WADOMA

[bops]

From a show we did last weekend:

[Dugafola]

lookin good man!

are you dancing?

[michi]

Bloody awesome!

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

really enjoyed that, bops! thanks for posting. nice to see some dansa phrasing together with the dance steps. the bire passage is a bit different from what i know - you're repeating the muted slaps to make the cycle twice as long. stylistic choice or is that the way you've always done it?

btw, my sources (mamadou diabate, mady keita, sidi camara among others) tell me that bire and dansa are two separate rhythms and that bire is the older of the two. the ballet du mali started the arrangement of going from bire to dansa, or in french 'bire a dansa', which i presume got written as 'birea dansa' in the states. in the khassonke language, bire means circumcision. that's the occasion in which it is traditionally played.

[bops]

Thanks guys, we had fun putting it together. I'll give you a little background...

This show actually ran for 3 days, Fri-Sun. The Sunday show was tightest, needless to say, and this clip is the opening piece from Sun. A few months before the show, I lost most of my drummers. One guy, who is an excellent jembe player, quit, another left for Brazil, another bought a house (a fixer-upper). So I was left with one drummer, who is very skilled, but new to West African stuff. He's playing dununba in the vid. I had to scramble to find capable drummers who could learn the material and pull off the performance with very limited rehearsals, and for very little pay (ok, basically nothing). So, I hooked up with two drummers from the University (the jembe accompanist and sangban player) who were eager to learn new stuff.

Then, my Togolese friend, Koffi Zoe Dogbevi, offered to join us. He's the one playing ntama. He's also a 2nd degree black belt in Shotokan Karate. Since he's from Togo, he is well-versed in Ewe drumming. He kills it on atumpan, brekete, atimevu - instruments you would typically see in a Ghanaian ensemble. As you can see, he plays ntama more like a Yoruba doundoun.

Finally I was able to talk my old friend and teacher, Yaya Kambaye, and his brother Keba Diabate, into coming to play with us. Yaya and I played lead jembe, Keba played Kora. They're from Senegal and live in Milwaukee, about 1 hr. from Madison. We're really lucky they were able to do it, because they made such a huge addition to the group. Yaya is a great jembe player, one of the best Senegalese players I've heard (from the coastal region).

With regards to the arrangement, it's all Soungalo (listen to Naya). However, Abdoul Doumbia does teach Birea Dansa as well. You can hear that it's the same rhythm, but as bubudi pointed out, the dunun cycle is twice as long as the typical arrangement. I like the space that is created with that arrangement, especially since you want to be able to hear the kora.

All in all I'm happy with how it turned out, although I still see the dance choreography as somewhat of a work in progress. Feel free to leave feedback, constructive criticism welcome.

[atam]

Nice video. Although, to be honest, hardly comparable for me with your Jole video from Library Mall - that one I absolutely love, especially some of your dancers and your phrasing for them !!!

When I recall that long-haired blond girl there, I just can´t sleep And the whole band sounded so well coordinated ! I know, it´s the past now, but still so good!

You already used cowskin there, didn´t you?

[bops]

Hey atam, thanks man! That was a fun show. I wasn't playing cowskin in that video, it was a white goatskin.

[atam]

Can you please tell me what was the size of your drum there? I really like your sound..

[Djembe-nerd]

Where can I find this other video, you made me interested.

[atam]

Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWKzfKgGrQI

and:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPP2dSDGJLo - this is actually the first part of the above video.

For me, these are two best videos by bops and his Wadoma.