Hooked On Drums

2010-02-13T11:21:00.001-06:00

2010-02-13T10:36:00.001-06:00

The Visitor: Billy Nankouma Konate in Chicago

2009-04-13T19:56:00.026-05:00

The project to invite Billy Nankouma Konate to work with Hooked on Drums' ever-growing body of participants has been long in the making, with concentrated efforts in the past year of programming in particular . Concrete planning began in 2006, in Loshausen, Germany--at a performance by Billy Nankouma's band, Konatekounde and Hamana Tolon. In October, 2008, once funding had come through, we stepped up our efforts to provide as much pre-project training to as many Chicago youth as possible, and by February 2009, we had a base of 300 students to select from for participation in the week-long intensive drum camp with Billy Nankouma Konate at the Hooked on Drums studio. For weeks and months, Jim and Lilian have been busily preparing for the Visitor's arrival!

In a broader sense, the project has been in the works ever since Hooked on Drums' founder Lilian Friedberg first met Billy Nankouma Konate in Conakry in 1988.

Since 1994, Friedberg's professional youth performing ensembles (Nankouma Drum Corps) have been named after Billy Nankouma Konate, and the vision of Hooked on Drums has always been geared toward collaboration with this artist. With generous support from the WalMart Corporation, the MacArthur Foundation, parent and community volunteers, local restaurants and businesses (Italian Fiesta Pizzeria, Valois Cafeteria, Dunkin' Donuts, Hyde Park Produce and Piccollo Mondo), we were able to realize one of our biggest and most long-standing goals!

The project was tremendously successful and culminated in a spectacular performance at Kennicott Park, followed by a reception in the Hooked on Drums Studio on April 9, 2009.

In the days immediately preceding the Visitor's arrival, dunduns were tugged at and tweaked

The Visitor blew into town on a frosty April day--and was picked up in "grand style" by a team of Hooked on Drums VIPs, who insisted that the first stop be a trip to Obama's house, followed later by a flat tire which--as any visitor to West Africa knows, is a feature of any bona fide drum camp, not a bug!

Finally, the Visitor had arrived

And joined us for a 2-hour session with our advanced group, the Nankouma New Recruits

Followed by a reception, with traditional soul food lovingly prepared by Miss Bev (fried chicken, seafood gumbo, cornbread, greens, veggie tray, mac n cheese!)

We are eternally grateful to all the volunteers who helped make this happen: especially parent Mina Nakano, who was in the studio all day, every day, and Miss Miller, who came in daily for KP duty, MaryBeth, Jake Towers, the staff at Kennicott Park and all the parents who came out for Wednesday night rehearsal and the concert. Kyoji Nakano captured the whole performance on film and video, and without his efforts, there would have been no Easter eggs in our Youtube basket. We could NOT have done this without them! Inike!

Mina and Miss Miller:

Mina and MB:

Kyoji and Billy:

Mina and Kyoji:

The kids kept telling me I was crazy to set up a 4-day, all day (9-5) drum camp: with extra rehearsals til 8 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday. I told them, "If you haven't yet figured out that I'm out of my mind, then you haven't been paying attention--the motto for this camp is Drum.Till.You.Drop. And a few of them did.....

But no one dropped out--instead, they got up again....and the beat went on...

and on....

and on

Billy just kept saying, "These kids are hardcore!"

It's not like we didn't feed them....

At some of Obama's favorite restaurants:

And at the park

Or give them some time to socialize

time for R and R

(and French lessons!)

And hanging out on the couch

Or watching videos...

Or creating a completely new hangout in the studio from what was originally designed to be a purely decorative corner:

Guess I should have figured those pillows would come in handy for something someday!

Meanwhile, costumes were being sown by tailors at Djenne Collection--specially made for the Nankouma Konate events. We knew the fabric had to exist--Billy looked for it in Guinea shortly before he came to Chicago, but didn't find it. But there it was--just down the way on 95th St.

African Obama Fabric.

We had to have it!

Didn't look like much on these front and rear view shots in my kitchen, but I knew they would be a hit!

Parent volunteer Mina Nakano--mother of all trades!--fitted the kids and managed costumes throughout the dress rehearsal and performance:

Parents began arriving, and excitement mounted....

Till the next day

when, after a little warm up in the studio

The show went on!

If you missed us live, you can always catch us on YouTube: the concert has been posted in its entirety (9 clips). We are so proud of our youth participants, their parents, our volunteers and community, and are extremely grateful to the growing number of sponsors helping to make all this possible with their generous support, in particular The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and WalMart Corporation.

The Hooked on Drums Studio: A Year in Pictures

2009-03-13T23:25:00.039-05:00

It's been an exciting year in the new studio space at Kennicott Park. It's only when you sit down to record the year in pictures that you realize just how much has happened in that space--it's hard to know where to begin.

Maybe the best place is where you left off: with the toddlers and the Nankouma Drum Core.

It is an incredible instructional space, one that has grown and changed to suit programming needs over the last year. It's fantastic for drumming, as the toddlers can certainly attest.

But they also know it's a great place for a pillow fight!

