Suggestions for W. Africa Workshops?

[EvanP]

I'm thinking seriously about taking the plunge and heading to W. Africa in December or January for a 2-3 week intensive drumming workshop. How do I find out what's available when? Is there a central listing of masters that offer this type of training?

Mamady usually has a course in January. I think Sidy Maita does a trip as well (Rachel, please correct me if I'm wrong). Who else? How do I choose? Suggestions?

Thanks,
Evan

[rachelnguyen]

Hi Evan,

Good for you!

Yes, Sidy (Maiga, LOL) does trips to Mali in January. I am not sure if he has plans for one this year yet.

Also, the Drum Connection in Boston does trips in November-December to Conakry every year.

I am not sure how you choose! It is hard to figure out what you are even looking for before you actually get to West Africa. Maybe you can ask people to describe how their trips were and see which one appeals.

Love,
Rachel

[EvanP]

Rachel,
Thanks. Apologies to Sidy for the misspelling. Great idea on the modified thread.

Is there a better place to post than here? I don't seem to be getting any responses (other than you LOL). Maybe everybody on the west coast is at Mamady and Famadou camp in San Diego?

Evan

[Dugafola]

bolokada's trip to guinea is pretty incredible.

he'll be up in PDX in july E...check him out.

[EvanP]

Josh,
Thanks for the recommendation. I assume his camp would be ok for my level? I'll be there in July. Are you coming up? Did you make it to San Diego for MK and Famoudou?

Evan

[Dugafola]

work has kept me here in town.

i'd love to go to Portland w/ Bolo, but my family arrives in town the day he leaves so i won't be back up until...???

[davidognomo]

Babara Bangoura (+Thomas Guei+Petit Adama+Alpha Touré)

Fodé Bangoura

[EvanP]

David,
Thanks! Do you have experience with either camp?

Evan

[EvanP]

Josh,
Is that you in video of Guinea drum class 3 on Fode's website?

Evan

[Dugafola]

Josh,
Is that you in video of Guinea drum class 3 on Fode's website?

Evan

yup that was the girls class. i was the only drum student with those guys when i was there.

my 'class' kinda took place during the dance classes where they'd let me rip and show me phrases for choreography. i had one-on-one classes with fode, mohammed and bangaly.

i stayed with fode for 2 weeks after 5 weeks with Bolo and the crew.

[EvanP]

Cool! How many times have you been to Africa to study drumming?

[Dugafola]

Cool! How many times have you been to Africa to study drumming?

only twice. 2005 with Mamady and then with Bolo and Fode etc over the holidays in 07/08.

[dleufer]

Is it your first time going to Africa? If it is then one of the "organized" workshops like Fode's or Bolokada's would probably be a good idea to start and if you can stay after and take private lessons that's perfect.
I did Famoudou's workshop last year and it was good but I don't think I'd ever do a big workshop with people I didn't know again. A lot of the classes were held up by other students. There were a group of us in the "advanced" class who were learning well and were dedicated but some others were djembe tourists who didn't actually want to push themselves and really learn. They just wanted nice photos and recordings rather than blood, sweat, tears and improved playing. 4 weeks of private lessons would have been much more beneficial to my playing but it was a good experience.

I have some contacts for some good but less well known players in Conakry if you'd like. The one problem with those kind of lessons is finding someone you can trust. I had one teacher in Bobo who messed about quite a lot but then I changed and found a good teacher. Private lessons are usually cheaper too. You can stay in Famoudou's house in Conakry for 1 euro a night, eat street food and pay 4-7 euro an hour for lessons. One week of classes (5 hours a day) should be 125 or less depending on your haggling skills. So 500 euro a week for Babara's is a bit steep in my opinion. Obviously if you want Nansady Keita or some well known player you'll pay more but there are very good teachers who don't charge as much. It's possible prices have changed since but that's what they were last year.

Anyways, that's what I plan on doing on my next trip. 2 months with Sidifa Koita or M'bandi Kourouma in Conakry, 1 month in the village some other teacher and 1 month in Bobo doing bala and djembe. It can all be arranged once you land or I'm sure you can get good reliable contacts from people on this site.

[davidognomo]

@dieufer: it's Fode's camp that carges 500 (dollars, not euros) a week. Babara's camp is 1000€ for the 4 weeks, if I'm not mistaken.

@Evan: I've never been in Africa, I just mencioned these as an adition to what you may discover by this site (have you checked the article on w african trip? There are a lot of options there, with discounts for djembefola members, and nice tips).

Babara's camp is intended to end with a big presentation, so I guess it will be a lot of work. Maybe it will be a little bit crowded (at least, that's Babara's goal) and it has other great names teaching.

As for Fode's, all I know is that he is a demanding teacher, for what my experience was in a 2 day wshop here in Lisbon. He's all about improving skills in the Conacry solo style, for what I could grasp. The guy with whom I have classes with was there last year, he brought him for this wshop in Lisbon, and intends to return for the next camp. He also had the chance to work a lot one-on-one with Bafode, since he was the only student for the first two weeks, being joined by two others for the last 2 weeks.

But I guess you should advise yourself with people who already have had experiences there. Dieufer's suggestion seems sensible. I think it all depends on what are you looking for yourself.

[davidognomo]

@Duga:
By the way, I'm curious, what's your opinion on the time you spent with Fode?