On
March 19th, starting at 2pm in the
USA and the same time locally in Ghana
and Burkina Faso, oneVillage Foundation
USA and African friends and affiliates
will present their own special version
of "Drumming in One World Beat",
called "Unity Drum". In
the USA, the event will take place
in San Jose and Sunnyvale, in Ghana
in Accra, and in Burkina Faso in Bobo-Dioulasso.
For specifics of this event on the
oneVillage site see www.onevillagefoundation.org.
In Ghana, the drumming
event will feature Yusuf Ahmed, who
was born and raised in a small area
called Nima in Accra, Ghana, West
Africa. He is the child of a Nigerian
father and is of Yoruba lineage. He
has been playing instruments since
the age of seven. He formed his first
band at age 17, and over the years
has mastered several percussion instruments.
Influenced by his immersion in the
Hausa and Yoruba musical traditions,
Yusuf creates his own mesmerizing
melodies on the Balafon, Dundun, Talking
Drum, Sakra, Bata, Djembe, Goje, Agogo,
Sekere, and other instruments. In
this event, traditional drumming and
dancing will combine with inspirational
messages and a colorful presentation,
in a groovin' fusion of Afro-Beat,
reggae, and West African rhythms.
Yusuf is the founder
of the Zorro Band, a popular group
in West Africa. He has been spreading
African music to the West through
his lectures at UC Berkeley on percussion
instruments and about his life history,
performing throughout California with
his band, "The Village Culture
Kingdom", and via his CDs--All
African Tribe & Diaspora, Doxology
and Healing Motion--produced in collaboration
with sociologist and anthropologist,
Professor Akinsola Akiwowo, and OVF
founder, Joy Tang, among others. In
Ghana, the Village Culture Kingdom
is also a nonprofit that promotes
local music, art, and healing.
In San Jose, California,
USA, drummers will get together in
downtown San Jose to drum traditional
West Africa rhythms in homage to the
tradition of unity, village focus,
and love of community found within
African cultures. OVF is dedicating
their celebration to the children
of the world, and also honoring the
Kone Family of Mali and Burkina Faso,
for carrying their tradition as West
African Griots ("storytellers")
from Africa to Asia, Europe, and the
USA. The Kone children are as gifted
with musical talents as their parents,
and descend from three generations
of "jeli", W. African singers-musicians-artisans-dancers,
who are the repositories of collective
knowledge and culture.
This event, which will be led by Master
Drummer Mamadou Kone, is meant to
connect people everywhere to the roots
of his family culture and the heartbeats
of his children. It will also be a
celebration for the birthday of his
daugther Rokia, who will turn four
on this day of the "Unity Drum".
San Jose musicians include Joy Tang
and Doug Bontempi, who will play djembe,
dundun, sangban, and kenkeni, in addition
to drums. Mamadou Kone has been teaching
djembe artistry in San Jose, hoping
to spread this music around the globe.
In Bobo Dioulasso, Ousmane Diallo
and fellow musicians will come together
for an event featuring djembe music
and dancing, and to send their wishes
for a world of peace.
Unity Drum in Sunnyvale,
California, USA, will feature Nelson
Oliver, as well as fellow drummers,
dancers, and like-minded spirits.
It will be the first-ever Sunnyvale
drumcircle (which the organizers hope
will become a tradition). The location
is the new plaza across from the train
station, where--Nelson says--"we
can make a racket". And he urges
people to join in, adding: "WE
NEED YOUR LIGHT, YOUR LOVE, AND YOUR
ENERGY!".
The
oneVillage
Foundation, located in the USA
(headquarters), Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria,
and Tanzania, works to identify and
implement innovative technologies
and best practices to promote ecologically
and socially sustainable economic
growth in low-income regions of the
world. Their focus is on sustainable
development and social-enterprise
solutions that integrate eco-living
principles and practices with use
of ICTs, the arts, and other communication
modes, operating through specially
designed ecovillages called Unity
Centers. A related program, oneVillage.biz,
is a social enterprise incubator that
helps to support OVF's projects. They
address HIV/AIDS and other human-development
challenges in a holistic way, and
seek to link the local and global
in creating and developing solutions
for the health and well-being of the
planet and its peoples.
More
about the Drumming events in:
- Ghana
- Burkina
Faso
- San
Jose - USA
- Sunnyvale
- USA
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