How Rude Of Me..

[BobF]

Whoops, forgot to do an intro..

Name's Bob and I'm originally from Indianapolis, IN currently living in Charlotte, NC. I picked up a djembe around 5 years ago after seeing a bunch of String Cheese Incident shows (their drummers do some West African songs every now n then) and the drum jams piqued my interest.

After moving to NC and not knowing anyone, I figured playing some drum circles and meeting other drummers would be a good way to meet cool people. After doing the drum circle thing for a few months I hooked up with a group here in Charlotte that does West African drumming (Charlotte Community Drummers) and got hooked.

After a couple years of djembe/dunun, I got hooked on the bala after attending a west african drum/dance camp.

That's pretty much it, I used to be a hardcore homebrewer but decided to trade that in for drumming (can't have too many hobbies with a youngin).. Also love making BBQ (this is NC... don't really have a choice), reheading drums, tinkering with computers, and doing the family thing.

Hoping to make it to Guinea one day but not sure when, maybe after I win the lotto or something..


Cheers!!
Bob

[James]

Hey Bob

What's the STring Cheese Incident?

What kind of bala do you play?

[BobF]

String Cheese Incident is a jamband out of Colorado, every once in a while they do a somewhat traditional west african piece in their live shows. The percussionist (Jason Hann) played with Karamba Diabate and Fore Fote for a while.

I play a Guinean bala, studied/lived with Abou Sylla from Les Ballet Africains and Merveille de Guinee for a while and learned a bunch. Awesome teacher and person, he's primarily located in the east coast but travels around quite a bit to other parts.

[gr3vans]

I play a Guinean bala, studied/lived with Abou Sylla from Les Ballet Africains and Merveille de Guinee for a while and learned a bunch. Awesome teacher and person, he's primarily located in the east coast but travels around quite a bit to other parts.

Agreed. Abdoulye Sylla has recently moved to Seattle and is teaching dance and some drum classes. His Birthday is Saturday

[BobF]

Is that Abou Sylla that was in Texas?

Abou (that I study with) is currently in Guinea and should be back in the US sometime next month.

[gr3vans]

ah. nope. my mistake. You said east coast, and I thought Abou was just a short name for my friend who just moved from Connecticut. Thanks for clarifying. The guy I was referring to also worked with Ballet Africains as well as Merveille d'Afrique (or de Guinee) which is a training group for Ballet Africains among other things. He was involved from 86-94... So not sure if they would know each other or not.

Glad to figure that one out.

cheers