I was hesitant about taking on the toddlers: there's a reason Hooked on Drums does not accept children under 6 years of age in our programs. Kids that age do have the capacity to absorb the rhythms--what they often don't have is the motor coordination to execute the technical aspects of the musicianship.

What is more, I am not trained in early childhood education, but I've found ways to get through to the "munchkins" all the same--and many of them are now actually beginning to produce intelligible songs on the instruments. Mostly, though, when it comes to the toddlers, I'm in it for the "love"--and there's plenty of that to go around.

It makes more sense to start them when they're between 6, 7 and older--here some shots from our Saturday open classes with that age group, taken by parent volunteer Kyoji Nakano:

The Nankouma Drum Core

Our advanced performing group, the Nankouma Drum Core, continued its rehearsals and performances, kicking off the year with a performance at a national conference on community organizing, "Getting It Done" at the UIC Forum in downtown Chicago, sponsored by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Some members of the Core, native Chicagoans, had never been downtown before, and that's not unusual in these parts, really--providing our youth with exposure to many different environments outside their south side neighborhoods is a major aspect of our work. It was like taking them to Paris!

The group performed and was well-received by an enthusiastic audience of about 800 community organizers from around the country.

(More photos from the conference here).

In preparation for the conference, Nankouma hunkered down in the studio for a "drum till you drop" day--complete with pizza party and video screenings.

In March, Hooked on Drums received a generous award from the Chicago Community Trust's Young Leaders Fund, and some of our new recruits from the program at Harvard Elementary gave their first public performance in the luxurious Ivy Room at Tree Studios the (Brochure in PDF).

With the generous support of LISC/QCDC, and Harvard School of Excellence, we were able to offer summer programs at the studio:

Our sponsors were very understanding about our need to provide door-to-door transportation to students, most of whom would not be able to get to us without it. Many of the neighborhoods we serve are plagued with gun violence: last year alone, nearly 30 CPS students lost their lives to it! And public transportation is often not an option for kids who must pass through several gang territories to get to us. We're glad there are services like ThrePar Transportation to meet this need--and we feel good about being able to support local family-owned businesses! We were able to "bus" kids in from all over the city.

Thanks again to LISC, Harvard School of Excellence and CCT! They say the fist bump is the new high five!

The programs concluded with a lively, albeit somewhat chaotic, performance at the Bronzeville Community Market:

A 2008 "year in pictures" would not be complete without some pics of "zoom zoom", the "company car" purchased with generous support from Board President Jim Banks (who tapped into his 401K to make a substantial down payment)--another way we have improved our ability to meet the transportation needs of our clients.

The seating capacity of the Mazda is: 15 doundouns, two kids, and Miss Lilian--as we found out when we offered programs for 15 kids at McCorkle Elementary this summer (our interns, Mike and Marquis, helped out with the program):

While we were busy teaching kids at McCorkle, Mr. Banks held classes at the studio for a great group of students from the Homewood Flossmoor Park District, assisted by another of our interns, also named Mike.

The highlight of the summer was our participation in the Bud Billiken Parade, made possible by the generous support of our sponsors at the Chicago Community Trust (Young Leaders Fund), Local Initiatives Support Corporation/Quad Communities Development Corporation, the Open Meadows Foundation, and of course, parents, kids and the volunteers who came out to support us! We had 9 drummers on a 30-foot float...

For me, as the organization's founder, it was the fulfillment of a 15-year dream: I'd first learned of the Bud Billiken Parade from a television broadcast in Minneapolis 15 years ago, and said to myself, "That is something I have got to do!" What I couldn't have imagined was that, by the time it happened, there would be someone in every block of the crowds lining MLK Drive screaming "Miss Lilian". It's great to have finally found a community that really makes you believe "there's no place like home."

That more than made up for the fact that in the end it....well....sort of rained on our parade! What's a little early August downpour in the greater scheme of things?

Apropos rain: In June, we were thrilled to have been invited to perform at Little Black Pearl's annual "PearlFest." We were scheduled to go on stage around 2 PM, and had the kids meet at the studio about 2 hours prior to get warmed up and get into costumes. But then the rain came. Torrential downpours prevented the outdoor event from proceeding as planned. With 8 kids hopped up on sugar and the thrill of performing locked up in a 30 X 30 room for 5 hours on a Sunday afternoon...I consider it testimony to my abilities as an educator that everyone came out of it alive. (Thank goodness Miss B had some leftovers from an earlier event, and we were able to distract the kids with spaghetti about 2 hours into the ordeal!)

In the end, the kids did a fantastic job and the performance was spectacular:

In keeping with our aim to provide participants in our programs with as much exposure to different environments as possible--especially university and other professional settings--we hit the road at the start of the school year and took two of our most accomplished apprentices to perform with us at Beloit College. We didn't get any shots of the performance, but took time out for some "R and R" at the Turtle Island Park in Beloit.

A great time was had by all, and when it was over: Marquis said, "Now I know for sure, I am going to college!" Guess we must be doing something right! The boys are too young to remember Gilligan's Island, so they don't quite get what we mean when we refer to these two as "the Skipper and Gilligan". But, seeing them in action, anyone's who old enough to know cannot help but recognize the routine!

