(headline image: Badenya les Freres Coulibaly – Photo by Atelier images) The jembe is a rope-tuned, skin-headed goblet drum associated above all with Mandé cultural…
The Jembe: West Africa’s Famed Goblet Drum
Tag: drumming
Dawning Again: Sons of Membertou’s Wapna’kik Reissued for 30th Anniversary
Sons of Membertou – Wapna’kik: The People of the Dawn (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 2025) Folk music, at its most profound, serves as a bridge—between past…
Afro-Venezuelan Drum Therapy by Parranda La Cruz
France’s Parranda La Cruz rely on nothing more than percussion and voices for “Quichimba,” a rousing piece based on Afro-Venezuelan sources and a prime example…
Brilliant Percussion Masters
Masters of Percussion, Vol. 3 (ARC Music, 2009) Volume 3 of ARC Music’s Masters of Percussion series focuses on dazzling Middle Eastern, Japanese and African…
Masters of Groove Send a Powerful Message of Global Healing
Planet Drum – In the Groove (2022) Planet Drum, the international world music supergroup of master drummers, is back with “In The Groove”, an album…
Artist Profiles: Doudou N’Diaye Rose
Mamadou Ndiaye, etter known as Doudou Ndiaye Rose, was born July 28, 1930 in Senegal. A true cultural ambassador for his country, Doudou N’Diaye Rose…
Earth Celebration: Feel the Drum Beats Rise through Your Feet
From August 16th to 18th, the lush island of Sado in Japan is filled with the sounds of taiko drums, song and dance. The Earth…
Les Moncada Chats with Cuban batá Master and Conguero Román Diaz
Batá drumming is getting more and more popular these days. With a lot of the masters who transmitted the tradition of batá drumming having passed…
Artist Profiles: Babatunde Olatunji
Babatunde Olatunji was one of the 20th century’s greatest masters of percussion. A beloved cross-cultural ambassadors, he made an unparalleled contribution in the saga of…
Artist Profiles: Baba Olajagun
Born in Oka-Akoko in Ekiti State of Nigeria, Baba Olajagun (vocals, talking drum) is a pillar of New York’s Nigerian community. A highly esteemed master…