So I went to the launch party for Sibo Bangoura's new cd in Newtown in Sydney the other day.

There really is quite a lot of djembe action going on here in Sydney and it was a great show.

I'm dying to play djembe again. It been months now. Kinda strange since there's souch djembe action going on here in Sydney. I should probably go and seek out sone lessons from some of the guineans while I'm here.

My belated report from the Bundagen drum and dance camp with Epizo Bangoura…

I drove from Brisbane towards Coffs Harbour on the Saturday, staying with friends overnight near the half-way mark. Not a nice drive because it was pouring with rain. The entire east coast of Australia was covered by dense clouds, and it had been raining steadily for two days already.

On the Sunday morning, I drove through more heavy rain and, having looked at the weather report, which predicted at least another week of more of the same, I decided that I wasn't going to risk staying in a small two-person tent for the whole week without extra protection. So I stopped at a camping store in Coffs Harbour and bought a 4x5m tarp, six poles, rope, and pegs to provide some additional protection from the rain. It set me back almost $200 but, by the end of the week, I was glad I did it…

When I got to Bundagen, mos...

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I'm just now seeing the posts you guys had about my bags form 2009... thanks for the comments and view points. i need that bit of info on how you think the bags where done. Good, Bad, alright, GREAT!... what ever, the point is there's always room for improvement.
I'm working on the new line now. I've decided to do a "student Level" & a "Pro Level". I'm really trying to change the game in terms of the weight, style, durability, on the bags keeping in mind the craftsmanship in what Tony Lagrutta was going after in a higher quality (Instrument) djembe bag/case. Not commenting on what happened with Tony, but more importantly keep in mind that this is a CLASSICAL INSTRUMENT and it should be treated as such from the HISTORICAL value with its place in history and that its an instrument that's made up of natural raw materials.
Who wants a bag that weigh's half of the weight of there drum? I'm really trying not to put to much hard ware on the case but at the same time...

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Today's Group 1 class finished off Zaouli 6. We spent quite a bit of time at the end of the class having fun, playing Zaouli and using breaks 5 and 6.

Group 2 is struggling a bit with Zaouli 7 and isn't through learning the break yet. About a third of it still remains to learn.

The pyramid class continued to work on Mamady's insane break (and actually finished it--sound clip below). During the pyramid class, Mamady passed on a lot of interesting info. First up, I got the origin of this break wrong: Mamady didn't do this in his Ivory Coast days in the Eighties, but earlier, in Guinea in 1977, which is when he composed the entire pyramid.

Mamady related quite a bit of the history of the ballets. Basically, the early ballets were modelled on the European ballets, where the orchestra was hidden in an orchestra pit, so it wouldn't distract the audience from the dance. With the African ballets, they did the same, only the musicians were hidden in the side stage. (If you watch early Ballet...

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ivory coast style shell - lenke