For the second consecutive year, Nankouma was invited to perform on the Global Beats stage at the annual "Adventures in Travel" expo in Rosemount. This year, they were asked to help event organizers "drum up business"--on what happened to be the snowiest day of the year!

When asked by reporters at the Chicago Tribune and Hyde Park Herald what their favorite activity had been, our performers ultimately agreed: playing in the CBS2 studio for that Saturday morning newscast.

We still haven't had time to post the clip on Youtube, but you can view it here at the CBS2 site. We haven't posted clips from the concert yet, either, but here are some photos from the performance:

What kind of adventure would be complete without a little camel riding, scuba diving and treasure hunting?

Despite the fact that we already had what is probably the largest non-retail collection of doundoun drums in the country:

contracts for off-site programming in schools required that we purchase an additional 15 of them. We ordered them from a drummaker in Africa, and headed out to O'Hare over Thanksgiving weekend to retrieve them from customs. The boys helped us tune them in the studio.

We're still short a few bells, but were blessed with a tremendous gift of 3 sets of spectacularly crafted bells from our good friend and long-time supporter, Alpha at Alpha Rhythm Roots in Toronto!

The drums are temporarily housed at Chicago International Charter School, where we're offering an after school program to 15 incredibly enthusiastic kids. Nankouma came out to help us show them what the drums are supposed to sound like:

They were on their way back from a paid performance at a suburban elementary school in Roselle, IL anyway:

When we stopped at a real Mexican restaurant in Logan Square, Amari assured us that he could not stand avocados and certainly would never eat guacamole: "Ewwwww!":

But he sure enjoyed the nachos!

Meanwhile, back in Bronzeville, we've got about 200 kids giving 25 of our other drums a good workout!

Michael came in one day to help us out!

And at the studio, kids from NKO are preparing to perform for their annual end-of-year creativity festival.

After we lost funding for our program at Harvard School of Excellence in Englewood, a lot of the kids from that program expressed interest in continuing. So we went out in search of funding for a new program just for them at the studio. By the time we finally found the funding (our sincerest thanks go out to WalMart Corporation!), all but one of them had lost interest. So we teamed up with folks at Teamwork Englewood to recruit new participants. Jim Banks is teaching the class, and our interns Mike and Marquis--two of the original participants in the program at Harvard--have Saturday jobs assisting him. We are so proud of them.

The Skipper and Gilligan recently came through for us in a big way when one of our performers had to cancel at the last minute for a Black History Month performance at Namaste Charter School. The Malinke rhythms consist of at least 5 drum voices--three of which are played on the bass drums (doundounba, sangban and kenkeni)--so the minimum number needed to perform is 4: 3 bass drums and one djembe. For logistical reasons, we only had this minimum number lined up for the performance at Namaste. Even as we pulled up to the school and started unloading drums, I had no clue about what we were going to do.

Standing on stage, I said to Marquis: "OK, here's what's going to happen: you're going to play the drums stacked: sangban and doundounba." It's not entirely unheard of--people do it all the time, but mostly with a little practice! I've never seen anyone manage to pick it up on the spot. But Marquis did! And performed spectacularly for an audience of about 300 kids.

(OK, so it took a little bribery to get him to do it, but still!)

Hooked on Drums has a New Home!

2008-01-20T09:39:00.000-06:00

Anyone who's ever been to the "Hobbithole" will have no problem understanding that Hooked on Drums has been in need of a new home--for a long time. Twenty years of stuff from Africa--instruments, fabrics, photos, miscellaneous artifacts--has been collecting dust in our garage and the nooks and crannies of our coachhouse in Woodlawn for the past decade or so.

The first week of January, we firmed up the details on a contract to rent space as part of an arts partnership with Kennicott Park, and on January 4, I entered the 30' X 30' room with a five gallon bucket of paint--and a vision.

Unfortunately, we did not take "before and afters", nor did we document the week-and-a-half-long transformation of the room--we were too busy patching, pounding and painting to gunk up the camera, and programming was scheduled to begin on January 16. When we started, the room was dreary and dull, done up in industrial green and gray. I managed to scrounge up from my iPhoto library one picture of the space before we moved in, but the shot hardly does justice to the drab:

Here's what it looks like now:

We didn't have to purchase much aside from paint and painting supplies: everything else--except some of the folding chairs, the stools, a few picture frames and some odds and ends--was already here, cluttering up the hobbithole!

