Sega Sidibe in March (second part)

There was a course with Sega Sidibe this weekend in Dudelange (on the frontier between Luxembourg and France). The extraordinary Malian djembefola left a strong impression on the participants. While his didactic approaches are typically African (one needs some experience to understand the logic of the things he is showing) the results were amazing. Maybe it was because of the things he played and the way he did it, but I guess the magic was more about the things he said or simply the presence of himself alone at the course. I admit I was a little skeptic about it before going because I don't like endless talks about the nature of this instrument, but any musical advice of this man, that has been in the business since the 60s, is simply genuine and straightforward. On the top of it I need to say that the man has a very lively temper: you'll laugh with him very much, but as soon as you disrespect his explanations you may find yourself in trouble - he won't let you play just whatever you think you've learned in your short career. But in the end, considering the respect he has earned, he is entitled to do that.

This is a presentation video made by the organizer of Sega's trips to Europe, PercussieXpress.


Hereunder is a provisional translation of the video with some translation remarks in square brackets:
"My name is Sega Sidibe. I come from Wasolon, from a village named Fogamana [I didn't get the name of the village exactly]. I came to Bamako at the age of 16 or 17, aproximately. It was right before the independence.

The tradition has to be preserved. The drummers that have the chance to come here [Europe, West, etc.] are the drummers from the ballet [the non-traditional type of drumming]. That's not Africa. That is a show, and so... The djembe doesn't know that. All that is like in the theatre. I'm saying that the djembe has a deeper meaning.

Nowadays drummers don't know these things because they started with the ballet and they know only stuff from the ballet. They don't know Sega [speaking about himself] and they think that Sega doesn't know the ballet, but Sega has done some 35 years in the ballet. 35 years as a solist in the ballet. Sega knows the ballet well. You can play as you like... Some play as the congas... But really, the djembe is not like that.

The one that knows the djembe knows also the phrases. Maybe one doesn't know all the words, but every word, every phrase is made of letters. There are people who understand all that.

I got to know the djembe like that but today it is not like that any more. The goal was to make the atmosphere and, let's call it like this, the solidarity. "

Malian dance classes with Brahima Coulibaly

There was a very good Malian dance course in Brussels this week-end with Brahima Coulibaly, one of the best dancers from Mali. He was accompanied by his standard crew and it is always a great pleasure to playing with these guys as the atmosphere is always very positive and the quality of the accompagning music is inspireing.

Regular classes with Brahima are held during the week in Brussels, but week-end courses like this one are often happening in Italy, France, and elsewhere.

Brahima is not dancing in this video, instead he is playing the djembe solo. Sometimes he just grabs an instrument close by and releases some nice beats. There are more videos with him dancing on the Facebook group of the organizers of the last event, Zazimut Asbl. There's also a blog with further info.

Practicing on a wooden cutting board - the djembe practice pad

I started practicing on a wooden cutting board about 6 months ago. After all this time I can say it turned out to be quite a productive exercise - in fact I noticed an improvement in the quality of the sound that I make on the real skin. The things you need: a thick wooden cutting board, a belt to tie the board on your legs, and an allready developed technique of hitting tones and slaps. The aim is be to be able to produce distinct tones and slaps while not hurting yourself even a bit. Not changing the position of the hand while hitting tones and slaps is also important. In this way you get the feeling of how to modulate the sound with the tension in each of the four fingers, and also you become aware of why and when exactly you should change the position of the hand for tones and slaps on the real skin. The bad side is that the wood doesen't vibrate, so for example there is no change in the sound when you keep your hands more or less stiff.

Intercontinentals

It's a little bit late to do a review of an album after four years that it's been out, so I'll be short. I've been checking the album Intercontinentals, from Bill Frisell, et al. One of the contributors is Sidiki Camara, who plays djembe, kalabash, and other percussion on this album. He plays in a minimalistic way - totally suited for this kind of music, adding a strong Malian rhythmic background.

Here is a video of a live performance with Sidiki Camara (this time on the kalabash), Bill Frisell, Gerg Leisz, Jenny Scheinman, and last but not least: Djelimandy Tounkara!

Abdoulaye Diabate

Finally, a video of my first balafon teacher popped up on YouTube. A young griot from Bobo-Dioulasso, his name is Abdoulaye Diabate known as "Petit Abdoulaye". He is really a nice person and a good musician.