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If you're interested in learning more about West African drumming, here are some great starting points. The recordings and books are usually available from Amazon - their used books section is particularly useful. And for specific questions, or pointers to more resources, please email us, we'll do our best to help.
Anything
and everything by
Mamady
Keita or Famoudou
Konate, for hearing djembe and dunun from the Guinean masters! Mamady's
style is fast and joyful, Famoudou's intensely lyrical, both are an inspiration.
Also great djembefolas are Seckou Keita, Les Freres Coulibaly, Yelemba d'Abijan, Fatala, and Adama Drame - any recordings by these are well worth listening - and dancing - to.
For other styles of drumming and music from West Africa, other personal favourites of ours are Nii Tettey Tetteh (Ghanaian kpanlogo), Modhou Diouf and Doudou N'Diaye Rose (Sabar Wolof drumming from Senegal); and Momo Wandel Soumah (Guinean sax player with the richest voice ever). Buda Musique is a great record label to surf, and Stern's Records in London also carry a huge world music section.
Instrument suppliersIf you can't get across to West Africa, there are suppliers in the UK. For first timers in particular, we'd recommend Kambala djembes and djundjuns, available from www.soarvalleymusic.co.uk - consistently high quality drums from a drum-making cooperative in Cote d'Ivoire.
Landing Mane, a fine Senegalese teacher of dance and drumming, based in London, supplies beautiful djembes at jamojamoarts. |
WAPpages : a massive resource for those of you into rhythm notation - though it's always best to learn with a teacher to hear the music properly.
www.djembe.net : a useful site for its free notation programme, which you can download and write your own rhythms onto. Watch this space, though - we're working on something even better!
Djembe-List : an e-group that has around 1500 members worldwide - a great resource for any questions you have about West African drumming. The FAQ site is also well worth checking out.
Foli -Thomas Roebers' stunning film about the source of rhythm in Guinea - if you want to learn djembe, this is a must
Farabakan - blistering Guinean troupe in New York, nice presentation of dance and drum
Tassaba - mask dance from Haute Guinee, you can hear a great version on Fankabah's CD 'Malinke Rhythms'
Sofa - clip of Famoudou Konate in Guinea playing solos from Sofa, along with Mamady Keita - sublime!
Yelemba d'Abidjan - astonishing young troupe from Cote d'Ivoire, see them here in concert in 2003 in Italy
There are an increasing number of places opening up in West Africa for drumming students to visit and learn at. It's worth asking around - so much depends on what you're looking for from a trip, but here are a few we know personally:
Famoudou
Konate: the great Malinke player and teacher, whose trips include
a stay in his home village of Sangbarala, Guinea. Famoudou also offers wonderful
summer courses in Bamberg, Germany, teaching Malinke tradition on djembe, doundoun,
kodo kodo, donso ngoni and bolon- click on his name to visit his website for
more information.
Namory Keita: also based in Sangbarala, Guinea Namory is a great teacher, now offering teaching in the vilage - check his website at www.namorykeita.com for details of how to study with this exciting traditional djembefola, or catch him in the USA for his annual teaching tour.
Hamana Bjemekan: Midlands UK-based troupe of Ansoumana (Vieux) Bakayoko, they will be taking a group out to their Senegal base at Saly this winter. Vieux's wife, Saskia Bakayoko, offers fantastic traditional West African dance teaching. More info at their new website, www.vieuxbakayoko.com.