On Tuesday, January 16, the room was initiated by two new groups of toddlers who are participating in a class called "Stories and Songs from Africa":

Later that day, the Nankouma Drum Core held its first rehearsal in the space:

Famoudou Konate Performing with the Chicago Djembe Project at Rhythm Nightclub, Chicago 2003

2007-12-20T08:52:00.000-06:00

Famoudou Konate Performing with Lilian Friedberg and the Chicago Djembe Project at Rhythm Night Club in Chicago, 2003

Famoudou Konate Performing with Jim Banks and the Chicago Djembe Project at Rhythm Night Club in Chicago, 2003

Famoudou Konate Performing with the Chicago Djembe Project (Walter Afable on Djembe accompaniment; Steve Foster on Kenkeni) at Rhythm Night Club in Chicago, 2003

Famoudou Konate and Jim Banks on Djembe, Chicago Djembe Project Performance at Rhythm Nightclub, Chicago, 2003

Famoudou Konate in North America

2007-12-20T08:50:00.000-06:00

How Master Drummer Famoudou Konaté Came to the United States

Famoudou Konaté, 27-year veteran first soloist for the National Ballet of Guinea (Les Ballets Africains), was not very well known in the United States in 1993 when I returned from nearly a decade living abroad—in Europe and Africa. But he was well known in Europe—and in Africa, his name was legendary.

For years—from 1993—1999, I tried everything in my power to arrange for Konaté to come to the United States to teach so American students could have the opportunity to study the drums of the Malinke with this master of masters who had been my teacher since 1986: I translated from the German materials about him and by him, distributed copies of his first CD to event organizers throughout the country, I wrote grants; I talked and I taught. To no avail. It was like trying to get people excited about Wynton Marsalis in a place where no one had heard of him! I'm fairly certain that my article, Djembe: Drum with a Thousand Faces, when it was published by Percussive Notes in 1993, was one of the the first print references to Konaté in the US.

From 1986—1993, I not only studied with Konaté in Europe and at his home in Conakry, I organized workshops and concerts for him and his ensemble in Germany. In 1987, I attended Konaté's first European workshop in the south of France, and in 1988, I was among the participants at his first workshop in Simbaya--the suburb of Conakry that has since become a bustling cultural mecca for djembe enthusiasts all over the world. Images from those early days in Simbaya are posted here.

With the advent of the internet, word began filtering through to North American communities about these drummers—Famoudou Konaté and Mamady Keita, who had quickly become the top two names in Djembe drumming in Europe after the death of Sekou Touré in 1986, when musicians from Guinea's national ballets began their work as independent artists in Europe.

In 1999, I teamed up with an African American marketing and promotions professional from Leo Burnett/Frankel/Arc Worldwide--Jim Banks--to begin the hard work of elevating the study of djembe drumming in the US to the same level it had reached in Europe under the influence of artists like Konaté. We formed the Chicago Djembe Project and organized workshops for Mamady Keita—bringing him to Chicago for the first time as an independent artist. At the same time we organized dance workshops with Moustapha Bangoura, who began his work as choreographer for Muntu Dance Theatre at that time. With these developments, the level of knowledge and expectations surrounding djembe instruction was elevated substantially in Chicago.

By late 1999, the commercial market seemed ripe for a Famoudou Konaté Workshop tour. We called Famoudou at his home in Germany to ask if he would like to come to the United States. Word on the street was that Famoudou had had some negative experiences with what he called “reverse racism” in his years touring with the Ballet and had vowed never to come to the US. We were able to change his mind.

Based on what I’d told him about how Konaté’s workshops in Europe had succeeded in producing several generations of highly proficient djembe drummers, Jim Banks designed and created a marketing concept—the “mini-camp” model. American students weren’t accustomed to 4-hour classes in which not only the djembe was taught, but where a rhythm was treated as a whole: doundounba, sangban, kenkeni and djembe. The first year, it was a hard sell—especially since the fees for these workshops were higher than people were used to, but commensurate with the teacher’s qualifications, the quality of instruction and above all, the accuracy and authenticity of instructional material.

We got busy. Applied for and secured Konaté’s work visa. Translated materials never before available in English from German and French. We rented space at the University of Chicago, where I had just finished my Master’s Degree, got out the rollodex and mobilized Jim Banks’ marketing machine! Voila! The students came. In droves, and from all over the country and Canada. The workshops sold out and were a smashing hit.

I contacted Annegret Baier--at the time she was the only person in North America whom I knew to have also studied with Konaté: we'd met at Konaté's first workshop in Guinea, in 1988. She hosted a workshop and performance in Portland, ME that first year.

Over the years, we added additional cities--we chose Boston because we wanted a bigger East Coast city than Portland, ME: in the last year, we packed up the drums in a U-Haul trailer and drove to the East Coast, where we held workshops in Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia. On the way back, we hit Toronto for a four-day event, then returned to Chicago before flying out to Portland, OR for the final leg of the tour.

Our approach to marketing Konaté included a strong community element to reflect the Chicago Djembe Project mission: respect and cooperation across cultures and genders through the African djembe drum tradition—so our workshops were strategically located to make them accessible to attendees from throughout the city—in Kenwood, Hyde Park and other South Side neighborhoods. One year, we brought Famoudou to play at Chicago’s “Conga Square”—the 63rd Street Beach spot where so many local drummers have gotten their start. We also brought Famoudou to work with children in our programs at Kennicott Park—photos from that event are available here, and arranged a workshop for youth members of the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble in Fort Wayne. In 2003, Famoudou Konate joined the Chicago Djembe Project on stage for an unforgettable concert at Rhythm Nightclub.

