I keep meaning to do this...

[dununbabe]

...just now finding the time!
so, Hi all, my name is Ali.
I apologize for the length of this but its been quite a journey.

I was born in southern California, but have lived all over the U.S.
My first percussive experience was with a simple frame drum at a drum circle, but then somebody showed up with djembes~ I had to go out the next day and buy one! I lived in Spokane, WA at the time. I still didn't know where djembe came from or anything, I just found the nearest drum circle and went every week. I saw some guys there standing up with straps and all playing the same pattern; I thought it was cool but it did not come to my mind to ask them about it, or do any other research.

I decided to move back to where I went to high school, Sandpoint ID. I had friends there, so I would move a few things at a time, keeping stuff in a garage until I made the full move. I always went to my fav restaurant when I visited, Eichardts'. One afternoon as I was leaving there, I was skimming the bulletin board outside, when the wind picked off a flyer and started taking it down the street. Wanting to catch the "trash" I ran after it. Finally I caught it against my chest and took a look at what it was... "African drum class followed by an open drum jam". "Classes?", I thought. "ppppffff! who needs classes?, I'll just go to this drum jam."
I looked at the date for the event and it happened to be on the night of my big moving day!

So I went to this "drum jam" and met some people who studied djembe, but I ignored their suggestions to come to class. I finished moving and kinda forgot about them. Then a friend told me about African dance classes and I, uh, just showed up with my djembe- hahaha! I just sat right down, watched what people were playing, then played my own pattern!
I gotta hand it to the folks there, they were absolutely nice and polite, didn't stop or correct me.
After class, the djembe teacher and some of his students came over and were chatting with me, then they suggested that I might want to "tune" my drum.
"Tune?" I said. "Here, play this one," they said.
And THAT was when I got hooked. I said, "OMG can you make my djembe sound like that??"
They said, "yeah but you have to come to class."
So I have been studying since Nov, 2000.

The teacher/students there had only just heard of Mamady Keita- had been teaching/studying rhythms from Ladji Camara and various internet sources. We bought "A Life for a Djembe" and CD's and video tapes. Eventually we went to Spokane to take workshops with Mamady every spring and fall, for about 3 years. A couple of us went to L.A. to the first ever "Mini Guinea" in '03. We had only paid for the "first two-weeks' option" but at the end of the two weeks we were both calling home to get more money and more permission to stay for the full 3 weeks! I went to Mini Guinea bcuz I felt that there would be no way I could ever go to Africa for real, but after experiencing that, I became obsessed with the idea. So I planned to go to Mamady Keita's camp in Conakry, in Jan 2005.

At a MK workshop in 2004, at an after party, Mamady's then fiancee', Monette Marino, approached me and said she was thinking of forming an all female djembe/dunun group in San Diego with Mamady as the director and would I be interested in playing sangban ? Of course I said yes! (ended up playing Kenkeni as Mabiba Baenge was on sangban)
So I visited San Diego, CA for a 6 week long rehearsal during Oct/Nov. Then back to ID; to pack for Guinea, but to pack up to move to San Diego as well. In Conakry at the MK camp, Monette said that none of the TTM people would be able to teach in San Diego until later in the spring and would it be all right if I took over the classes til they all got back ? I said Sure!

After Guinea, I went back to Sandpoint to get my things, and drove down to San Diego, just in time for the first February class. When Mamady & Monette returned, they invited me to live with them. I stayed with them for 3 years until they moved everything into storage for their long 2.5 year tour.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I learned from them during that time.
Not only are they my teachers but also my family.
I returned to Guinea 2 more times, the third time making the trip with Mamady to Balandougou, as well as the regular camp.
At the regular camp in Jan '08 I passed the test to become a Certified TTM teacher.
As Monette is gone a lot of the time, I'm also the Assistant Director of TTM San Diego.

The djembe is my life and my "job". I'm totally obsessed. When I'm not teaching or performing, I'm re-shaping and re-heading djembes and dunun. I'm totally lucky to have a partner who is obsessed as well!
I believe the djembe called to me. I study with as many teachers as I can, but the DJEMBE ITSELF is my true master. As it has changed my life and given me so much JOY, my life belongs to the perpetuation of its' traditions. I'd like to also go to Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast some day.

