In Our Community/ Vermont Links

Spencer's Drums, Montpelier, VT
Quality, handmade wood dunduns, ashikos, sticks and bells. Ready-made and custom drums. Very reasonable prices for entry-level and professional instruments.
Tel: (802) 864-3172, Spencer Blackwell

Jeh Kulu, Burlington, VT
"Jeh Kulu" means "community" in the Bambara language of Mali. Jeh Kulu Dance and Drum Theater, a non-profit ensemble based in Burlington, Vermont, was founded in 1993 to bring people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds together in celebration.

Village Green Drum Collective, Middlebury, VT
The Village Green Drum Collective exists to support drum and dance events, drum workshops, and drum circles in Vermont and surrounding areas.

Play It Again Sam, Montpelier, VT
Order percussion equipment locally through Play It Again Sam.
Tel: (802) 229-0295

Buch-Spieler Music, Montpelier, VT
Order music locally through Buch-Spieler.
Tel: (802) 229-0449

Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, VT
Order books locally through Bear Pond Books.
Tel: (802) 229-0774

LOCAL MUSIC VENUES

Eclipse Theater and Starlight Lounge, Waitsfield, VT
Flynn Theater, Burlington, VT
Club Metronome, Burlington, VT
Middle Earth Music Hall, Bradford, VT

Drums & Media Links

Drum Skull Drums, Santa Cruz, CA
Ryan and Matt have the nicest jembes (Mali, Senegal, and Guinea) and dunduns (imported and homemade) I've ever seen. The craftsmanship is superb on all of their drums. If you make it out to Santa Cruz, visit the shop. At least check out their web site. They'll ship anywhere.
Tel/ Fax:(831) 429-5766, info@drumskulldrums.com

African Rhythm Traders, Portland, OR
In business since 1992, AFT is a good place in the U.S. to check for hard to find books, videos, and recordings related to West African drum and dance.

Village Pulse
Carl Holm and Adam Novick founded Village Pulse in 1991 to produce recordings of musical traditions they felt deserved more attention. To date, they have focused on styles of West African drum music that have been largely unavailable to the outside world. Good stuff.

Learning, Reading & Reference

Tam Tam Mandingue USA
Tam Tam Mandingue is an international school of traditional West African drumming founded by Mamady Keita in Brussels, Belgium, 1991. It's purpose is to preserve and pass on the Manding cultural art forms, specifically those of drum and dance. There are currently 16 schools throughout Europe, Japan and the US. Keep an eye out for workshop tours.

Djembe-L FAQ
This FAQ represents years of email conversations and collected thoughts on various djembe related topics. The source is Djembe-L, a popular listserv email community.

"A Guide to the Jembe" by Eric Charry.
Percussive Notes, vol. 34, no. 2, April 1996, pages 66-72.

Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa (2000) by Eric Charry.

Mamady Keïta: A Life for the Djembé (1999) by Uschi Billmeier and Mamady Keita
This is an excellent reference book for basic arrangements of many, many West African rhythms that Mamady teaches. It comes with a CD (if drumming notation gives you a rash).

Manding Bibliography compiled by Rainer Polak. Rainer's bibliography has more titles in more languages than you can shake a stick at.

"Jenbe Music in Bamako: Microtiming as Formal Model and Performance Practice" by Rainer Polak, University of Bayreuth. This article is very academic in tone while managing to address an important feature of West African jenbe drumming. For the ethnomusicologist in you...