are based in Nice, France and are looking to build an art centre in Burkina Faso.
For anyone that missed it Mamady Keita and Sewa Kan has released a new album and DVD on the 21st of October. The album was released to mark 50 years of music. Mamady and Sewa Kan have been touring in Belgium for most of the last month (November). The final date on this tour is on the 5th of December in Tournai, Belgium.
I’m really surrised and disappointed that they haven’t come to France yet, but hopefully they will soon.
It is not yet available on Spotify, but since the rest of his catalogue is, I guess it’s just a matter of time. For those of you who are continualy upset at not being able to access content because you are in the wrong country you might want to check out proxy services like those provided by Ace VPN.
Overall the album is a bit more melodic than Mamady’s previous albums.
The opening track Hakili, starts with a nice break and then all guns blazing, with plenty of balafon and Kora backing it up.
Then the second track, Saran Kenyi, surprises us with some saxophone action. Some traditionalists aren’t too happy about this, and there have been people complaining. I’m not too surprised, sinced it’s not the first time we’ve seen a saxophone on stage with Mamady. Who could forgot the “Lai lai ko” riff for djole on Mamady’s Mogabalu DVD. It doesn’t need to be said that Mamady can do what he wants anyway, and I’m glad that he’s happy to push a few boundaries.
I usually prefer live recordings of djembe music to studio albums, and I like that this album was recorded live. You really get a bit of a loose, live party feeling with this CD, compared to his previous studio albums.
There’s some spine chilling fluting on Sundjata Fasa, then it goes into some farely normal kora and then into a really familiar melody, though I don’t know the exact song. Then the song develops into some pretty Jeli type praise singing with a little call and response with the crowd. All this is backed up by some really nice balafon, flute and Kora.
Over all a really nice break from those noisy djembes that are always banging on until the last minute that is, when we are reminded that this is after a celebration of a djembefola.
The last track Matoto starts with a nice long break, and loads of great solos with really cool dunduns too. This may not be enough to appease some who wish the whole album was like this.
All in all, I like this CD, it’s very different to other Mamady cds, and I think I’ll be enjoying for a while to come. It nearly doesn’t seem fair to compare it to classics like Wassolon, but it’s certainly not likely to go down as a classic.
The DVD can only be bought as a part of a DVD cd box set at Cristal Records.
The album is available on iTunes and Amazon:
Promoting events is hard work. Letting people who may intetested know is time consuming and exhausting.
We believe that posting your event on djembefola.com is a very good use of your time and heres why:
Over 5000 djembe lovers visit the site every month. The event will appear on the page for your repective country and for each logged in member your event will also appear on their home page.
In addition all details of your event will automatically submitted to Google and we are usually the first result on Google (or close to it) for ‘djembe classes countryname’.
The event system will also automatically make a post to our forum where it can be discussed.
If you look at existing events you will that we automatically generate an “add to google calendar” button which allows visitors to add the details of your event straight into their calendar with one click.
So what do you need to do if you want to add your event? If you haven’t already created a free account, you can do so in 60 seconds.
Then go to the add event page and enter the details of you event.
This process is quick and easy.
We will do the rest.
If you have any questions or feedback please contact me.
While at the Won Na Won Malan conference in Chicago, Illinois, Paddy caught up with M’bemba Bangoura. Won Na Won Malan was hosted by Moustapha Bangoura, and there were many great drummers and dancers around.
M’Bembe gives us a better idea of who he is, his drumming background, experience and his drumming influences.
There are many options available to you if you want to study drumming in Africa. It would be a tall order to list all of the available options, but we’ve put together a nice cross section of available options.
Whether you haven’t yet taken the trip to West Africa, or you have been dozens of times, we think you’ll find this selection interesting.
All of the tours listed here are offering a discount to anybody that mentions djembefola.com when they register.
Simon in Melbourne has been running this great tour to Ghana for a few years now. Teachers will be master drumming Tuza and Adamane and Madou Keita from Burkina Faso.
Simon is offering a US$200 discount for people who mention djembefola.com when they book.
This is probably one of the best known and most popular tours to Guinea every year. Monette and Mamady are offering a US$100 discount to people who mention Djembefola.com, when they register. This means that the course will cost $1850 instead of $1950.
Bolokada is offering housing, food, class and transport to the villages from Dec. 10 and ends Jan. 14. He is offering a discount of up to US$20 per week (so up to US$120) to people who mention djembefola.com when they register.
