bolokada conde spring camp - champaign il, march 20-27, 2010

[bubudi]

moussa bolokada conde is holding an 8 day camp. there will be 3 classes per day of 2 hours each as well as some evening events. students can attend any number of days.

class 1: rhythmic parts, history and songs, playing technique.
class 2: solo phrases, dunun variations.
class 3: complete arrangement (breaks), refining solos and dunun variations.

evening events: dinner party, video night, concert by bolokada's groups rhythm manding & mbondoro, dununba party/recital on final evening.

cost:
8 days: $350 (works out at under $44 per day for 6 hours tuition + evening events)
2-7 days: $50 per day
1 day: $60

cost does not cover food or accommodation.

audio/video recording permitted as long as it's for personal educational use only.
some excellent djembes available for sale at the end of the camp, personally built by bolokada conde.

venue: cordao d'ouro capoeira academy, 32 east springfield, unit 4, champaign, il

inquiries:
rhythm.manding@gmail.com
http://bolokadaconde.blogspot.com

[railroad]

I am planning to attend the last three days. I am looking forward to this class. Famoudou came to nashville last year. I was able to attend that class. Ever since then There has been a new spark in my playing. I can't wait to play in a group again.

[michi]

What is Bolokada like as a teacher? Anyone on the board who has taken classes with him?

Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

What is Bolokada like as a teacher? Anyone on the board who has taken classes with him?

Cheers,

Michi.

bolokada is a great teacher. i've worked with him closely since 2006 and toured guinea with him in 07/08.

he is the king of the mixed level class IMO. if you want dunun stuff like echauffes and variations, you will have to ask for them. basically, he'll start his classes with a warmup exercise. then he'll introduce a rhythm giving the name and any history with it. the dununs and djembe are presented. students will then play the accomps while the dununs are held down. then he'll provide solo phrases either by call and response or by stringing together in a sequence. if there's time left over, he'll let students solo on the rhythm.

he's got incredible enthusiasm for his students when they excel and makes all of his classes fun.

he has rhythms for days i'll tell you. alot of people have the misconception that Bolo is a ballet drummer since his name became known while in percussiones de guinee as the lead soloist after Noumoudy Keita died. the other part of the story is that he was/is a true Malinke djembefola who played all the traditional festivals and rituals from the time when he was a young boy traveling with his Mom to mendiani fetes until his mid 30s. i can barely describe what it's like to see him play in the village. we'd show up at random villages...villages that he nor any of his family had ever been to and he'd have all the villagers from the elder men to the little girls all eating out of the palm of his hand. a true showman who can work a crowd, but also a real deal folkloric master djembefola who knows all the songs, stories and music.

[bops]

What is Bolokada like as a teacher? Anyone on the board who has taken classes with him?

Cheers,

Michi.

Awesome. Like Duga said, he teaches to all levels in the class. Great fun, great material. He's a very generous teacher and such a wealth of information.

[michi]

Thanks for the input Bops and Duga! Sounds like I'll have add him to my "must catch" list...

Cheers,

Michi.

[Carl]

Gang -

Ok, questions for the Bolokada fans out there. I do not have any recordings, and I'd like to get one (at least). So the question are, how many CDs does he have? which one should I start with? Also, should I get the dvd right away? Money is tight, so it's dvd OR cd, not both (yet).

C

[michi]

The DVD is good. My one gripe about it is that, when Bolokada plays the solos, there is no pulse or anything at all to indicate timing. For some of the solos, that makes it very hard to feel things correctly. But, on the up-side, there is a section for each rhythm where Bolokada plays the solo with an ensemble, so you can pick up the feel.

So, if you can't get both CD and DVD, I'd go for the DVD because there is quite a bit to be learned from it. The CDs aren't bad, by any means. But, if you are interested in learning more, the DVD is first choice, IMO.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Carl]

I'm not sure that I should be adding a lot of "study" to my plate, so I'm looking more for an introduction to his style. I'll probably go with a CD for the car (50 min commute each way). Any favorites?

(I'll still take the dvd recommendation to heart, let's see what the wallet say's a bit later)

C

[bops]

I would also recommend the DVDs, they are exceptional.

The CDs (Morowaya and Sankaran) are very good, too, but lacking a little in production quality IMO. They really don't do justice to Bolo's immense sound. Still very much worth owning, though.

...I should note that I am especially picky about that kind of thing. Probably much more so than most people. There are a number of albums that I enjoy immensely, but still find small issues with the recording quality or techniques.

[Dugafola]

I would also recommend the DVDs, they are exceptional.

The CDs (Morowaya and Sankaran) are very good, too, but lacking a little in production quality IMO. They really don't do justice to Bolo's immense sound. Still very much worth owning, though.

...I should note that I am especially picky about that kind of thing. Probably much more so than most people. There are a number of albums that I enjoy immensely, but still find small issues with the recording quality or techniques.

i agree with bops. my friends recorded those CDs with 2 different MD recorders and then put them together as best they could in post production. i believe both CDs feature the late Bakaly Camara on balaphon and Morowaya has Kelonton Cissoko playing kora on a couple of tracks.

the sobininkun and soma sanki are swapped on the Morowaya CD.

i'd get both if you can. i think CD baby has them for 10 bucks per. they may be both on Itunes and possibly DL from DSD.

for the real style freaks...Bolo plays in the Sankaran style a la Fadouba and Koumbagna. Fadouba has been quoted saying "Bolokada is one of the greatest Djembefolas out of the region of Sankaran."

[Carl]

Bops/Duga,

Thanks for the advice. I might look into the download versions, though I am pretty old school and like to get the cover and liner notes...

If I can download both for around $20 that might just do the trick!

C

[Dugafola]

moussa bolokada conde is holding an 8 day camp. there will be 3 classes per day of 2 hours each as well as some evening events. students can attend any number of days.

class 1: rhythmic parts, history and songs, playing technique.
class 2: solo phrases, dunun variations.
class 3: complete arrangement (breaks), refining solos and dunun variations.

evening events: dinner party, video night, concert by bolokada's groups rhythm manding & mbondoro, dununba party/recital on final evening.

cost:
8 days: $350 (works out at under $44 per day for 6 hours tuition + evening events)
2-7 days: $50 per day
1 day: $60

cost does not cover food or accommodation.

audio/video recording permitted as long as it's for personal educational use only.
some excellent djembes available for sale at the end of the camp, personally built by bolokada conde.

venue: cordao d'ouro capoeira academy, 32 east springfield, unit 4, champaign, il

inquiries:
rhythm.manding@gmail.com
http://bolokadaconde.blogspot.com

video taping will not be allowed.

[BobF]

Bolo also recorded some stuff with Ballet Warraba that might be available through a few places (any suggestions Jessie?) and he's also on Bakaly Camara's CD for a couple tracks (Mane' and Kassa). Excellent production quality on those.

[Dugafola]

Bolo also recorded some stuff with Ballet Warraba that might be available through a few places (any suggestions Jessie?) and he's also on Bakaly Camara's CD for a couple tracks (Mane' and Kassa). Excellent production quality on those.

good point bob...forgot those.

he also plays lead on the "conding" (konden) on Koumbagna Conde's Djinncourrar Madoufalla CD.