JumbieRecords

A Caribbean writer's first exposure to the balafon at the Sunshine Awards

The Community Collaborator published comments about the Sunshine Awards with these observations about Jumbie Records artist Famoro Dioubate:

Famoro Dioubate of Guinea, West Africa who is known for playing traditional African music playing the Balafon which is an instrument closely related to the Xylophone; he gave a rousing performance playing for the audience, it was the first time many had ever heard the music. Dioubate is passionate about his music, he is exposing his young daughter to it and more… I didn’t go to school he said, but I want her to know more and to do more than me so I think it is important that she is here; he began playing the Balafon at age 7 and today performs with his band and Raul Ronblatt who is also h is manager. Ronblatt has been a true supporter since hearing the music, he spends as much time promoting it as he does performing with their group.

 

(image via The Community Collaborator)

 

Cameroonian xylophone adventure

There's a new African xylophone in town. A Cameroonian named Francois Nnang has been performing in the subways, and today Famoro and I (Raul) went to go visit him in The Bronx. He is a really nice man, and a wonderful performer. He gave us a demonstration of his instrument, which he made:

Here is the link for the video above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU1Cwwn0ENk

Then Famoro picked up the instrument for the first time. Here is the ensuing duet with Famoro (of Guinea) and Francois:

Here is the link for the video above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeubUMScvJ4

Xylophones in Cameroon can be large– like those in Uganda– played by multiple musicians. It is played by the Ewondo people.

Saakumu spreads the Ghana beat

I've been dying to hear about the Saakumu Dance Troupe tour. This is the first time Bernard Woma's Ghana-based group has visited the United States- congrats!

A blogger named Deier has written this about Bernard:

The leader of this group is my dear friend, professor, and peer, Bernard Woma who is my Ghana-father. Without him my experience possibly could've been as memorable but not quite as much enjoyable. He makes things happen. Upon returning to my school, I visited the International Education Chairperson and with her help, and the help of Bernard, I organized my next trip to Ghana however this time I wouldn't be traveling solo. Following an academic year of not only schooling, but budgeting, financing, advertising, trip planning, leading, and following, I led a group of 13 students and one 70 yr old woman to Ghana in 2007 for 26 days. My intentions were not only to return to a place that I had grown to love so much that previous year, but to share with others the wonderful things I had experienced. Most importantly, this included my love for the people.

For more, click here.

Also, UticaOD.com has posted videos and photos of the recent Saakumu show. For more, click "Students get into beat of African culture." Here's some screen grabs from their video:

Gyil Jam at Music Mountain (8/11)

This Saturday (Aug 11), Music Mountain will host its 2nd annual Family Festival in the beautiful Gordon Hall and lovely outdoor grounds, in Falls Village, CT.

I have been asked to return this year, will my coterie of gyil lovers, to provide a very hands-on introduction to African xylophones and percussion for those in attendance, especially the younger ones.  We had a great time last year, and it’s part of a whole day of music and performance of all styles (classical, rock, African, dance, theater), all FREE and open to the public.

For those who have not been, Music Mountain, is home to the nation’s longest continually running summer festival of chamber music, as well as great programming series in jazz and other styles.  (Imaginary Homeland played the stage last summer).  It’s in a beautiful location, 2 hours north of NYC, with plenty of other summer attractions in the area.  Hope to see you there!

-David Rogers

**

Family Festival at Music Mountain
Saturday, August 11
10:00am - 4:00pm
Directions
Falls Village, CT
FREE

Video: Famoro meets Mamadou Djeng of Senegal

I use Dallam-Dougou as a way to take risks. When I met Mamadou Djeng, a ngoni player from Senegal, I didn't really know how it would work out. He joined Dallam-Dougou for our shows earlier this month, and I was really please with the results. Here is a video of him playing with Famoro.

You can also view this at YouTube.com/rauldougou.

Kakraba Lobi concert (3/31, Brooklyn)

This Saturday (March 31) in Brooklyn, the xylophonist Kakraba Lobi of Ghana will be playing a rare NYC concert.  Kakraba is a wonderful musician, teacher, and human being, and one of the very first ambassadors to bring the “gyil” xylophone to Western audiences.  I've had the pleasure of playing with him and bringing a workshop of his to school kids in New York.  He’s appearing with Valerie Naranjo & Barry Olsen (who put in a thrilling appearance at the second African Xylophone Festival, presented by Jumbie Records).

