The Representatives of African Music Term Paper

The Representatives of African Music - Term Paper Example There Keita joined a music group Koteba and performed alongside the renowned African stars of that time. These included Kunda of Senegal and Mory Kante of Guinea. He quickly progressed and became a lead drummer of Ballet Djoliba when he was just 15.. He was named as the Artistic Director in the year 1979, the first drummer ever to be given a position of artistic director. Mamady’s name soon began to be heard outside West Africa and he was persuaded by a group of percussionists form Belgium to teach and perform in Europe. In 1991, he opened his own institution of percussions in Belgium with the name of Tam Tam Mandingue. He also formed his own performance ensemble titled Sewa Ken which meant ‘â€Å"Without music, there is no joy, without joy, there is no music.† The school got worldwide fame and very soon its branches were opened in many famous cities around the world. Mamady decided to take his native culture and music to more borders and in 2003 he shifted his fo cus from Europe to the United States. Mamady has also been cast in a movie named ‘West Africa’ when was seventeen. He starred in another titled La Vie Platin and also wrote and recorded the soundtrack of the movie. He released an album with the name of â€Å"DjembeKan which means ‘the sound of the djembe’. The video contained four solo performances and was meant to show the power and influence of Djembe on its listeners. Djembe is a special type of goblet-shaped drum that is very famous in the African especially Guinean culture. Mamady devotes his time to his personal life as well and lives with his wife Monette Marino in San Diego where he teaches students in his school. He actively tours around the world each year to promote and preserve the tradition of Djembe. He is really dedicated to the cause of promoting Drum and djembe playing and was the first percussionist to organize a drum, and dance workshop in association with Guinea’s Secretary of Ar ts and culture. The first camp was held in the year 1990 in which students from thirty-five countries participated.