"Dugafola" turned me on to this site. I'm so pleased to find so many serious students/teachers in one place!!

[bubudi]

thanks, dununbabe. that was a good read. it has taken a lot of work to get this site the way it is, thanks to the contributions of our members and admins/mods. we are very happy to have you here. a very warm welcome to our community!

[Dugafola]

A couple of us went to L.A. to the first ever "Mini Guinea" in '03. We had only paid for the "first two-weeks' option" but at the end of the two weeks we were both calling home to get more money and more permission to stay for the full 3 weeks! I went to Mini Guinea bcuz I felt that there would be no way I could ever go to Africa for real, but after experiencing that, I became obsessed with the idea. So I planned to go to Mamady Keita's camp in Conakry, in Jan 2005.

that was 2004 ali.

welcome and nice to meet you.

[michi]

Hi Ali,

that's quite a story. Thank you for posting this!

I have come across quite a few stories similar to yours of the djembe changing someone's life profoundly and permanently. For some people, the call is so strong that they have no choice at all and must follow it. My own story is similar in that, when I came across the djembe, I basically no longer had any free will in the matter.

When I start a new beginner's class, one of the things I tell new students is that they need to be prepared to see their lives changed because of the drum. For some of them, that is exactly what happens. Suddenly, they drum every possible moment, chase drumming circles all around the area, go looking for information on the net, and turn into compulsive djembe heads. Those are the ones who are the djembefolas of the future. Yet, for other people, the call goes unheard: they come and drum for a few weeks or months and have a good time but, after a while, they move on to look for another hobby.

I don't think I'll ever know exactly what it is that makes some people heed the call and makes others ignore it. Those who follow the call inevitably find themselves with a life that is changed for the better.

Cheers,

Michi.

[e2c]

Hey Ali - what a terrific story! Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post...
I appreciate the details. (The story about your 1st time playing for a dance class is hilarious - and wonderful, too, given how nice those guys were. )

[bops]

Hey Ali, thanks for the introduction. Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to hearing more about your time with Mamady and Monette. As far as your affliction with jembe-fever is concerned, you've come to the right place. It's a bit like jembe-addicts anonymous.

[rachelnguyen]

Hey Ali,

Welcome!

I, too, got seriously and profoundly hooked about 2 1/2 years ago and have never looked back!

[bubudi]

oh yea most of us here have djembe addiction. read about it here

[Djembe-nerd]

Welcome and don't forget to check the humor section with things that we say and do, not so much appreciated in the non-djembe world

[dununbabe]

A couple of us went to L.A. to the first ever "Mini Guinea" in '03. We had only paid for the "first two-weeks' option" but at the end of the two weeks we were both calling home to get more money and more permission to stay for the full 3 weeks! I went to Mini Guinea bcuz I felt that there would be no way I could ever go to Africa for real, but after experiencing that, I became obsessed with the idea. So I planned to go to Mamady Keita's camp in Conakry, in Jan 2005.

that was 2004 ali.

welcome and nice to meet you.

oh yeah! getting my Years mixed up again.

[dununbabe]

Hey Ali, thanks for the introduction. Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to hearing more about your time with Mamady and Monette. As far as your affliction with jembe-fever is concerned, you've come to the right place. It's a bit like jembe-addicts anonymous.

yeah I felt as if I was standing up in a "meeting" !

[dununbabe]

Hey Ali - what a terrific story! Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post...
I appreciate the details. (The story about your 1st time playing for a dance class is hilarious - and wonderful, too, given how nice those guys were. )

It really reminds me to be gentle!

[dununbabe]

Duga, was that MG in early 2004? I have an easy time confusing years when workshops fall at the end or beginning of the year.

[dununbabe]

I remember now, it was Jan. all those birthdays we celebrated were Cap&Aquarius

[dununbabe]

Welcome and don't forget to check the humor section with things that we say and do, not so much appreciated in the non-djembe world

I love the posts about things djembe players shouldnt say in public!