Famoudou Konate in North America

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