This show is part of an exciting new Saturday nights series of “world, fusion, and experimental music” being curated by Maria Cangiano at “Night and Day” (reborn in the backroom of Biscuit Barbeque).  Other recent and upcoming shows include Candombe “music from the Rio De La Plata,” avant garde Argentine piano music, and “eastern soul music meets jazz fusion.”

Saturday, March 31, 6:30pm (Brooklyn, NY)
MUSIC FROM GHANA: KAKRABA LOBI with Valerie Naranjo & Barry Olsen
$10 cover plus drink minimum
Night and Day (backroom of Biscuit Barbecue)
230 5th Ave @ President Street / 718-399-2161
www.biscuitbbq.com

-David Rogers

Dagara Music Centre Recognized by Ghanaian Ministry of Tourism

by Mark Stone
from Jumbie Journal, July 2006

Jumbie Partner, Bernard Woma's Dagara Music Centre is busier than ever this summer. Bernard headed straight to Ghana as soon as AXF2 and his classes at Fredonia University were complete. When he arrived in Ghana he already had students from the U.S. waiting for him. Students from Bowling Green State University, Ithaca College, Concordia College, Berklee College of Music, Louis and Clark College, and the University of Arizona have all studied at the Dagara Music Center this year. At the center they learn various forms of traditional drumming, dancing, and xylophone music as well as kente weaving, batik and tie and dye making, drum making and blacksmithing.

The Dagara Music Centre, located in Medie, Ghana (a suburb of the capital city, Accra) was recently designated as an official tourist destination by Ghana's Ministry of Tourism. Bernard established the centre in 1999 to promote and popularize Ghanaian traditional music, especially the Dagara gyil (Ghanaian xylophone). Bernard personally supervises all teaching along with his staff of talented musicians, dancers, and visual artists.       

The center is also the home of the award winning Dagara Dance troupe, one of the leading traditional music and dance groups of Ghana. The troupe has many performance scheduled in Ghana this summer including a concert at the home of the US Ambassador to Ghana. The Dagara Dance Troupe is also preparing to record a DVD that is to be released by the end of the year. The group's repertoire includes a range of spiritual, ceremonial, and recreational genres. Their music and dance is joyful, expressive and highly participatory.

AXF2 Celebrates Even More African Xylophone Music in Second Year

by David Rogers                     

from Jumbie Journal, July 2006

NEW YORK – Jumbie Records once again played host this spring to the only American festival of new and traditional xylophone music from across the African continent. We were delighted to welcome many new and old friends and xylo-jumbies who gathered in New York for 3 days of music, workshops, and masterclasses. "AXF2: African Xylophone Festival #2" was produced by Jumbie Records with the support of the Center for Ethnomusicology at Columbia University, Columbia University Arts Initiative, and the 92nd Street Y.   

This year's program encompassed an even broader variety of African xylophones. New instruments included the timbila of Mozambique, the spirited namaddu (tuned drums) of Uganda, and the metallic budongo of East Africa joining the program along last year’s line-up of the spider-webbed gyil of Ghana, the balafon of the Mali empire, and the resonant embaire of Uganda.       

A special children’s concert was added at Columbia University, which sold out to standing-room-only in the Philosophy Hall. It featured spectacular performances by the St. Ann’s African Xylophone Ensemble of Brooklyn (under the direction of Susie Sokol and Bernard Woma), and A NeNe Wofa (led by Famoro Dioubate). We’ve heard from other student groups studying African xylophones in the Midwest, and are hoping to expand this concert next time.       

Our educational programming was expanded as well, to encompass three levels of students in three different teaching formats – a children’s workshop, two adult beginner’s workshops, and two masterclasses for experienced performers on the gyil and the balafon.       

The festival’s two evening concerts at Makor featured leading international and U.S. artists presenting traditional African music for ceremonies, funerals, and village festivals – as well as innovative new compositions that combine African xylophones with jazz, American fiddling, and Hungarian folk music. New artists at this year’s festival included Valerie Naranjo & Barry Olsen, Biakuye Unity Ensemble, A NeNe Wofa, and Nora Balaban’s Timbila Project. The festival concluded with a rousing premier of a new arrangement of Bernard Woma’s “Gyil Nyog Me Na”, scored by David Rogers for the Jumbie Festival Orchestra.

Thank you to everyone who helped make AXF2 a thrilling weekend of music. We look forward to seeing you all at the next African Xylophone Festival!

balafon students at Columbia      

Biakuye at Makor

packing up and heading home...

