tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10427138589965982452009-10-27T15:46:06.024+01:00This is a djembe learning blog. It's about the things I learned, the people I met and the music I played.Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-73364031600804844332009-10-25T17:16:00.004+01:002009-10-25T18:48:40.782+01:00

After years of playing this rhythm I finally got to attend a workshop with a Malian teacher that could show me how the Dansa (Djansa) is supposed to be played. Originating from the Khassonke people (Kayes region in Mali), the Dansa is known as a slow song with a strong swung feeling. In fact, it seems more ternary than binary when played slowly.Still today in Bamako and other cities in Mali, the

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-17790430919399157602009-10-14T07:32:00.004+02:002009-10-14T09:19:31.789+02:00

Aminata Touré is a young Guinean dancer that recently started working in Brussels and its surroundings. She is very young and has an incredible amount of energy to share. When she moves you just feel the energy being transferred to you. I've accompanied some classes of hers recently and I was pleased to find out that she is one of those dancers for which you just can't stop playing for. I can

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-66577857604195571012009-07-28T07:05:00.003+02:002009-07-29T09:21:29.468+02:00

I managed to put together what I've been trying to master in the last year: the two ways of swinging the triplets. I have no clue what are the names of these two swings, so I will stick to the way some Malians refer to them: the "Father's rhythms" and the "Mother's rhythms".Following are two examples of the Father's rhythm. The first recording doesn't have any feeling at all. The second one does

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-12486796437530091162009-05-27T07:27:00.001+02:002009-05-27T08:49:25.774+02:00

I bumped into this record label: Kanaga System Krush. As the description on their site says, they are "an independent record label, operating on a fair-trade principle, focused on the preservation and promotion of traditional music from West Africa." The "fair-trade principles" are big words, so it would be nice to find some detailed explanation about how they work. But what is sure is that they

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-21616164803225115272009-05-21T15:13:00.007+02:002009-05-21T17:16:21.370+02:00

I started following the konkoni (kenkeni) classes with Ibrahima Sarr in Brussels. The situation is funny because the classes were meant for beginners, but the participants are far from being new to this music. Yet it is not really easy to follow for no one of us due to the feeling the Malians use. On the other hand, it's a pleasant experience, specially for the ones of us that are used to play

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-11991621605271972642009-05-12T18:28:00.000+02:002009-05-12T18:28:00.059+02:00

Last month I encountered a problem that is well known to everyone that ever tried to mount a skin: I couldn't lower the rings enough. The reason was that the skin I mounted was very thick and I didn't lower the rings enough when the skin was still wet. In fact, I needed a not-too-tight djembe for the accompaniment, but it was difficult to play with this one.Then, after a week, I got this

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-32890231404454833082009-04-26T18:58:00.004+02:002009-04-27T09:06:13.075+02:00

I noticed that "special" djembe workshops, dedicated to the djembe soloists playing at the dance, are becoming increasingly popular. To tell the truth, it sounds to me more like the "right workshops" than the "special workshops". The idea is having a master drummer that teaches you what to do and when while observing a performance of an experienced dancer. I hope these kind of workshops will

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-4727996540787731812009-04-06T20:02:00.004+02:002009-04-07T10:30:38.813+02:00

There was a workshop with Sidiki Camara the last weekend of March in Brussels. A real goody for the enthusiast of the West African percussions. Not only because he is one of the most influent djembefolas around and it is just interesting to share a word or two with him, but also because of his perfect didactic skills. He always explains well how the thing should sound like: he keeps the beat with

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-44568295097977139302009-03-24T23:17:00.000+01:002009-03-25T09:24:39.178+01:00

There was a course with Sega Sidibe this weekend in Dudelange (on the frontier between Luxembourg and France). The extraordinary Malian djembefola left a strong impression on the participants. While his didactic approaches are typically African (one needs some experience to understand the logic of the things he is showing) the results were amazing. Maybe it was because of the things he played and

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-91657261894290128612009-03-17T22:48:00.003+01:002009-03-17T22:48:03.774+01:00

There was a very good Malian dance course in Brussels this week-end with Brahima Coulibaly, one of the best dancers from Mali. He was accompanied by his standard crew and it is always a great pleasure to playing with these guys as the atmosphere is always very positive and the quality of the accompagning music is inspireing.Regular classes with Brahima are held during the week in Brussels, but

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-48650412226468580372009-03-13T17:28:00.001+01:002009-03-13T23:21:53.819+01:00

I started practicing on a wooden cutting board about 6 months ago. After all this time I can say it turned out to be quite a productive exercise - in fact I noticed an improvement in the quality of the sound that I make on the real skin. The things you need: a thick wooden cutting board, a belt to tie the board on your legs, and an allready developed technique of hitting tones and slaps. The aim

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-5501926307415508922009-03-05T19:20:00.002+01:002009-03-05T21:38:10.664+01:00

It's a little bit late to do a review of an album after four years that it's been out, so I'll be short. I've been checking the album Intercontinentals, from Bill Frisell, et al. One of the contributors is Sidiki Camara, who plays djembe, kalabash, and other percussion on this album. He plays in a minimalistic way - totally suited for this kind of music, adding a strong Malian rhythmic

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-85345144701558356142009-03-01T11:30:00.004+01:002009-03-10T08:58:10.366+01:00

Finally, a video of my first balafon teacher popped up on YouTube. A young griot from Bobo-Dioulasso, his name is Abdoulaye Diabate known as "Petit Abdoulaye". He is really a nice person and a good musician.

