SENEGAL DAY DJEMBE SHOW
GARY SMITH, Jan 5, 2011
Traditional Djembe Drumming in Dakar, Senegal. A musical
feast for all fans of West Africa's unique drum stylings. Join Mbaw as he and
his talented group transfix you with their live-on-location rhythmic skills.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information and comments about the djembe *, a traditional type of West African drum.
This post also presents some YouTube videos of the djembe (plural "djembes").
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, educational, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to all those who are featured in these showcase videos. Thanks also to all the producers and publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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* The pronunciation for the word djembe that I have heard in the United States since the early 1970s and which I still use is GYM-bay.
Some of the content of this post was part of a no longer available 2011 pancocojams post with this title. That 2011 post had no visitor comments and most of its showcase videos were no longer available as of June 1, 2026.
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PREFACE- PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
If there was a competition among African drums as to which would become THE drum to beat, djembes have won that competition hands down. There are other many other African drums.
There are Batá, Dun Dun (talking drum), Ashiko, & Sakara drums from Nigeria; Fontomfrom, Atumpan, & Apetia, and Kpanlogo drums from Ghana, Sabar drums from Senegal, Ngoma drums from Uganda, Doumbek drums from North Africa, and Dunun drums from the same Malinke/Bambara peoples of Guinea & Mali from which the djembe comes.
So why is it that by the 1990s djembe drum had thrown the once popular conga drums & bongo drums to the curb and left other African drums in the dust to become ubiquitous in drum circles around the globe not only among Black people but also among non-Black people?
Here's some information about djembes and how I think the djembe won the competition to be the most widely played traditional African drum in the United States, and I believe throughout the rest of the world outside of Africa.
AN OVERVIEW OF DJEMBE
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djembe
"A djembe or jembe (/ˈdʒɛmbeɪ/ JEM-bay; from Malinke jembe [dʲẽbe] ... is a rope-tuned, skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands from the Sabar family, originally from Senegal that is widely used in West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name "djembe" comes from the saying "Anke djé, anke bé," which translates to "everyone gather together in peace" and defines the drum's purpose. In the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" translates as "peace."[3]
The djembe can produce a wide variety of sounds, making it an extremely versatile drum. The drum is very loud, allowing it to be heard clearly as a solo instrument over a large percussion ensemble. The Mandinka people say that a skilled drummer is one who "can make the djembe talk", meaning that the player can tell an emotional story (the Malinké never used the djembe as a signaling drum).
Traditionally, the djembe is played only by men, as are the dunun that always accompany the djembe. Conversely, other percussion instruments that are commonly played as part of an ensemble, such as the shekere (a hollowed-out gourd covered with a net of beads), karignan (a tubular bell), and kese kese (a woven basket rattle), are usually played by women. Even today, it is rare to see women play djembe or dunun in West Africa, and African women express astonishment when they do see a female djembe player.[4]
Origin
There is general agreement that the origin of the djembe is associated with the Mandinka caste of blacksmiths, known as Numu. The wide dispersion of the djembe drum throughout West Africa may be due to Numu migrations during the first millennium CE.[5] Despite the association of the djembe with the Numu, there are no hereditary restrictions on who may become a djembefola (literally, "one who plays the djembe"). This is in contrast to instruments whose use is reserved for members of the griot caste, such as the balafon, kora, and ngoni.[6] (The djembe is not a griot instrument.)[7] Anyone who plays djembe is a djembefola—the term does not imply a particular level of skill.
Geographically, the traditional distribution of the djembe is associated with the Mali Empire,[8] which dates back to 1230 CE and included parts of the modern-day countries of Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, and Senegal. However, due to the lack of written records in West African countries, it is unclear whether the djembe predates or postdates the Mali Empire. It seems likely that the history of the djembe reaches back for at least several centuries and possibly more than a millennium.[6]
The goblet shape of the djembe suggests that it originally
may have been created from a mortar. (Mortars are widely used throughout West
Africa for food preparation.)[9]
[...]
