Student Login

  • West African drummers and dancers perform! Part #2 Djembe, dunun, balaphone and dance.

    [smooth=id:33;] West African drummer and dancer photos from live performances of Les Percussions Melenke (Bolokada Conde’s troupe in Bay Area of California) and dance classes featuring master djembe drummer and djembe fola Bolokada Conde, Nabe Bangoura (dance master teacher) and more! West African drummer and dancer photos from live performances and dance classes featuring master… Read More »

  • Influential friends, african related drummers and dancers in my world

    [smooth=id:32;height:640; width:640;] Photos of many friends and people I have learned from and studied with including the late Komoko Sano, Bolokada Conde and Karamba Diabate Read More »

  • Back in the Bay Area of Northern California, cold but beautiful!

    Hi everyone. I am back from my trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It was a great trip visitng lot’s of beautiful places, meeting some very friendly people, seeing some new temples, beautiful scenery and great weather, too! I was very lucky. I really enjoyed going to all the temples and sacred sites in Asia.… Read More »

  • Less is more!

    -Fear less, hope more. Whine less, breathe more. Talk less, say more. Hate less, love more. Trip less, dance more…… Read More »

  • mysterious quote

    The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.~Albert Einstein Read More »

  • Pandeiro Demonstration by Maestro (master drummer) Bira in Bahia Brasil

    Master Bira our folkloric Brasilian drum, dance, and song teacher performs authentic Brazilian rhythms and demonstrates proper technique for pandeiro at school in Bahia Brasil. Read More »

  • “Mali Grand Master” djembe class with Brulye and Aruna: Mendiani

    http://www.earthcds.com/africa/west/m… Aruna and Brulye teach Michael P Mendiani solo technique at a djembe class at Centre Togola in the Sabalibougou district of Bamako Mali. Music, song, djembe and dunun class and djembe lessons are held here every day of the week. If you want to study djembe in Mali, this is the place to go… Read More »

  • Ancient Buddhist temples, art, statues, Ayuthaya, Thailand world musicby Michael Pluznick

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib0v2M8NFvY Ayuthaya Thailand one hour outside of Bangkok was the scene of Thailands original renaissance. The Kingdom grew to prominence when rice was the regions most important currency. However, when Burmese troops sacked the city in 1767, the capital was moved to Bangkok. This move also signaled a shift from a purely agricultural society to… Read More »

  • Beautiful traditional Thai flute music played on the street

    Beautiful traditional Thai street flute music played on the street in Bangkok Thailand by happy musician I ran into by chance on one of my daily jaunts wandering the streets of Bangkok. Read More »

  • Mali Young Masters: Mali Djembe Drum Music Recording Session

    http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/arunabrulye The Young Guns album was recorded at the community center directly outside the huge bustling market place in Sabalibougou, a small local district of Bamako. Siaka is the leader and premier soloist of this smaller group. He goes through a variety of popular yet traditional peices of djembe music as it is played by… Read More »

  • My hand made Shekeres: Shekere Art by Michael Pluznick

    http://www.myspace.com/rhythmsofbarab… This is the shekere I was hired to create (make) for Mickey Hart formerly of the Grateful Dead. It took me hundreds of hours to complete this one and only! It now travels with Micky Harts traveling percussion museum. Read More »

  • Interview of Michael Pluznick by Maria Johannesen

    Interview by Maria Johannesen MJ: Michael, when did you begin your journey of traveling to indigenous countries to learn about their drumming (music) traditions and culture? MP: When I was 10 my parents took me to Puerto Rico island. This is more of a mixed or ‘altered’ culture. Spanish people and African slaves mixed with… Read More »

Michael Pluznick