Seckou has been bringing students to Abene in Senegal for quite some time now. He puts enphasis on his workshop being for intermediate to advanced players. Chelima and Sekou are offering a £25 discount to people who mention djembefola.com.
This trip normally costs $500 per week. Joti and Bongo are offering a reduction $50 per week ($450 per Week). This means that 5 weeks will cost $2000 (not $2250).
This year Paddy and Otehlia Cassidy are organising a tour to Mali with Abdul Doumbia. If the amazing music of Mali is your thing, then be sure to have a closer look at this tour. Paddy and Abdoul are offering a $50 discount on to people who mention djembefola.com when they register.
This tour to Guinea with M’bemba Bangoura is organised by Michael Markus. Michael and M’bemba are offering a US$25 discount to anyone who mentions djembefola.com when they register.
This tour is open to all people who are passionate about African music and culture. King is offering a US$20 discount to anyone who mentions djembefola.com while registering.
It is really quite common for djembe lovers to travel to West Africa between November and March. The weather tends to be best around this time of year and it coincides with the winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
There are many options for those thinking about making the trip. Due to package tours, the cheapest flights are often found from London to Banjul, in The Gambia. Big operators like Air France also operate from Paris to the Ouagadougou, Bamako, Dakar and Conakry starting from about 700 euro.
There are several options available to you when embarking on such an adventure. By far the easiest option available to you is to go with one of several extremely well organised tours.
This is often a very good option for even the most ardent of seasoned, independent travellers. West Africa poses some unique challenges and can be overwhelming the first time you land and it’s easy enough to find yourself in tricky situations.
Paying rent and staying in a compound is definitely an option, but there can often be many unexpected surprises and additional expenses that you didn’t see coming. Likewise agreeing a price with a teacher has been known to not always be the end of the conversation.
This is often understandable when people circumstances or the situation is taken into account, but for some people this can become stressful.
Some feel that it’s easier to just go with a tour, that way you know exactly what you’re paying for and you can have a pretty good idea what to expect.
Going with a tour and usually a known teacher you benefit in many ways:
Less stress – everything is generally organised for you, from airport transfers to food
Local knowledge – The person will likely be able to give you good advice about tuition, buying instruments etc
Performances – Tours visiting compound are usually an opportunity for local artists to perform and teach. As such you can usually look forward to an array or artists and plenty of friendly people around.
Knowing what you’re paying for
Less uncertainty, especially if this isn’t the first year of the tour.
Performance in Famoudou's house
If you decide that a tour is for you then there are many things to further consider. These include:
Group size – smaller is better. If the group will be split, which group are you going to be in and who’s going to be teaching it?
Food – if you are a fussy eater this may be a consideration for you. One of the benefits of an organised tour is not having to worry about food. You may end up worried anyway if you don’t take a liking to the food you’re getting though. I distinctly remember this being an issue for many people on a tour I was on in Guinea.
Many tour operators specifically mention food and it’s worth asking about if you think could be something that concerns you.
The teacher – the styles of teaching and playing can vary hugely from teacher to teacher. Make sure you know the teacher or have at least spoken to somebody who have studied with them before.
Style – leading on from above you may want to consider the style of djembe you are interested in working on. There is a big difference between the way djembe is played in different countries in West Africa
Where – As with style, where you want to be is an extremely important consideration. Besides the obvious, it is worth considering if you would like to visit the villages or whether you would just be happy to stay in a capital.
Many tours offer trips to the villages and these can be an amazing opportunity to see the culture in it’s traditional setting, and experience life in the village for a while.
Authenticity – some people have a preference to go to a source who will teach them original phrasing and parts. I can tell you that it is very different learning dundunbe from Famoudou Konate who’s from Hamana (where the rhythm is from) and learning it from Harouna Dembele from Burkina Faso. This may or may not be of concern to you.
Language – Most West African countries are ex-French colonies, so French is spoken by people there much more than English. This can be quite a barrier to getting to know local people, and it may be something to consider when you decide where you would like to go.
The Gambia and Ghana are both English speaking, but neither is traditionally a djembe playing country. There is plenty of music and culture in these countries though. There are plenty of Guinean djembe players living in the Gambia, some tours to Ghana have been known to bring djembe teachers from Burkina Faso and other countries specifically for tours.
Ghana itself has a fantastic culture of drumming of it’s own. From the Ewe drumming to the Kpanlogo of the Ga people.
If you’re interested in making the trip you have a wealth of options. From independent travel, to tours and even something quite in the middle, like the djembe hotel.