In 2005, Konaté changed management. Konaté still comes to Chicago once a year—managed by a former student of the Chicago Djembe Project whom we introduced to Konaté in 2000, and who, for a short time, performed as an apprentice in the Chicago Djembe Project Ensemble. His organizers still work according to the “mini-camp”and business models developed by Jim Banks. But the workshops have become essentially inaccessible to a lot of people on the South Side because they take place in a remote northern suburb and require online pre-registration.

We are thrilled to see that our work has succeeded in making Famoudou Konaté a household name in North American djembe drumming--and that it has elevated the level of professionalism in terms of instruction, marketing and compensation for master drummers in North America, but our work is not complete unless we can bring this music--and the masters of this music--to the people who need it most, but can afford it least.

We present here a sampling of snapshots from our years on the road with Famoudou Konaté. This collection is by no means comprehensive or systematic.

Famoudou Konaté Workshop Photos, Chicago 2000 (FK2K)

Famoudou Konaté Workshop Photos, Portland, ME 2000 (FK2K)

Famoudou Konaté Performing with Lilian Friedberg and the Chicago Djembe Project in Portland, ME, 2000

Famoudou Konate Workshop in Chicago, 2001 (FK2K1)

In 1999, Anna Melnikoff brought a group of extremely appreciative drummers to study with Lilian Friedberg at a Chicago Djembe Project Woodshed in Chicago:

Like so many others in North America, the group had never experienced this kind of instruction on the djembe, and when Anna Melnikoff went to Guinea later that year, she found that what she'd learned in the woodshed was exactly the same thing that was being taught by Konate at his home in Guinea.

This ultimately led to collaboration with Famoudou Konate, and his first workshops in Toronto.

Famoudou Konate Workshop in Toronto, 2001 (FK2K1)

In 1998, Keitu Oladuwa first met Lilian Friedberg and Jim Banks at a Mamady Keita workshop in St. Louis. After that, he and other members of the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble began studying regularly with the Chicago Djembe Project.

Lilian Friedberg teaching members of the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble at the University of Chicago, 2001

These collaborations culminated in a workshop with Famoudou Konate in Fort Wayne. Here some images of Famoudou Konate teaching members of the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble in Fort Wayne, 2001

Famoudou Konate's Home in Guinea: Where it all began

2007-12-20T08:40:00.000-06:00

The work of Hooked on Drums began here, at Famoudou Konate's home in Guinea, in 1988, when I traveled to Africa for the first time:

These images from those early years--1988/89, the first year Konate hosted European students at his home in Simbaya, and 1990/91, the year recordings were made for the now classic Konate CD: Rhythmen der Malinke--are too precious for the slideshow format.

Here is the baobab: you could see it for miles around, a signpost--wherever you were in the surrounding area, you could just look for the baobab and go in that direction to get "back home" to Famoudou's house.

By the time I returned to Simbaya in the year 2000, the tree was in severe distress. By 2002, it was gone. Diablo's deeds, so they said.

One of my first days in Guinea--a festival in Conakry, where Famoudou Konate was playing, with Douda Kourouma on Doundounba.

Nanyuma in the kitchen, 1988

Nanyuma in the kitchen, 1988

Nanyuma and Djakka in the courtyard, 1988

Nanyuma and Adama preparing dinner, 1988

Fanta Kaba with German workshop participants, 1988

Billy Nankouma Konate, 1988

I returned to Guinea in 1990/91: the year that Paul Engel was contracted by the Ethnomusicological Museum of Berlin to make field recordings for the now classic inaugural Famoudou Konate CD, Rhythmen der Malinke. If you look closely at this shot from the recording session in Dubreka, you can see the mike attached to the chair:

Here are photos from another recording session. Former members of Les Ballets Africains can be seen here, as well as the legendary djembefola Fadouba Olare

Legendary Djembefola Fadouba Olare, 1988

This recording session, behind the Konate compound (in the area that now houses the classroom and Konate's private lodging), was interrupted by the death of one of the drummer's sons who drowned in a well that day.

The Konate family at the home of Famoudou Konate in Simbaya, 1990/91

Bijou Konate, 1990/91

Billy Konate, Djakka Konate, Bijou Konate, 1990/91

Billy Konate, Djakka Konate, Bijou Konate, 1990/91

Fode Konate preparing the head on my first doundounba, 1990/91; Billy, Djakka and Bijou watch

Djembe Drumming in Djermany

2007-12-20T07:59:00.000-06:00

Lilian Friedberg performing with students from her djembe classes in Bonn, Germany, Summer Solstice, 1991

I said in another post that coming to the US in 1993 as a long-time student of Famoudou Konate was like trying to get people excited about Wynton Marsalis in a place where no one knew who he was. For someone who'd been involved in the first wave of djembe drumming to hit the German "scene" in the late 80's--following the death of Sekou Toure, the historical event that made it possible for artists from Guinea to begin their work as independent artists in Europe, a development that ultimately led to their subsequent success on the US American market--coming to the US as a djembe drummer in the early 90s was fraught with difficulties. The situation was complicated by the fact that I was female, and the notion that women were not even allowed to touch the djembe was widespread in the US. Had I been a man, it might have been easier. The fact that I am neither black nor white didn't help much: I was returning to the country to care for my then 104 year old great grandmother--when she died at the age of 107, she may well have been the oldest living Ojibwe in the state of Wisconsin.

