THE LATEST (5 June 2007): Just arrived are newly re(-)pressed CDs of a selection of songs from my 'Kora, 2005' CD and from the 2006 'Wedding CD' I did with my brother Jon. Unfortunately all copies of those 2 handmade self-releases are 100% gone... If you want the new one, either see me at one of the places I play, go to Baluba's African Market or Two Art Chicks in Greensboro, or for you techies it is available for mailorder on the web from CD BABY . 7 songs, 41 minutes of original kora music including some acoustic guitar compositions and a version of "Alla L'a Ke", a song vital to most traditional kora repertoires. Viola!
Click on the image below to be taken to CD Baby.com and to hear samples of all the songs.
*******************************
ABOUT ME: I come from Greensboro , North Carolina, USA, and my mission is not to become an African Kora Player. That is impossible. No matter how long a canoe lies in the river, it will never become a crocodile. My hope is to bring the beautiful instrument, the music, and the culture behind it to the ears and souls that seek it, for whatever reason, learning and growing along the way. The history and traditions of the Kora must be respected, yet the scope of it's future unhindered. There's a fine line there. So that's what I'm working with. What can a white boy bring to the table of this immeasurable art?
I first plucked a dusty ole Kora in 1999. Curiously, I believe I could already play it; maybe it chose me rather than me choosing it. I began to teach myself and took a few lessons but had no real teacher. In 2003 I traveled to Senegal and Mali for 6 weeks to learn from the source, and that has been the best thing I have ever done as a musician. Everyone should go one day, if not to play, then to breathe, look, feel, think... rethink... Today I play traditional Kora music and compose original tunes with the blessings of my teachers, Djeli Madiya Diebate from Cassamance and Djeli Fily Sacko from Bamako (student of the worldly Toumani Diabate ). I have performed at weddings (in the US and in Mali), libraries, many elementary, middle, and high schools and universities throughout NC, the NC Zoo, countless multi-cultural festivals, churches, Castle McCulloch, coffee shops, dance classes/performances, corporate functions, private parties, clubs, bars. On the drumkit I have performed in 42 US states and 25 countries worldwide.
I live in a collective house of all kinds of artists, musicians and people that make this world a happenin', creative, inspirational place. I'm involved in anti-war activism, anti-oppression as it relates to gender/race/class, organic gardening, rain catchment, chicken raising and musical inventions.
*********************************
ABOUT THE KORA: The Kora is a 21-stringed bridge-harp from West-Africa originating, according to oral traditions, centuries ago with the Senegambian Mandinka of the Kabu Empire, which encompassed parts of present-day Guinea-Bissau, southern Senegal, and the Gambia. The strings are made of fishing line and they resonate through a large, halved calabash gourd stretched with a cow hide. Traditionally, the Kora is played by Mandinka Jalis and Mande Jelis, members of a special caste of society that work as musicians and oral historians. They are walking libraries of information, artisans of speech and sound.
*********************************
ABOUT THE TASUMA BAND: Tasuma plays traditional and original instrumental
West-African music. The duo consists of Will Ridenour
on kora and Sandy Blocker on percussion, and the quartet adds Dr. Gavin Douglas on acoustic guitar and Mark Dixon on electric bass. The word tasuma means
'fire' in the Bambara language, spoken in Mali and
surrounding areas. Both Will and Sandy have studied in
Mali, Guinea, and Senegal, and they bring what they
have learned to western audiences with their teachers'
blessings and encouragement. Gavin is Professor of Ethnomusicology at UNC-G and specializes in Burmese Music. His classical guitar playing speaks of study in innumerable genres. Mark is a practicing artist with an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University. After Tasuma practice he is busy as a musical
Instrument maker crafting everything from strange upright basses to
xylophones to a typewriter that controls a piano. Mark also plays surdos in
Cakalak Thunder, a radical marching band, and bass guitar in Invisible ,
an experimental rock outfit. Tasuma formed in 2006, although Will and Sandy have been playing in ensembles together for over 8 years.
The fast, melodic polyrhythmic patterns of the kora
weave amazing tapestries of sound, and the addition of
percussion adds a provocative accompaniment. The
repertoire ranges from traditional West-African to
fiery originals. Past performances include the 2006 Fun Fourth Festival, a show with the 2007 Greensboro Fringe Festival, appearances on Greensboro college radio stations WUAG and WQFS, and several performances at Greensboro area weddings, clubs and bars.
*********************************
OTHER KORA-RELATED STUFF I'VE MADE includes a homemade CD that was originally recorded just as a christmas gift for my family, but it came under demand, so I made 4 small "pressings" of it, probably about 200 count total. 8 songs - 35 minutes, 1 traditional and 7 originals. I made a linoleum cut for the on-CD design and hand-printed them all.
Next came another homemade CD of music composed for two of my best friends' wedding in December '06. Special songs for the procession, recession, a hymn, and reception music were written and performed at the service. This was a joint project with my brother Jon on guitar, who played on the kora tunes and also composed several other songs. 11 songs, 55 minutes, 1 traditional, 1 cover, 6 originals. Again, I made 6 different linoleum cuts for the on-CD art, and we printed 200. Everyone at the service received a CD and we kept 50 to sell/give away to try to make our money back.
*********************************
THIS KORA PROJECT is a solo/duo/quartet project, though I play kora, drumkit, or percussion with many groups in many genres: Zegota (punk), Dawn Chorus (indie), Cakalak Thunder (radical samba batucada drum corps), The Somnambulist Brain (acoustic ambient with batá percussion).
View Tasuma's EPK
If you are interested in booking Will or Tasuma, click on the link above to visit our online EPK, or send an email to
[email protected].
Thanks to John Rash , Danny Bayer and others for the photo s .
