And The Beat Goes On!

Tonight, Sekou Soumah, founder of the Tam Tam Mandinque Outreach Drum & Dance Program in Portland and master djembe (a West African drum) player, was guest artist at a performance of the EOU African Drum Ensemble. This 17 or 18-member group was made up of students, and was led by Luke McKern (whose guitar work we have appreciated for some time, but had no clue that he was a darn good African drum player as well). The opening piece lasted over 20 minutes, and rocked the building. Very high energy stuff. Little kids in the audience were jumping up and down and shouting. Later, he brought audience members up to the stage to join the drummers in learning some African dances.

Here is Sekou, from an EOU photo:




And from an EOU Press Release:

SOURCE: EOU University Advancement News and Events

The Eastern Oregon University African Drumming Ensemble will perform an informal family concert next Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in McKenzie Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public.

Sekou Soumah will be the guest artist performing. The evening will start with a short set of pieces played by the entire ensemble, followed by a small group that will accompany Soumah playing traditional and improvised solos. After a brief intermission, Soumah will invite the audience members up on stage for a quick beginning lesson in West African Mandingue dance. Parents and children are encouraged to participate. Socks, shoes or bare feet are all permissible.

Soumah, founder of the Tam Tam Mandingue Outreach Drum & Dance program in Portland, just returned from a lengthy performing tour of West African and Europe. As only one of seven certified djembe instructors of the Tam Tam Mandingue program, Soumah focuses on inner city youth in Portland and Vancouver, giving them opportunities to learn about Mandingue music and culture.

In April, the EOU Drumming Ensemble will be performing at the Seattle World Percussion Festival, a three-day festival that focuses on rhythms of the world. This is the first appearance at the festival for the ensemble.

As usual, we found a balcony vantage point favoring the acoustics.





It all brought back memories of living on Venice Beach before I met Kim. >I particularly recall one Thanksgiving when drumming started at dawn on the beach, lasting well into the night, led by an individual reputed to be a drummer in some royal African tribal court. He always attracted a big following among the local musicians, some playing African drums and bongos, some just banging on buckets or whatever was at hand. I guess this is drumming consciousness month; from Buddy Rich to Sekou Soumah.