After ten years in Europe, I was wholly unprepared to confront the complex maze of identity politics I was about to enter when I landed in O'Hare that day, in the heat of the Rodney King riots. As a mixed blood American Indian, returning to my "Homeland", my "roots," my "Africa," as it were, wasn't going to be as easy as I'd thought.

In Germany, it was self-evident that a woman--regardless of ethnic or racial descent--should be as capable and able to play djembe as anyone else. Silvie Kronewald, Famoudou Konate's "right hand man" in Europe for many years, had set the tone on that score:

Promotional Photo for Famoudou Konate Ensemble, Famoudou Konate, Paul Engel, Silvie Kronewald and Fanta Kaba

Silvie Kronewald performing with the Famoudou Konate Ensemble, Wuppertal, 1991

Paul Engel, Alseny Camara, Famoudou Konate, Concert in Wuppertal, 1991

Famoudou Konate, Silvie Kronewald, Paul Engel, Concert in Wuppertal, 1991

At the time, women made up the bulk of participants in Famoudou Konate's workshops--both in Europe and in Guinea. In Europe, I was not an anomaly. In the US, I was viewed as an alien landing from another planet.

I don't have many images to offer from those early years: no photos from that first European workshop with Famoudou Konate in Toulouse, only a few photos from workshops with Soungalou Coulibally in Freiburg, here is one:

I have very few photos from the myriad Famoudou Konate concerts and workshops I attended from 1987-1993. We were too busy drumming and dancing to take pictures, and this photo from the recording sessions of the now classic Famoudou Konate CD produced by the ethnomusicological of Berlin (Rhythmen der Malinke) in Guinea speaks volumes:

Pictures weren't a priority: practice was!

Here's a shot of Alseny Camara, at the percussion school in Wuppertal where I taught for several years. I'd organized workshops for him there the first year he came to Europe--1991. Note the Famoudou Konate Ensemble poster for concerts I'd organized in Wuppertal hanging on the wall!

And would the pictures have made matters any better? I doubt it. In the minds of most Americans, the "Hitler Channel"-view of Germans as goosestepping Nazis still prevails, even today. Just a few years ago, when I asked students in one of my German literature classes at the university why they'd signed up for my class, one of the kids said: "The only thing I know about Germany is Adolf Hitler, and I'd like to learn something else." And that was from an "educated" American--a third-year student at a public university.

In the mid-90s, I applied to a major grantmaker for a fellowship to study with Famoudou Konate in Berlin: the grant was rejected with the justification that if I wanted to study with Konate, I should do so at his home in Conakry (in August, at the height of the rainy season in Africa when the best drummers are busy teaching and performing in Europe!). Another artist was given a grant to study with some no-name drummer in Seattle. I resisted the temptation to write the grantmaker, asking if there was something I didn't understand about the city of Seattle that made it more suitable to the study of African drumming than Berlin.

The same year, I applied to a state arts agency for a grant to bring Famoudou Konate to the US--the proposal was signed by Famoudou Konate, but rejected by a state arts agency based on the argument that "women are not encouraged to play these drums in Africa" (yes, I have it in writing). Famoduou was shocked. Careful observers will note that in his 1996 book, many of the images of djembe drummers are of women. According to his account, this was partly in response to the stories I told him about my adventures in America when I met with him in Berlin in 1996--on a trip I ended up financing myself.

The aversion to women playing djembe is deeply entrenched, even today. I once witnessed a budding young djembe drummer's spirit crushed when a man snatched the djembe from her hands, telling her "Women aren't supposed to play these drums!" I've purged most of the vile commentary along these lines that's been posted to our Youtube page, in response to my drumming, and to these women as well.

Nowdays, I show my young female djembe students this video before I even start teaching them--just to prepare them for what resistance may come.

In a concert at the UFA Fabrik that year, Famoudou addressed the assembled audience and told the story of how the djembe drum had actually been created--more or less by accident--by women in the kitchen, when a woman broke a hole through a mortar with a pestle:

I recently tried to explain this to an American woman I ran into in an African shop. The name Famoudou Konate apparently meant nothing to her--although she'd just explained that her son had recently begun traveling to Guinea. I said, "This is the story that Famoudou Konate told at a concert in Berlin, I have it on videotape..." She stopped me right there and said, "I don't care what they're saying in Germany--I want the story straight from Africa. For all I know, you're just making that up. I'll have to see it in writing before I believe that."

To make a long story short: I'll be posting some more contemporary images of "djembe drumming in Djermany" in the effort to help American viewers understand the extent to which djembe drumming has become a a part of public life in Germany.

