Please Respect the Culture
The video below is a wonderful clip about music in Africa and the importance of music in African cultures through the exploration of Mbira, thanks to Nyumbani Productions.
I was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and when I was two years old my family moved to Chingola, Zambia where I grew up - back then a small town in the bush on the Congo border. Chingola is situated about 5,000 feet (1,520 m) above sea level in thick forest and surrounded by rivers, which eventually flow to the Zambezi river. I watched singing, dancing and the building and playing of drums and Mbira since I was a baby and have played drums on and off all my life. I heard this music and drumming since my childhood. I love Africa my Motherland, the music, people and culture. As an African I love and appreciate all the music of sub Saharan Africa. I play djembe and study classical Malinke drumming from Guinea. I listen to a lot of west African music, djembe and dunun drumming as well as kora and balafon from Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoires.
I have a business selling high quality Djembe drums, Kora, Mbira/Kalimba and other authentic African drums and musical instruments. I only sell African, high quality, traditional instruments - made in Africa. I do not sell 'African' or 'Traditional' or 'Tribal' djembes made in Indonesia, Thailand or China or any other non-African country. Those countries have great musical traditions, Djembe and Mbira are not part of it.
Please visit my website
Djembe Man Drums
The drums in the slide show are awesome djembes made in Conakry, Guinea and sound as good as they look.
I also sell when available drums and other instruments from the African Diaspora in The Caribbean, Central and South America.
Give to Africa what belongs to Africa, an Indonesian djembe is an oxymoron. Only a quality hand made instrument from Africa will sound like the real deal. Before you buy a djembe, ask where it is made.
I respect small workshops in the USA and Canada, following their passion and vision, building quality hand-made drums and instruments from natural materials. But I personally am not an admirer of plastic, fiberglass and PVC djembes made by big corporations in the USA and elsewhere and sold at corporate chain stores and on the web. These instruments and drums have nothing in common with their original counterparts and don't even sound like them.
I believe that African musical instruments are much more than just great musical instruments. They are a manifestation of the culture they came from, these instruments did not come out of no where. And even if we do not play traditional African music with these instruments or modify the instruments for our own special need it is important to remember the culture and traditions these instruments came from and respect and honor them.
Many people have seen and heard djembe drumming so I also linked to some clips of music from Zambia and Zimbabwe, drumming, dance and Mbira. Unfortunately the music of central and southern Africa is under represented in the west and in the USA in particular. Since I grew up with that music, it is my first love and has particular musical and emotional significance to me.
Watch the short clip below of children in Zambia playing on buckets.
I am blessed to have heard the Rhythms and music of central Africa from such an early age, the driving, powerful 12/8 that is so popular in Africa in general and in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Congo in particular.
The driving rhythm was reflected not only in traditional drumming and music but also in more contemporary music such as Kalindula, Jit and Soukous. The songs blaring out of stores, beer halls and homes played by popular groups with acoustic instruments or on electric guitars and trap sets. Southern Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe were a hotbed of music bursting forth during the 50's and 60's influenced by Cuban Rumba, South African music and jazz.
I am a self taught drummer, played all my life and try and play hand drums and/or djembe every day.
My mother was born in the Congo and we made many trips to Katanga Province in the Congo and to Lubumbashi her home town. Lubumbashi was the center of an explosion of music back in the 50's and 60's with influences coming from Kinsasha, but also Cuba, South Africa and America.
Lubumbashi was where in 1961 the Belgians and CIA allegedly assassinated Patrice Lumumba the anti-colonial and legally elected prime minister of the Congo. They replaced him with Mobuto SeSe Seko.
I never lived in South Africa but my family on my mom's side did. Her cousins authored some books and were politically active against apartheid.
Denis Herbstein was expelled from South Africa by the white racist government in 1976 as a 'persona non grata'. He authored:
'The Devils Are Among Us: The War For Namibia'
'White Man We Want To Talk To You'
'White Lies: Canon Collins and The Secret War Against Apartheid'
'My Friend Mandela'
The other cousin Manu Herbstein wrote:
'Ama: A Story Of The Atlantic Slave Trade'
Nkosi Sikeleli Africa - God Bless Africa
