Mamady Keita’s Music

Mamady Keita’s performances focus more on the drumming and dancing which set the whole mood for the performances. The percussionists bring a new interesting sound to the performance making it unique. The drummers and dancers are dressed in African costumes that fit the whole scene. The coordination from all the drummers makes the performance very interesting and entertaining. Keita’s performances are so captivating through the unpredictable rhythms and the drums that the drummers hold strategically between the knees and look so comfortable doing it. The fusing of the drumbeats, the singing, and how they look at each other while performing shows that they are enjoying the performance and are passionate about it. You can tell the change of emotions in the performance by how they drum and their facial expressions.

The energy from the singers and the drummers during the performances is intriguing and is passed on to the audience. The audience is engaged from the beginning of the performance. Through their acts, one can connect and enjoy the performance. The soloist in the second performance has a melodious and sharp voice that steals the audience’s and everyone else’s attention. She sets the mood for the whole performance by her voice and her dancing. Connecting to Malady’s performance is easy because the rhythms are precise, the sound is clear, the singers, dancers, and drummers are also engaging making one feel connected to the performance. The flow of the rhythm in his performances is effortless. You can hear the high and low pitches from the drummers which are unique. The tones in the drumming sound are clear producing a melodic sound throughout the performances.

            The Tam Tam Mandingue Djembe Academy is an international school that was founded by the world-renowned drummer Mamady Keita. It is a school of the traditional West African drumming whose mission is to preserve and pass on Mandigue cultural art forms precisely those of drumming and dancing (TTM Djembe Academy 2020). The cultural art is a tool that is used to promote tolerance, understanding, equality, and peace internationally. The Djembe is a drum that speaks the language of love and unity and the masters maintain that it does see any discrimination such as racial, gender among others but only sees our hearts. The Djembe is said to teach us about ourselves and has no borders since it is meant for everyone.

Drumming in the school is not just about the drum but using it to create community, joy, and celebration. Other than preserving tradition, drumming helps to build bridges of human understanding, harmony, and living healthy, fun lives. Drumming does not distinguish anyone’s religion, gender, race, social background among other characteristics. The school’s objective is to create an experience of drumming that is powerful, musical, one that enables one to express themselves and can also be accessed. The school offers programs such as rhythms school programs, community classes, and workshops. The teachers in the Mandigue School are certified professors who have earned Keita’s certification and have personally been commissioned by the founder of the school (TTM Djembe Academy 2020). The professors too have shown their respect for each culture and their commitment to serve the world. The school also offers programs and opportunities for certified instructors which enables them to deeply and powerfully connect to drumming in a manner that they can naturally share it with other people.

Mamady Keita is the grandmaster of the djembe and is also known and respected for being the best djembe player worldwide.  He was born in Northeast of Guinea and showed his ability to drum as soon as he started crawling. He would show his abilities by hitting his mother’s pots and pans and when his mother realized this talent, she had a small djembe made for him (TTM Djembe Academy 2020). At 7 years of age, he was taken to the master drummer from their village and was formally initiated as a djembe player. It was there that he was taught about his culture, traditions, and secrets of Mandigue. Mamady’s hands were treated with an extract from a secret plant so that they do not get sore or stiff while he is playing the djembe.

By the time he was 12 years old, he was an accomplished djembe player since he had played on most of the occasions in his village. He was naturally gifted and this allowed him to pull a big sound of the djembe even with his small size. Mamady Keita is considered as the world’s highly praised West African drummer and has visited many countries internationally since he was 16 years old. He was bestowed with a gold medal when he was 19 years old for being the best drummer (TTM Djembe Academy 2020). He then released a book and several CDs which were a success. He became a popular teacher and founded his international drumming school which at this time has 17 branches in Europe, Japan and in the U.S. this has enabled him to pass on his djembe skills to other people and give them opportunities to embrace different cultures through drumming and dancing.

References