I Am Ahead, I Am Advanced

I was digging my West African drum class last night. I dig it every time more or less, but it has been different somehow lately. For one, Jay changed the format a little bit. He is no longer dividing the classes into eight week cycles, during which we learn a new rhythm. Over the past three weeks, Jay has had us working on "Kuku," (the rhythm we started at the beginning of this eight weeks), then working on "Moribayassa;" a rhythm that most of us learned last winter. We are working toward learning a repertoire of rhythms, which consists of

Kuku, Moribayassa, Yankadi/Macru, Tiriba, Fanga, Gidamba, and from there, Kassa, Djole, Dununba and Soli.

The goal is to have a group of people that know these rhythms so that when opportunities to perform (cultural events, school assemblies, protests and whatever) arise, Jay will have a group of musicians ready to perform. He would also like to integrate these rhythms and dances into the life of the church. Traditionally these rhythms are not played for their own sake, like how a band plays a concert that people just watch, rather they are played in support of a dance associated with each rhythm. The dances are danced for specific purposes and occasions such as baby naming, birth, death, fishing, farming, circumcision, weddings, and all kinds of other daily activities in the community.

Jay did a little bit of talking last night during class. He started talking about West African drumming and how it reflects West African culture at large. The rhythms that we are learning to play are referred to as "polyrhythms," that is, members of the ensemble are playing different parts simultaneously that lock in together and make a cohesive rhythm.

Check out these three videos below; the first two are djembes one and two played separately. The third is the rhythms played together, as they would be in an ensemble. This is two djembe parts for Kassa-a Malinke rhythm from Guinea, West Africa that is played when crops are being harvested in the field.

So ya, you have to know your own part really well, but you also have to know the other parts and how they all work together. This is a fairly simple example of polyrhythms; the version of Kuku that we are learning has three djembe parts, three dunun (bass drums) parts, with bells, some verbal call and response, with some djembe soloing winding in and out of the rhythm as well. There is a lot going on.

In traditional West African culture, individuals are encouraged to excel-know their djembe part and play it well, but they are also expected to work with others toward the success of the entire community-be able to play as part of the ensemble. In traditional West African society, if an individual or family has a problem, then it is thought that the entire village has the problem. It seems like a healthy way for a community to operate.

Then we went outside and turned some cars over and threw trash cans through store fronts. No, I'm kidding about the trash cans.

But ya, this is what we learn, the ways of indigenous people (before they were destroyed by colonization) and how cultures that we once needed to "civilize" and decimate make a lot more sense than many of the institutions we live in today.

Of course there was more and Jay was a lot more articulate and passionate, but I wanted to express that class is more than just drumming.

I Just Can't Live Without My Radio!

Man, is that cool or what. I just have a radio or some headphones on when I work in the garden. These guys actually get drummers and dancers that accompany them to the fields to work! Here is an audio sample courtesy of DrumSkull Drums in Santa Cruz, CA.
This is the front of the album cover. The back of the album is farther down.

The Malinke people who inhabit the savannah woodlands of upper Guinea are intimately connected to the land on which they live. They live as subsistence farmers in a harsh environment, where mere survival requires great strength and hard work. At the heart of their culture is an ancient music that accompanies almost every significant event of village life. This music is a vehicle for joy and sorrow, which is expressed through song and dance. When they head out to the fields, farmers are often accompanied by the village musicians, whose music helps set a tempo for the work. Imagine groups of farmers singing and moving to the rhythm of the music while they work - it is a beautiful sight. In this recording Mansa Camio and his group Sofoli play traditional Malinke music that would normally accompany farmers as they work in the fields.*

*From the cd description at DrumSkull Drums.