Recent history
Prior to the 1950s and the decolonization of West Africa,
due to the very limited travel of native Africans outside their own ethnic
group, the djembe was known only in its original area.
The djembe first came to the attention of audiences outside West Africa with the efforts of Fodéba Keïta, who, in 1952, founded Les Ballets Africains. The ballet toured extensively in Europe and was declared Guinea's first national ballet by Guinea's first president, Sékou Touré, after Guinea gained independence in 1958, to be followed by two more national ballets, the Ballet d'Armee in 1961 and Ballet Djoliba in 1964."...
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THE HISTORY OF DJEMBE DRUMMING IN THE USA
From http://dragonheadmusic.com/the-history-of-djembe-drumming-in-america-part-2/ April 26th, 2010 | Author Lady Drummer
Many Americans were introduced to the djembe by Mor Thiam, (pronounced Cham)a Senegalese born Master Drummer of Dogon descent, during his performing and teaching career with the noted historian, cultural anthropologist and choreographer, Katherine Dunham. Katherine Dunham was famous for her introducing Haitian and other Caribbean dance and drumming cultures to American and European audiences in the 1950’s.
In 1965 President Johnson nominated Dunham to be the cultural Ambassador to Senegal, West Africa, to help train the Senegalese National Ballet, and assist then President Leopold Senghor in sponsoring the First Pan-African World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar from 1965-66.(1) Ms Dunham met Thiam during her journeys to Senegal. She convinced Thiam to move to America and to bring with him his extensive knowledge of Wolof and Bambara culture. Mor Thiam, whose surname means historian in the Bambara language, worked with Katherine Dunham between the years of 1968 and 1974. Professionals and students under Dunham’s tutelage were able to assimilate Thiam’s knowledge of West African drum and dance with their already extensive knowledge of African based Haitian and Caribbean music and dance. By traveling and performing with the Dunham Company Thiam was able to spread the knowledge of the djembe in numerous institutions throughout America. In this manner Thiam is credited with beginning the true djembe movement.
We call the Mor Thiam era the Second Wave of Djembe drumming in America."...
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CULTURAL REASONS FOR THE POPULARITY OF DJEMBE DRUMMING
[written by Azizi Powell in 2011]
1. Individual attention and status
The Ballet style (non-traditional staged productions) of Djembes conforms to Western cultures values of placing the individual over the group.
In ballet style ensembles, the emphasis is placed on a star (lead) djembe player (djembafola) or on several lead djembefolas. The showmanship of djembefola/s and vying for the position of the lead djembefola (and thus being the star of the show) appeal to the individualistic, competitive nature of Western cultures. This is in contrast to the traditional context of djembe playing where the attention during performances is equally on all the drummers (including the dunun players) as well as the other instrumentalists (such as the kora player, and the balafon player). Furthermore, (as I understand it), traditionally, the drummers and other instrumentalist serve as musical accompaniment, and perhaps most of the attention is on the dancers and the singers. However, the role of dancers and especially the role of singers are de-emphasized in most ballet style djembe performances.
Click http://www.african-music-safari.com/djembe-history.html to find more about the differences between the traditional village context for playing djembes and the ballet style (staged production) context.
The djembe confers status on those who play it, and status is particularly conferred on lead djembe drummer/s.
Although I've lost its attribution, I recall reading one comment on a YouTube thread that referred to djembe players as "macho men". That commenter didn't mean that as a compliment, but in Western societies a lot of men strive to be "macho". Note that prior to 1988, females were traditionally prohibited from playing djembes in Guinea & Mali, the nations that are considered to be the birthplace of this drum. Because there were far less stringent cultural prohibitions against female drummers in Europe and the United States (particularly among White people) it's likely that White females were playing djembes and other African drums before Black females in Africa and elsewhere.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/african-female-djembe-drummers.html for more information about African female djembe drummers).