Be sure to check out our article on drumming study tours in Africa, which include a break down of some of the best djembe and drumming tours in Africa. We have also managed to negotiate quite a few serious discounts for people who book a tour and mention djembefola.com.
Any questions, comments, criticisms? Maybe you’ve been to West Africa, and think I forgot to mention something? Let us know in the comments.
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I was debating whether or not to go the Mama Africa Festival for a few weeks and it was only when the deadline for workshop registration came around, that I actually pulled my finger out, panic’ed and booked as many workshops via text message that I could.
A Senegalise Sabar Dancer
I live near Nice in the south of France, so a 4 hour Trip in Italy wasn’t going to be too difficult for me to manage, and it’s not every day that such talented teachers nad performars are in the same place at the same time, let alone so close by.
I planned to leave at 6:30 am, but waking up at 7:30, and jumping into the car in my pyjamas didn’t take away from the beatiful early morning light on the mediteranean landscapes. My first experience of Italian driving and trying to make my 11:30 Sidiki Camara workshop mean’t I woke up pretty quickly.
So here’s me an Irish Man, living in France driving through Italy looking for the drum and dance of Africa. There’s something very special about driving through forests and small Italian mountain villages, following big green Mama Africa signs and overtaking Fiats, and arriving way too easily to the thunder of drums and smiles of faces.
I had only missed perhaps half of Sidiki’s workshop, but managed to catch up on the first 3 solo phrases I had missed. I was really glad to have mostly made it, because Sidiki is a great / patient teacher with clear material.
After the class I wandered around a bit and found a nice quiet place to pitch my tent and met a couple of Senegalese and Italian neighbours.
Then I sat down to my first ever Harouna Dembele workshop. I was really excited, having seen a bit of Harouna and Parisi (his previous band) on you tube.
This particular workshop had been relocated to the main eating area (after rain the previous night) and there was plenty people around, including Dartagnan and his band. As such the workshop ended up being about 40% performance. He is certainly an extremely impressive player and there was plenty of whooping and crowd pleasing.
Day 2 (Saturday)
I woke up early to make it to my 9:00am workshop with Harouna. I say early because I had spent some meeting the locals the night before… We learn’t Chologo, from Cote d’Ivoire, which I had never heard of before. I really sweet dundun melody with a spacious dundunba part.
With barely enought time to say ‘Alora’ and say ‘….un cafe late pour favouri’. I was off to the first
xasonka dunun workhop. I was “lucky” enough to to arrive in time to get a proper “Jeli dundun”, which meant I spent the next 2 hours trying desperately to do the bell in my hand, the Jeli dunun style.
I immediately made plans to arrive late the next day as the material itself was already crazy difficult without trying to figure out this damn fangled bell technique. Even with a normal bell, I would have struggled to pull some of the phrases off, and I would have considered myself to be a fairly competent dundun player before.
Not only that, I was bemused to find that I was probably one of the weakest dunun players in the whole class anyway! It was a level 2 (of 2 levels workshop), but dang them Italians can play!
That night an improptu dundunba re-inforced that thought, as I saw the best fote djembe playing I’ve ever seen….
I really felt like a child in a candy shop all weekend. There was the great classes taking place all day, with djembe players like Harouna Dembele and Sidiki Camara appearing out of nowhere to rip it up for the dancers.
My friend Enrica was equally in heaven as she did 5 hours of dance on Saturday, and why not, no better time for dancing with such amazing energy and music everywhere. I had never before seen a dance workshop that had a balafon and Harouna, and them Burkina calabash drums and 40 people playing Sangban.
The performance on Saturday night was pretty Epic, as a lot of the drum, dance, balafon, Kora and singing teachers came together to give a really strong performance.
They called themselves “Guinea”. I’m not clear how long they (and how many of them) played together before, indeed I’ve seen other videos calling them Wamali, but they seemed to be led by Dartagnan who plays with Ba Cissokho (previously Circus Baobab).
Plently of full on Guinea Style warra warra, on a beautiful stage, to a very appreciative crowd.
It’s a special thing to see so many people with a common passion come together to appreciate such a rich musical and artistic culture.
2 people from to different countries, neighter African, can come together, and even though they can’t understand each other by verbal communication, they can play diansa and connect in a way only this music can allow.
Thank you Mama Africa, I am sure a lot of volunteered time made the magic happen. May you double in size again next year, I’ll be there and you should be to!
until the last minute that is, when we are reminded that this is after a celebration of a djembefola.
