Kanaga System Krush record label

I bumped into this record label: Kanaga System Krush. As the description on their site says, they are "an independent record label, operating on a fair-trade principle, focused on the preservation and promotion of traditional music from West Africa." The "fair-trade principles" are big words, so it would be nice to find some detailed explanation about how they work. But what is sure is that they produced a lot of interesting albums. Check the page with the artist they support.

Kenkeni classes

I started following the konkoni (kenkeni) classes with Ibrahima Sarr in Brussels. The situation is funny because the classes were meant for beginners, but the participants are far from being new to this music. Yet it is not really easy to follow for no one of us due to the feeling the Malians use. On the other hand, it's a pleasant experience, specially for the ones of us that are used to play only the djembe.

This video of a konkoni is hosted at the Virtual Intrument Museum, where you can also find a detailed description of the instrument.


Konkoni is the Malian name for kenkeni, but it looks a bit different - it has goat skins which are not very stretched and have a very resonating sound. Many times the konkoni is made of old metal barrels that produce some extra buzzing and echo. In the Bamako-style of playing, if comparing it to the well known style of kenkeni playing of some Guinean artists like M.Keita or F.Konate, the konkoni carries out much more variations and it is often the only instrument to accompany the djembe.

How to lower the djembe skin

Last month I encountered a problem that is well known to everyone that ever tried to mount a skin: I couldn't lower the rings enough. The reason was that the skin I mounted was very thick and I didn't lower the rings enough when the skin was still wet. In fact, I needed a not-too-tight djembe for the accompaniment, but it was difficult to play with this one.
Then, after a week, I got this brilliant hint from Sega. Here is the procedure to lower the djembe skin after it has dried, assuming that the circles are not too tight:

1. Untie the knots, if there are some, so that the skin looses some tension. Only the verticals should remain.
   
2. Turn the djembe around for 180 degrees so that it stays steady with its head on the floor.
   
3. Put in a glass or two of tepid water.
   
4. Wait from three up to five minutes (five when you have a very thick goat skin).
   
5. Turn the djembe around so that the water goes out and wipe the remaining water, if possible.
   
6. Wait for fifteen minutes. The humidity will go through the skin and reach its upper layer.
   
7. You can start pulling the verticals again. Take note that the skin has already been stretched and it could lower more than you expect, so go easy at the beginning.