2. The copycat effect
As an outsider (meaning a non-drummer, and non-African dancer), it's my sense that a number of people purchase & play djembes for recreational drumming because "everyone" else is. According to various blogs on that subject, djembes dominate drum circles to such an extent that usually they are the only drums present. Significantly, it appears from my reading comments on those blogs that djembes are usually not even accompanied in those drum circles by the three dunun drums (dununba, sangba, and kinkini) as is traditional in Guinea & Mali. Here's a comment from one such blog http://www.remo.com/forum/post/view?bid=4&id=207555&sty=1&tpg=2&age=0 Hereafter known as "remo:drum circle":
"
posted by plaxy on Apr 28, 2009 12:41
"It seems most people jump straight to the djembe simply because that's all they see and want to fit into the scene.
What I hate, though, is that it is so hard to find people who are actually interested in doing something different with a drum circle. They think that doing the same thing as every other drum circle is different and alternative enough. These people try to make a fashion statement rather than trying to make some good music and rhythms."
3. [Re] Claiming cultural ties to Africa; Romantizing African cultures
Among African Americans and other people of African descent who don't live in Africa, playing the djembe or other African musical instruments is a way to reconnect with our African roots. The popular adinkra symbol "sankofa" epitomizes this. One of the pictorial symbols for sankofa is a bird whose body is facing forward with its neck facing backwards. The proverb associated with sankofa is "It's never too late to reclaim that which you've left behind".
It also appears that a number of people start playing djembes not only because that African instrument is symbolical of African cultures, but also because those cultures are thought to be more "real" and more spiritual than Western cultures. My sense is that many people who play djembes for the latter reason are non-Black.
Another drummer from the above mentioned remo:drum circle thread identifies a number of reasons why some people play djembes:
Posted on Apr 16, 2009
"I believe drum circles can and should have interesting sounds, even when all djembe, but it seems participants are by far, novice, at best and have no real musical sense. Most of them just participate because they are on some spiritual journey, so they think, or they want to belong or they want someone that knows them to think there is more to them than meets the eye etc... in other words, a majority of people showing up in drum circles seem to be simply "making the scene". I find it disappointing as most of you have stated."
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-djembe-drumming-in-usa.html for another post from a three part pancocojams series on djembe drums.
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ADDITIONAL SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Zoumana Dembele Bagolon Kan Solo Officiel 2013
Aakusti Oksanen, Dec 13, 2013
Master Djembefola Zoumana Dembele is a hereditary griot and
musician from Burkina Faso. Zoumana works in collaboration with Djembepaja in
Finland since 2006. We organize our Annual Drum and Dance Camp in Burkina's
cultural capital Bobo-Dioulasso around New Year. "...
Jalikunda African Drums, Feb 27, 2014
The raw power and energy of Jalikunda's djembe drumming
riveted the attention and delighted the crowd that attended the 1st African
Music Festival on the tiny Island of Montserrat in the Caribbean in 2013. The festival, held in Salem Cricket ground,
was repeated the next year and on popular request, Jalikunda returned and wowed
the crowds in Montserrat again.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 - African Drummers playing Djembe drums in Paris Subway - How to play drums
WOW MUSIC, Jul 26, 2013
****SHOWCASE VIDEO #5 - CENTRAL PARK DRUMMERS
The Roger's Take Podcast -
SHOWCASE VIDEO #6 - Master Drummers Jam After Class at Camp Fareta 2017!
campfareta, Jul 26, 2018
With Youssouf Koumbassa, Bolokada Conde, Mamady Wadaba Kourouma, Babara Bangoura, and Abou Mohamed Camara
****SHOWCASE VIDEO #7 - Salydanse & Babara Bangoura Juillet 2018 Espagne Mané (Kawadeni)
Afrikanté / Salydanse, Jul 19, 2018
Petit Extrait du Stage de danse lors du festival Kawadeni
Camp 2018.
Rythme Mané de la Guinée
Saly Diedhiou et Babara Bangoura organisé par Kawadeni
Bibiche/Lurgi
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #8 - How to play African Drum (Djembe Tutorial One)
Rhythm In Africa, Jul 18, 2019
In this video you will learn about the basics of Djembe
playing... Enjoy!
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