Drumming Up Interest Dozens Gather To Learn From Top African Djembe Player
The drumbeat came to life.
Like a swift-pounding heart, it filled the room with urgency, vim, energy that consumed the people.
“Don’t think about the technique,” said Mamady Keita, his legs cradling a tall drum known as a djembe (pronounced “jim-bay”). “Don’t think too much. … If you’re in the rhythm, it carries you.”
Some played as though possessed Saturday. Eyes closed, heads grooving to the beat, they quickly struck the djembes to create the same hypnotic strain.
Their music was part of this weekend’s West African drumming workshops at Eastern Washington University’s Spokane campus. They were taught by Keita, a djembe master from Guinea who travels all over the world to teach and play his art.
More than 40 people attended the beginning djembe class Saturday morning. From bearded hippies with ponytails and tie-dyes to clean-cut men in navy polo shirts, they all came to play the djembe and take lessons from the man dubbed the best drummer in Africa.
“Koro-koto-koto-ko,” Keita intoned, his voice accompanied by the tinkle of bells tied around his ankle. “Ba-pee-ba.”
The class began to echo the rhythm on their own djembes, goblet-shaped drums carved by hand from tree trunks. Goat or antelope skin is fastened to the drum shell by rawhide or cord to help create the dynamic range of sound.
Saturday morning’s participants appeared to focus on Keita’s hands, their earnest eyes concentrating on his every movement. Others simply played, repeating the exact drumbeat.
“I love the energy of the drum,” said Michael Moon Bear, owner of Moon Shadow, a Spokane store that sponsored the event. “When you play with that much energy, you need intent. If you have no focus, it’s chaotic.”
Bear, who’s played the djembe for eight years, brought Keita to Spokane last year. He was floored by Keita’s style - aggressive, he said, yet full of joy. Bear, who will spend a month this fall studying with Keita in Brussels, plans to bring the drum master to Spokane every year.
“Your whole body gets into it,” said Marti Martin of Spokane, who attended the beginners’ workshop. “You internalize the drum, pick up the rhythm and allow it to come out of your hands.”
There’s something Zenlike about the whole experience, drummers say. Playing djembe is indeed physical, but the intoxicating rhythms also “come from some deep place inside,” said Pam Silverstein of Spokane. The beat, they say, helps center them.
“It’s total relaxation,” said Lucas Hieronymus, who’s played the djembe for eight months. “I’m almost in a meditative state…. It makes me feel good.”
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