The Meaningful Sounds of the Djembe Drum
The musical instrument will take center stage at public Kwanzaa celebrations throughout the Triangle
The cultural holiday was created in 1966 by the West Coast scholar and activist, Maulana Ron Karenga, as a Black American and Pan-African holiday to honor the ancestors, along with celebrating history, family, community and culture.
A powerful musical voice
The djembe, also known as “jembe,” is a powerful musical voice that, when played skillfully, can be clearly heard in musical orchestras.
“My first reaction to hearing the djembe drum was an uncontrollable desire to jump up and dance! I felt a need to just be close to the drum!” said Mabinti Shabu, a musician, dancer and singer who is a member of The Magic of African Rhythm, a dance, drum and singing troupe that is one of the mainstays at Triangle Kwanzaa events.
According to Mali’s Bambara people, the name djembe comes from the saying, “anke djé, anke bé,” which translates to “everyone gather in peace.” In the Bambara language, djé is the verb for “gather” and bé translates as “peace.”
The drum’s likely origins date back to the 12th century in Mali, West Africa, Kojo Bey, wrote in “Jembe Revolution: The Birth of the Jembe in America.”
“To African Americans in particular who seek to reclaim cultural elements loss during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the djembe has long been a tool of reclamation, communication, reconnection, and healing despite centuries long practices to forcibly remove the drum from Black identities,” said Aya Shabu, an educator, writer, performing artist and member of The Magic of African Rhythm, who helps to coordinate the Umoja Kwanzaa celebration at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham.
A goal of unity
More pointedly, Shabu added, “the djembe [can] unify the global African village – a primary goal of Kwanzaa. Unity is the first and most central principle to Kwanzaa celebrations everywhere.”
Simmons, in addition to being one of the world’s leading scholars of traditional West African music, has performed on Broadway, including the musical “Timbuktu!” that was directed by Geoffrey Holder and starred Eartha Kitt, Melba Moore, James Hawthorne “Chief” Bey and Obba Babatunde.
He is one of the early African American djembe practitioners who studied with Ladji Camara, the legendary lead djembe drummer with Les Ballet Africains, of Guinea, West Africa. Camara is universally credited as the musician responsible for popularizing the instrument in America and across the globe.
“I studied with Ladji,” Simmons said in Bey’s oral history. “Right in his house … So I learned how to get the correct sounds out of that drum.”
A native of Queens, New York, Simmons didn’t start out as a drummer. “I started out as a tap dancer,” taking lessons at the Gloria Jackson School of Dance at age nine, he explained.
Simmons said he and his best friend, Melvin Jefferson who was also studying tap, danced at a concert, and after they finished their number, they stood in the wings and watched the next act – a group of drummers. “That night, we both went home and told our parents we want to take drum lessons and that’s how I got started playing drums,” he said.
Following Les Ballets Africains’ 1959 performance in the United States, Simmons said the djembe sparked widespread interest during the 1964-65 World’s Fair in New York.
“Les Ballet Africains came to the World’s Fair, and they had unopened crates of djembes,” said Simmons, who added World Fair officials had no intention of displaying the instruments until a worker convinced them to open the crates.
Simmons said African American drummers started buying them because Les Ballets Africains’ drummers did not want to take the instruments back to their homeland.
“They wanted to get rid of them,” he said. “They were selling those drums for like 20 and 40 dollars. Now you’d be lucky to find one for under $500. If it’s less than that, you might not even want it.”
Over the ensuing decades, Simmons said people started “capitalizing” on the djembe and now “it’s got to be at least a million-dollar industry.”
Lessons to pass on
Because of commercialization, what has been lost is the “bush style” tradition and articulation of the instrument.
“The djembe is in rock bands, in jazz bands, in rhythm and blues bands, you can find the djembe anywhere now onstage, doing something, “he said. “And that’s why, in a lot of cases, the drum is lost because it’s not being played the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Simmons said the language of the [djembe] comes from how the drum is tuned, and your hand technique, and that today’s djembes are tuned too high.
Those were the lessons he was passing on to Henderson and O’Meara, the two students who showed up for the last day of his djembe class at the Biddle Music Building.
“That’s your slap. That’s your tone,” he demonstrates on his djembe for the students. “You gotta be able to separate the two.”
The students are playing a rhythm called “dunumba,” a popular dance rhythm also known as “the rhythm of the strong man.”
He stops them after a few minutes.
“You gotta follow him, number one,” he tells O’Meara, “and feel the rhythm.”
And finally:
“It’s not what you’re playing,” Simmons tells his students. “It’s how you play the rhythm in terms of sound and technique. The bass, tone and slap all have to be defined and clear. “That’s where the music is.”
TRIANGLE KWANZAA EVENTS
Kwanzaa is a communal, cultural celebration that honors African-Americans and their heritage. The seven-day cultural holiday lasts seven days, starting December 26th, with each day focusing on a different principle:
Day 1. Umoja means unity.
Day 2. Kujichagulia means self-determination.
Day 3. Ujima means working together.
Day 4. Ujamaa means supporting each other.
Day 5. Nia means purpose.
Day 6. Kuumba means creativity.
Day 7. Imani means faith.
These are all free, family-friendly events.
Kwanzaa Celebrations with Forward Justice and Spirithouse South
Forward Justice and Spirithouse South are hosting 7 days of free, family-friendly Kwanzaa celebrations in various venues in Durham, North Carolina, including film, an art supply swap, a free bus tour, and more. The events take place on each day of Kwanzaa, from December 26, 2024, to January 1, 2025.
Hayti Heritage Center Kwanzaa Celebration
Hayti Heritage Center, at 804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham, North Carolina, is hosting a Kwanzaa celebration on Thursday, December 26, 2024, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The suggested donation is $1 to $5.
Town of Cary’s Annual Kwanzaa Celebration
The 29th Annual Kwanzaa Celebration in Cary will take place at Cary Arts Center on December 29, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It features demonstrations, performances, art activities, food trucks and vendors.
Kwanzaa Fest in Durham
Kwanzaa Fest, held every January 1st in Durham, is back in 2025. Doors open at 12 p.m. and performances start at 2 p.m. It will be at Durham Armory, 220 Foster Street. This free event is presented by the African American Dance Ensemble.
Source: triangleonthecheap.com