Month: June 2011
-
How to Re-Head a Djembe by Shorty Palmer
Have you ever broken your skin on your drum or had your head pop on your djembe drum? I remember way back when I had just bought a new drum at a Mamady Keita workshop from Drumskulls. After the drum class when I arrived back home I put it in my kitchen and walked in… Read More »
-
Camp Fareta West African Dance and Drum Camp 2011 -Youssouf Koumbassa and Mamady Keita!
If you have been looking for a summer activity or always wanted to do a drum intensive or simply experience West African drumming, dance and music and can’t make it all the way to West Africa here is the next best thing, African dance camp. Not only do you get to drum and dance as… Read More »
-
Amazing Dancer, “Lasensua” from Canada to Maui and beyond!
I have had the great opportunity to know and to have been playing for Lasensua for over 20 years or more. I first met her on the Big Island of Hawaii. Lasensua has lived, studied & performed in many areas of the world. Her travels started in 1974, when she became immersed in Hawaiian culture… Read More »
-
DVD review: Ultimate Guru Music presents, “The Art of Fusion Drumming” by Taufiq Qureshi
I recently received a 2 DVD set from Ultimate Guru Music Company in India of a very interesting musical percussion artist named Taufiqu Queresh. The first thing I noticed is the quality of the box, artwork and packaging. Very well done! When you open the box there is full color booklet attached to the box… Read More »
-
Mano Secreto; Demystifying the secret hand technique for conga drums
Have you heard of the Mano Secreto? It is the secret hand technique used and first made popular by percussion legends Changuito and also Giovanni Hildago. Prior to these great conga players there was another player named tat Guines in Havana Cuba who was developing this technique. Why is it secret? Because until recently (well… Read More »
-
Going beyond the drum circle; learning to play your drum correctly
You have just been to your first drum circle and you are fully charged up and excited to play drums. Or maybe you have been to several drum circles or drumming events. It was fun and exciting to play your drum with other people. You want to do it more and more. So what happens… Read More »
-
Studying West African drumming in Mali part one
My first trip to Africa was to Mali ,West Africa. I was always scared to go to Africa even though all my friends and students had already gone and the reports were always very positive. I was scared of getting sick. I heard the horror stories of people getting sick there, the poor hospitals, bad… Read More »
-
What is a djembe solo and the four types of djembe solos
I love to play djembes and I also love to study the music we make with djembes. Djembe soloing is a very small part of djembe music as a whole. The djembe is a communal drum and is about community and unity. We all (myself included) get caught up in being the soloist as it… Read More »
-
My new DVD, How to Play Afro Cuban Congas has been released today on earthcds.com
My latest instructional DVD, “How to Play Afro Cuban Congas” has just been relased today on earthcds.com. This DVD features almost everything I have learned in the last 25 years or more studying, learning, teaching and performing conga drums around the world. There is in depth looks at all the major rhythms with break down… Read More »