Lilian Friedberg and Tina Idiado on Djembe, Bremen, Germany 1988

Famoudou Konate's 2002 European Concert Tour

2007-12-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

In 2002, Famoudou Konate and his band toured Europe and performed at my former stomping grounds, The UFA Fabrik in Berlin. I attended the concert there, and the one in Frankfurt. It was great getting together with old friends and witnessing the fruits two decades of our collective efforts to help Konate, his family, friends and fellow musicians share with the rest of the world the wonder of Malinke music. Here a few snapshots from the performances in Berlin and Frankfurt:

The obligatory aftershow photo op:

Lilian Friedberg on Bachmann Street with Djarra Konate, Billy Nankouma Konate, Nansedy Keita and Amadou Diakite.

Konatekounda & Hamana Tolon: Billy Nankouma Konate Concert in Loshausen, Germany, August 2006

2007-12-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

In the summer of 2006, I traveled to Germany and Austria to visit old friends (and some new ones). To my delight, I discovered that Billy Nankouma Konate and other drummers whom I've known since they were knee-high were offering a concert in the remote village of Loshausen just before I was scheduled to return to Chicago.

Where in the world is Loshausen, you say? Yeah, well that's what I said too. Even with Germany's incredibly sophisticated public transportation system, I doubt I'd have been able to get there without the support of my good friend Jeanne in Bonn who agreed to drive us in her car!

Fode Konate has not changed a lick since I first met him in Conakry in 1988! See what I mean? Here's a photo of Fode from 1990:

Fode Konate on Djembe, at the home of Famoudou Konate in Simbaya, 1990

It's been a lot of fun showing the kids in my classes pictures I have of these guys from when they were about 9 years old, then showing them these pictures--and video footage of them playing in Africa and elsewhere! This image of Billy Konate in 1988--as an 11-year old--is one of my favorites:

Billy Konate at the home of Famoudou Konate in Gbessia, 1988

It was interesting to note how many people in the audience were able to sing along with many of the songs, how many people in the audience knew the names of the rhythms these guys were playing.

But the killer part of the concert was when Billy invited me on stage to join them--touting me as a strong djembe drummer. I'm sure glad I don't have any video of the spectacle, because I was slightly impaired by the coupla caiparhinas I'd consumed before they pulled me up on stage!

Famoudou Konate Hooked on Drums Workshop at Kennicott Park

2007-12-20T04:00:00.000-06:00

A big part of Hooked on Drums' mission is to provide urban youth increased access to the very best instruction with masters of the tradition. A major contribution to this end was made in the spring of 2003, when we organized and facilitated workshops with Famoudou Konate for our youth students at Kennicott Park in Chicago in 2003--at no charge to the Park District, the participants or their parents.The event culminated in a community performance that was free and open to the public. The Chicago Djembe Project and Hooked on Drums Kids, joined by Famoudou Konate, performed for an enthusiastic and appreciative audience.

The pictures are priceless.

Famoudou Konate working with kids in Hooked on Drums Program at Kennicott Park, 2003...

The Performance:

Kids Entering the stage for performance with Famoudou Konate at Kennicott Park

An appreciative audience waits in anticipation

Famoudou Konate also performed with the Chicago Djembe Project and its adult Woodshed class:

Famoudou Konate with the Chicago Djembe Project

Chicago Djembe Project/Hooked on Drums instructor Lilian Friedberg on solo djembe with Famoudou Konate

Here's a clip from the show:

Blogpost for Ricky

2007-12-19T20:59:00.000-06:00

This is a blogpost extra for Ricky.

The pics are out on photobucket! Here they are as Thumbnails--check your email for better copy.
Enjoy!

The Drumline at Harvard Elementary

2007-12-19T16:47:00.000-06:00

Since September of this year, we've been working with a great group of young men in the seventh grade at Harvard Elementary. Every time I walk in the door to the school, Officer W. says, "Drumline!"--and I've taken a liking to that idea: the world's first "Malinke drumline."

In that spirit, we decided that for this--our very first performance--we'd all wear t-shirts, dark pants and tennis shoes (if possible: Jordans, what else?!) These kids have come a long way in a very short time, and we're very excited about continuing the program in January.

We're going to hold off on posting the video footage. For now, ...Hooked on Drums proudly presents these images of the Malinke Drumline at Harvard School (photos by Kenneth).

Stay tuned...we'll be back soon!

Nankouma Drum Core Performance at Centers for New Horizons, Chicago 2007

2007-12-15T06:36:00.000-06:00

In the traditional context, Malinke drumming has always been tied to events in the lives of the community. As a community-based organization, we strive to maintain this element of the tradition. So we were especially pleased and honored to have been given this opportunity to perform for the Kijana Jitu Rites of Passage Ceremony at the Centers for New Horizons this year to celebrate the transition of a fine group of young people from boys to men.

Here some clips from the event:

Jim Banks and Lilian Friedberg Teaching African Drumming in Hooked on Drums Program at Harvard Elementary, Chicago 2007

2007-12-14T11:53:00.000-06:00

Lilian Friedberg's Djembe Class at Kennicott Park

2007-12-14T08:47:00.000-06:00

Hooked on Drums' Djembe and Dundun Drums

2007-12-13T11:15:00.000-06:00

All our drums are hand-crafted by master artisans in Africa. Our fleet, which includes drums we've been collecting for over twenty years, includes over seventy doundounba, sangban and kenkeni drums as well as around 30 djembes.