 

Bernard Woma Trio raises money for Kenyan orphanage

Last month the Bernard Woma Trio completed a brief residency at Northern Michigan University. In addition to teaching several courses at the university they headlined NMU's 3rd Annual "One World Beat" festival event. This event raised $1,847 for the Tumaini Children's Home, a Kenyan orphanage opened in 2000 to provide care for orphaned children living with HIV. For the fundraiser Bernard Woma composed a new work simply titled "AIDS". This composition was premiered at NMU and will be performed again at AXF2.

Read about the Bernard Woma Trio's response to the AIDS pandemic

Brooklyn Kids Pledge Allegiance to the Gyil

by Susie Sokol       

from Jumbie Journal, April 2005

When I first handed my second grade students mallets and let them play on the gyil (pronounced JEEL), it was love at first strike! They were instantly smitten with this African xylophone.

My college friend Derek Bermel first introduced me to the gyil when he played for me a little ditty about a hawk that falls into the bitter pito brew and spoils it. The song and story were so simple and I remember thinking, "My students will LOVE learning this." I loved the way you could sing the words to the song, "Katumba durba datoi," and then play the gyil, and hear it 'singing' those same words.

I began my study of the gyil with three weeks in Ghana, thanks to the generous support of St. Ann's, the school I teach at in Brooklyn. I spent my time in Ghana studying with the xylophone master himself, Bernard Woma, at his School of Music and Dance. The first song he taught me was called Ne wa seb. Although I had studied West African dance for ten years, I had no prior musical training. But Bernard broke the song down into six variations, which made it easier for me. As I learned the piece, I knew that Bernard had unwittingly given me the heart and soul of my curriculum on West Africa for next year.

I came back to St. Ann's with two twelve-keyed gyils fresh off the plane from Ghana. It didn't take long before the kids were asking to play the gyil in the morning (our not-so-quiet "Quiet Activity") and later in the day for "Free Choice." Ne wa seb became our class anthem, our daily pledge of gyil-legiance.

At the same time we were studying West African folktales and Kente and Adinkra cloth. The patterns in the cloth reminded some kids of the patterns in the xylophone songs. We also did a project on gourds in West Africa; after visiting the Brooklyn Museum of Art's African mask wing, we transformed our moldy gourds into animated objects.

Many of my students were just starting piano lessons, and began trying out the gyil songs on the piano. Their attempts to 'westernize' the gyil prompted terrific discussions about the difference between the Western and African pentatonic scales.

After lessons and classroom visits by Kakraba Lobi and Valerie Naranjo, Bernard Woma himself came to the US and came to my class. When Bernard teaches, he breaks the ice with the audience by getting everybody to stand up and clap and yell, "Shake your body!" over and over again. My kids and I have taken this rallying cry to heart. On one visit, Bernard was joined by Lizzie, a Ghanaian dancer. The kids were completely taken by the sight of her dancing to his gyil and the communication between them-as when the dancer waits for the "drum break" signal to move on to the next step.

I love the gyil because it is big, bulky, kind of humorous with its dangling gourds, and very kid-like. It's almost half the size of some of my students. In my own playing, I find I have to be absolutely at one with the instrument, letting go of both negative thoughts like "I'm so horrible at this" and positive ones like "Wow, Susie, you're doing so great!" I know the gyil is giving me another life lesson to share with my students.

Some of my kids are obsessed, and I mean obsessed, with the gyil. They find gyil everywhere. They'll play the songs with mallets on the rug or on a bookshelf or on a friend's back. Other kids have grown to love the cowbell; still other kids love the djembe drum -- pete pete boom bata ping bata boom.

When Bernard led my kids in a workshop last December, he was so impressed that he invited them to be part of the African Xylophone Festival this April, and to 'open' for him at Satalla. We gladly accepted the gig and the kids are devoting their free time, morning and afternoon, to practice their parts.

They are also carrying the gyil tradition to others. At our last holiday school party, my students started to teach the gyil to their parents. It was an amazing sight seeing them teaching the songs they'd learned on the gyil, coaching their parents where to hit the instrument and how to hold the mallets.

I would love for my kids' love of the gyil to inspire other schools to begin working with traditional West African instruments, as well. I like to think that my students have the power to help preserve and lengthen the life of the gyil, and in grander terms, the culture of Ghana.