Inike from Toronto!

[archetypo]

Hi everyone - I'm new here but not so new to the world of djembe. My name is Anna and I've been playing djembe since 1997. I got started a little late in life, but happily, I discovered I was gifted in this area. I have to admit I did get a little bit obsessed for the first few years, and well, the obsession hasn't really gone away.

When I first started playing, there was virtually no scene in Toronto other than your basic hippy drum circle action. I had gotten myself a copy of a Mamoudou Kante CD, and I knew I wanted more. My journey to seek the holy grail of traditional djembe knowledge has taken me mostly to Guinea, where I started studying with Famoudou Konate in 2000. I also have to thank Lilian Friedberg as she not only introduced me to Famoudou, but she was my first 'traditional' teacher, and she really inspired me to persevere in the face of, frankly, quite a lot of negativity (it's not so easy being a middle-aged, white female djembefola, believe it or not).

Over the years I've been very lucky to be able to study with Famoudou and several of his sons, mostly Ibro and Billy Konate. For several years I was the local sponsor for the Famoudou Konate North American workshop tour. More recently I've also been studying with Amara Kante, who teaches the traditional rhythms of Baro, home of Mansa Camio, and also with Amadou Kienou, a master drummer and griot from Burkina Faso. Both of them are also amazing teachers, each with their own unique style. Amara is a master of the dununs and he really has a way of imparting solo phrasing as a language. Amadou is a master of djembe technique and precision - he has really given me a whole new level of appreciation for the stamina required to really play at a professional level.

Back in 2000, when I barely knew anything, I started an all-female traditional djembe ensemble, mostly because I just wanted to play the music I had been learning. Of course this meant I had to teach people the repertoire I had learned, and thus I embarked on my teaching career. The group went through several permutations (we even let some guys join, eventually), and eventually came apart at the seams about 4 years ago. I'm pretty sure we were the first group in Toronto to play traditional Malinke village rhythms - we played a lot of festivals and outdoor events, and had a great time doing it.

About 6 years ago, I decided that my dream was to be able to actually make a living doing what I was so passionate about. Given what I knew about the djembe scene in North America, this seemed highly unlikely, and yet I started to meditate on just this outcome. Within 2 weeks, I received a phone call from a local university offering me a job in the music department - teaching a newly-created traditional Mande drumming ensemble course. Since then, I have been very happily employed imparting my knowledge and love for this tradition to scores of students each year. I can't imagine having a better job - sure beats doing web design for a living! My main mission is to cultivate awareness, appreciation and respect for this culture which has gifted me with so much. I look around and see how many hundreds of people in this city seem to be buying djembes, and only a very small fraction of those people ever bother to take even a single lesson with a qualified instructor. Like probably every major north American city, we seem to have an abundance of 'djembe teachers' who have the most rudimentary skills and knowledge, while master drummers passing through town are having a hard time filling their classes. I would love to see this state of affairs change - and I have a personal stake in this.

In August of 2008, I got married in the village of Fatoya, near Siguiri, in Guinea, in a traditional village ceremony, to Seydou Kourouma, a djembefola and griot. Seydou and I met in 2000 at Ibro Konate's home in Conakry, where Seydou lived at the time. Seydou is Ibro's half-brother - same mother, different father. His mother is Nakane Kouyate, a griot and former dancer of Les Ballets Africans, awarded a Medaille D'or by Sekou Toure. Needless to say, Seydou grew up completely immersed in the traditional music of his culture. While we have completely different backgrounds, for some reason, our mutual love of the music and culture gives us enough of a common ground. I'm still working on getting him over here to Canada, and when he gets here, I really hope that he finds a positive welcome and many appreciative students here. I know him to be an excellent teacher, as he spent many years working with the Konate family members, assisting with their workshops. It seems as though djembefola are much more highly valued in Europe than over here, and it breaks my heart every time I see an aspiring djembefola come to this continent only to discover how tough the market is here. I knew that the process of bringing my husband here would be a challenge, but didn't quite realize how huge that challenge would be. It's been a tough year - we've dealt with serious illness (both of us; him - typhoid, me - malaria), and more recently, the political unrest in Guinea has made the situation extremely difficult. He's been harassed by both the police and military, who seem to think having a Canadian wife makes you an acceptable target for extortion. His younger brother was picked up by the military a couple of months ago, for no particular reason, and held for nearly a week without being charged. He was beaten and tortured badly enough to require hospitalization after his release. Right now, Seydou is working on getting out of Conakry to go stay in Siguiri with his family for a while, and from there, hopefully, to Mali, where his older brother is working with a master drummer. Some of my friends think I'm completely nuts to be getting involved with all of this, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Apart from that, I'm mostly focused on improving my own skill level and deepening my knowledge and vocabulary in this tradition... part of this involves my ongoing battle to improve my physical stamina (I've been asthmatic for years). Next fall, I hope to start grad school - I'm going for a masters degree in ethnomusicology, specializing in Mande music of course. Mind you, narrowing down the actual topic is quite the challenge all by itself! Up until now, I've never been one to care about the piece of paper, and I'd be studying the same stuff anyway, but given that I'm already teaching at a university, it seemed like it might be an appropriate thing to do

I look forward to poking around here and getting to know some more folks... in the meantime, I have a bunch of video from Guinea posted on my youtube channel - here's a sample, featuring Seydou Kourouma:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCZ5LRTpg3Q

[bubudi]

welcome anna

welcome to the forums and good luck in your ventures, studies and marriage.

[James]

HI Anna, you are very welcome to the forum. I am sure you have a lot to share and I look forward to seeing you around more.

James

[the kid]

Hey anna, cheers for the intro and the great offerings on your youtube channel
Hope all works out and Seydou soon joins you in toronto.
Keep up the good work

[FreekAce]

hey Anna,

I just had my first class with Amadou yesterday and really enjoyed it. I normally do class with Mohamed Diaby but will attend more of Amadou's classes as well. A different teaching experience all together! I agree on the technical aspect of his class. He'll stop it all to correct the smallest things if he notices something he does not want to hear in your playing, but you really pickup on things quickly this way.

Maybe i'll see you at class sometime!

Freek

[archetypo]

I'm still here - I had no idea anyone had even replied to this thread until I finally checked back in! So hi everyone, and thanks for your posts and comments.

A quick update - My husband Seydou is still in Guinea, after nearly 3 years of marriage. I was able to travel there for a month in January to spend some time with him and to study the djembe, of course. Seydou put me to work - we did on average 5 hours a day of intensive class (I was the only student), and at least 3 days a week I also did a couple of hours dance class with Seydou's mother, Nakane Kouyate; she is an awesome teacher, especially for a dance beginner such as myself! Sadly, we have run into some snags with getting Seydou's papers ready - they are now telling him that our marriage certificate is no good, and that I need to fly back to Guinea to sign the papers again. I wish we'd known that in January! All the papers are ready to go, except for that one piece... and unfortunately, it'll be at least December before I'm able to afford another trip. What a process. Thank god for skype!

I really learned a lot and gained a lot in stamina during this trip too, and am now regularly rehearsing with a new group, Moussou Folila - we're an all-female percussion ensemble. It's been a great experience so far, and I'm looking forward to more public performances in the next year.

Freek, do I know you? I have been attending Amadou's classes quite regularly (he holds his advanced class at my studio), but I'm not sure if we've every actually met!