The Roots to Now
The beat, the pulse, rhythm…. is universal. It belongs to everyone.
Like many young girls and boys little Elliott would regularly tap out beats. Any surface would do: the kitchen table; the back of the front seat while in the car; the handlebar on his bmx; his big sister’s skull. Particularly annoying mostly, and yet somehow sweet, in its innocence.
But his growing addiction to rhythm evolved into an obsession with all drums; drum kit, Indian tabla, Brazilian samba, Cuban conga, Islander log drums, Japanese wadaiko, Senegalese sabar, Ghanaian kpanlogo, Nigerian hand drums and South American cumbia and candombe drums. At age 24, he witnessed two master drummers playing on two djembes at the WOMADelaide festival in South Australia, and Elliott had found his instrument. Little did he know that he had also stumbled upon his future vocation.
Like so many of us, Elliott was seeking greater spiritual meaning in life than he could find in the surrounding society. Somehow, inexplicably, the drum spoke to Elliott. It was as if he could hear the sacredness of life in every beat, un-muddied by the dogma of indoctrinated religion. It was pure light.
And so, organically and spontaneously, Elliott began to walk the path of the drummer, specifically, the djembe fola (‘fola’ means player). A path that would lead him into all manner of experiences, all manner of contexts, subcultures and into many new friendships and relationships. In Australia, like so many other countries in the world, a Drumming Community was forming; inclusive, vibrant and extensive.
The most exciting part of drumming is that it’s best when shared. The very nature of the drum is to call people together. The meaning of the word ‘djembe’ is to ‘gather in peace’.
History of African drumming
The world of African drumming is diverse and extensive, with many different kinds of drums and accompanying traditions. The drum that has reached the greatest popularity around the world is the djembe, due to its wide range of sounds and massive volume.
It is believed that the djembe originated around 1300 AD, with the Numu tribe of the Mandinka (Malinke) people of West Africa, its tradition passing down the generations to spread across Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Gambia and Senegal.
The music of the djembe has now spread across the world, giving us the opportunity now, here in Australia, to enjoy this uplifting and powerful music.
Cultural Significance
Drumming plays a vital role in African cultural ceremonies, festivals and social rituals. Traditional songs are played at all important life stages – birth, coming of age, marriage and death – and are used to cure the sick, to pray for rain and for ceremonial dances. The djembe, interestingly, is one particular drum that is only played for joy, so it is not played for funerals.
The rhythm of the djembe is the means through which the musicians communicate with each other, the dancers and their communities. To become a ‘master drummer’ a musician must dedicate their life to learning the language of the drum, know the dances, understand the ceremonies and make the instrument an extension of themselves. Drummers can play for thirty years before they attain this status!
Drumming in the 21st century
Luckily, you don’t need to be a master before you can enjoy playing the djembe, or even perform for your family and friends. It is so wonderfully accessible to all. Talkin’ the Drum team member, Master Drummer Mohamed Bangoura Ke once said “the djembe doesn’t know what colour you are, it does not know whether you are a man or a woman, young or old”.
Traditionally in Africa people do not gather simply to play drums together. No, the drummers come out to support the various ceremonies of the community. The drummer is in service. Now, however, the drum circle exists in and of itself. In the West, and as part of a burgeoning tourism industry in Africa, people gather to simply play rhythms together.
The legendary Arthur Hull has spearheaded this movement since the late 1970’s and presents, what he calls, The Village Drum Circle. Drum circles, in which people are free to bring and play any type of drum they like, and play any rhythm they choose, have sprung up all around the globe. In the Northern Rivers of NSW for example there was a drum circle every single sunset for many years at Main Beach Byron Bay. It was the dedication of a number of passionate individuals, in particular Wawan – may he rest in peace – that have kept this going for so many years. These days there is a veritable festival atmosphere surrounding the Sunday drum circle at Brunswick Heads. You’ll see members of the Talkin’ the Drum team giving their all to this weekly gathering.
Elliott, himself, ‘cut his teeth’, so to speak, at the nightly drum circle jams in the Chai Tent at the Woodford Folk Festival. There is a freedom that comes in these spontaneous, no rules, spaces of expression. And the people love to dance! Where there is smoke, there must be fire! Where there is dance, there must be drums!
The fact that westerners have fallen in love with the djembe is actually helping to keep the traditional culture in Africa very much alive. Many Western devotees of African rhythm and dance have ventured to West Africa to study. African artists living in the West have had the opportunity to travel and settle there through their hard-earned skills and this wonderful Western obsession with tribal rhythm. This injection of energy and money goes directly to the families in Africa, the cultural custodians, and as a healthy redistribution of wealth, thereby supports them to keep their culture not only relevant in the eyes of their young, but thriving. It’s a beautiful thing!
A wonderful video about rhythm:
Foli (there is no movement without rhythm) original version by Thomas Roebers and Floris Leeuwenberg.