Things can get pretty chaotic in the Hooked on Drums Woodshed:

But sooner or later, order is restored:

And the drums return to the classroom:

Here are some images of our drums in the making:

African Rhythm Traders has posted some great video footage of drummakers in Conakry:

Lilian Friedberg teaching Malinke Music at Kennicott Park

2007-12-12T19:49:00.001-06:00

Listen to Hooked on Drums on Chicago Public Radio's Soundmarks!

Chicago Djembe Project Workshop at Hyde Park Art Center

2007-12-12T19:34:00.001-06:00

Jim Banks Teaching Djembe Woodshed

2007-12-12T19:23:00.001-06:00

Hooked on Drums Comes to Cabrini Green

2007-12-11T12:34:00.000-06:00

The conditions for our work are often less than ideal. Urban public schools in the US are in a state of deterioration that is virtually unimaginable to people in other parts of the industrialized world—Europe in particular. Even many Americans are oblivious to this: some urban schools are so strapped for funding that teachers, parents and staff must provide such basic supplies as toilet paper. I’m not exaggerating, but don’t take my word for it: see here, here, or here.

Music education should not be a luxury, but to schools that are hard-pressed to provide such basic necessities as toilet paper, programs like ours are often all but impossible to accommodate. Many schools do not even have the physical facilities. This was the case at Byrd Academy, in Chicago’s “Cabrini Green” neighborhood. The school did not even have a gymnasium or any other room moderately suitable: we had to bundle the kids up in coats and scarves, and schlepp the drums over to the gym in the park district facility next door for each session of this 3-day program.

Were it not for the generosity of one of the school’s volunteers, Arlene Koziol, this program never would have come to pass: she and her husband paid for it out of their own pocket.

It’s a shame, really, because there is so much raw talent in these schools, it makes your head spin to think about what could be done with the proper resources. Better to be grateful for people like Arlene Koziol who are willing (and able) to dig deeply into their own pockets to bring a fraction of what could be to fruition.

The repetition of the rhythm “Balakulandyan” is probably getting rather tiresome for our regular viewers, but we have reasons for always beginning with this rhythm. It is the most straightforward of the Malinke rhythms. Even with the variations on Sangban and Doundounba, novice drummers can master it in a relatively short period of time. It allows us to teach the basic elements of dunun-technique—the open and pressed strokes, the shift to the echauffement, etc., and transmit basic skills that can be built upon as our students move on to more complex compositions.

So forgive us our monotony: here’s a clip from the program at Byrd academy.

These kids put on this production after only 3 one-hour sessions, in a 3-day program. Forgive us, too, the acoustics. Anyone who’s ever tried to teach a Malinke drumming class in one of these gymnasiums—with 15-20 drums and the kids to play them—will appreciate the difficulty of what we are doing, most often, under less than favorable circumstances.

Things can get pretty lively in our programs, and days like this, with audience participation what it is...

....Balakulandyan doesn’t seem so boring to me!

Looking back on those early years in Europe—the way most of us struggled with even these basic rhythms, the way we took so much for granted: like the ability to hop on a plane, during a six-week paid vacation, travel to Africa to study at the feet of the masters; or hop in the car, drive for 2, 4, 6 hours at 110 miles per hour on a flawless Autobahn to attend a concert, or a workshop with Famoudou Konate, Mamady Keita, Soungalou Coulibally....I am saddened that these opportunities may never be available to these kids.

Hooked on Drums is our attempt to make up for the difference. If you’d like to help us make a difference and get more kids in more places Hooked on Drums, please consider making your tax-deductible contribution via PayPal here, or via US mail, see our newsletter for details.

We are infinitely grateful to all those individuals in the public schools who are down there on the ground, day in and day out, picking up the slack for the basic needs our government and our society fails to provide these children.

Hooked on Drums: How You Can Help

2007-12-11T11:51:00.000-06:00

If you'd like to receive print copies of our annual newsletter, please send your mailing address to info at hookedondrums dot org.

If you've enjoyed viewing these pages, pics, videos... please consider helping us continue our work by making a tax-deductible contribution to Hooked on Drums. We've set up a PayPal account here. Or you can print out the appeal page of our newsletter, and mail your gift.

Famoudou Konate’s Worskhops in Guinea

2007-12-10T14:11:00.000-06:00

In 2002, we invited a couple of our Djembe Woodshed students on a trip to Famoudou Konate’s workshop in Conakry, where we joined students from all over the world—France, Germany, Japan and not least of all, the US, for a wonderful 4 weeks of study with the Konate family and others!

Here is some video footage of a student recital from that workshop at Konate’s home/school in Simbaya. Our students are on the duns, Jim Banks on Djembe accompaniment, yours truly on solo djembe—joined by other students from the workshop performing at the home of Mamady Keita in Matoto.

Enjoy! It’ s the next best thing to being there.