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-68642032869752801622009-02-25T12:52:00.006+01:002009-02-25T13:22:30.932+01:00

Mamady Keita and Sewa Kan will be touring in Europe again this summer (North Americans will have to wait for one year more). These concerts are confirmed so far:12th May 2009 in Savigny Le Temple (near Paris),16th May 2009 in Saint Brieuc (Western France),20th May 2009 in Coutances (Western France),29th May 2009 in Wuerzburg (Germany),31st May 2009 in Winterthur (near Zürich),3rd June 2009 in

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-75669023247213985122009-02-22T12:55:00.005+01:002009-02-22T13:07:36.913+01:00

Now, this must have been a good concert! A sublime Khassonke performance."Concert with the best Malian Masters in traditional Khassonke music. With: Oumou Dédé Demba (singer)Mariam « Djodjo » Diabaté (singer)Mamadou « Général » Diabaté (dunun)Ibrahima Diabaté (dunun, n'goni)Ibrahima Sarr (djembe)Brahima Coulibaly (dance)Seïba Sissoko (dunun, n'goni)Moussa Diabaté (balafon). This concert was

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-79040344372170043202009-02-19T14:00:00.011+01:002009-02-19T14:45:29.081+01:00

March seems to be full of pleasant surprises... The Malian djembefola Séga Sidibé is having a tour with courses in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and a performance in northern France. A "must see" for the people of the area. Following is an automatically translated site with Séga Sidibé's biography.

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-41263253040606657152009-02-01T11:19:00.002+01:002009-02-19T14:52:38.467+01:00

The association Coryphée asbl from Brussels is organizing a workshop with Sidiki Camara in March. Even if I knew about this guy before, I was amazed by his curriculum posted on his website. He is appearing on the recordings with Habib Koite, Bill Frisell (this one is surprising!), Rokia Traoré, Toumani Diabaté, Djélimady Tounkara, Super Rail Band, Boubacar Traoré, Mamady Keita & Sewa Kan, and

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-89999388431608489752009-01-30T18:07:00.001+01:002009-01-30T18:07:00.363+01:00

I've been recently listening to this very nice CD. At the begining I felt like some weird mastering was done on it, but soon I realised it all makes perfect sense. The record is a nice mixture of festive percussion and melodics, and it holds some excellent performances of the well known songs like Dansa, Sandia, Suku, and others. There's also a good short documentary about the recording, but I'm

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-37022805934773494852008-10-06T07:54:00.000+02:002008-10-06T09:34:30.259+02:00

A friend from Brussels gave me this idea and I've been trying it out for a week now. I bought myself 1/2kg (1 lb) weights for wrists. While my friend says it helps to increase speed and sound strength (which I lost in the 6 months), I've noticed it helps to maintain balance and makes you play with more ease - less tension and twitching. Well, no progress in speed so far:) but let's wait and see...

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-77113431846592268602008-09-13T10:59:00.006+02:002008-09-13T11:21:17.118+02:00

If you are looking for workshops in the French speaking countries, then this is the site for you: Donaba.net. The announcements are sometimes a mess. Seems like if you can't find the name of the city where the workshop is held, then it's got to be in Paris.The home site hosts also some other interesting links and videos.

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-71822368869485737262008-09-10T08:36:00.000+02:002008-09-10T09:44:05.445+02:00

I found an interesting shop in Frankfurt: Afroton. It is the biggest European shop for african music I have ever seen and it holds a considerable number of items. From djembe, dunduns, balafons and small hand percussion to some experimental kits of duns combined as set drums and the like. The quality of the drums varies, but prices seem to be comparable to other European resellers.

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-6195321325485404772008-08-04T19:10:00.001+02:002008-08-04T19:10:00.840+02:00

I bought this beautiful djembe of Genu (Hare, balafon wood) from a guy in Bamako. This is now the only djembe I have at my new place. Actually I haven't played it for a couple of weeks now. Then yesterday I sat down and started hitting a piece of wood used for cooking... And I also said I will play the wood again tomorrow - I can't play the djembe in the apartment. Then this morning I get up and

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-26494028126203175222008-07-30T01:05:00.000+02:002008-07-30T01:05:00.563+02:00

Last weekend I visited Brussels, the European Medina of the African music again (as the European Mecca would probably be Paris). I finally managed to attend a course for dunduns. The course was part of a big, one week lasting course with prominent teachers (Mamady Keita, Babara Bangoura, N'faly Kouyate and others).Babara Bangoura, the Guinean djembefola and dundunfola, made us work intensively

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-91635797981893884522008-07-08T21:03:00.001+02:002008-09-03T12:07:35.227+02:00

Check out this video (M.Jakite, D.Kone and K.Kuyate). A typical Malian djembe setting: no extravagant solos, full palette of sounds (including closed slaps and other muffed sounds) making some very groovy music. Take note of the fullness of the song and take also in consideration that there are only three players playing.The video is shown in the context of presenting this research project at the

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042713858996598245.post-84079920696371759142008-07-04T11:34:00.002+02:002008-07-04T12:21:27.381+02:00

Some time ago I noticed this recording "Kamalenya" and liked it very much, although I admit I haven't ever listened to the whole CD. I must order it one of this days.This week I found the web page of the author and on the page I found an interesting collection of sheets for the balafon in different flavours (Tusia, Dioula, Sambla, one player, two players, three players, ...). The sheets are

Andrejhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10791024325080883551noreply@blogger.com0