Wow I can't believe I have not written my blog since December and it's May in two day's time!
Time is flying by.
Well a lot has been happening at Kontaani over the past few months.
I made the decision to merge the Kumaasi (beginners) and Tawuntee (intermediate) groups together on Wednesday's. The Tawuntee group had previously rehearsed and played with the advanced performance troupe on Thursdays but I found when we were rehearsing hard for up and coming gigs the Tawuntee members were being left behind. We had also incorporated some numbers the Tawuntee crew had not learned. It seemed unfair for them to be sitting around waiting for chance to drum while we battled it out to get the set ready for gigs.
This proved to be the right decision. Wednesdays are much more laid back and geared towards having fun and leaning with no pressure. The performance troupe have now really stepped up a gear and are extremely focussed. We are getting our noses firmly into rehearsing hard and learning some quite complex stuff.
Three of the members of our advanced performance troupe have recently taken 6 weeks out to attend a Drumroots course in Manchester. The course culminated in a performance at the Zion Arts Center last Friday night. I went along to watch them and 15 other students perform the 3 numbers they had learnt in 6 weeks. To be honest I thought this was a tall order to have learnt 3 numbers from scratch in just 6 weeks. However, I was extremely and pleasantly suprised - it was fantastic! The performance was amazing! Well done to Kontaani's Miriam, Ricci and Alisdair! You were all fantastic. The whole evening was brilliant as we were treated to a performance by my hero's Tanante with Sens Segna leading the dancing. Fantastic evening and it was fab to catch up with old drum buddies too. Our famous 3 are now back in the Kontaani fold and I'm certain are more confident, more experienced and better qualified drummers because of it. I sat there actually feeling so proud and emotional watching their performance - great stuff!
Our performance troupe played our latest complex number for the first time in public today at a gig at the Jervis Arms Blues, Roots, Folk and Beer festival in Onecote, Staffordshire.
After only learning this piece over the past two weeks we played it absolutely perfectly and I was thrilled.
Considering some of us had stayed out far too late last night and were nursing mamouth hangovers (no names mentioned but you know who you are, and so do I as I was with you!) we played a fabulous set and received rousing cheers and applause from the wonderful audience who were mostly made up of musicians. Praise indeed!
After battling through the most atrocious weather. we were grateful to find that the festival had thankfully been moved in to the pub instead of the marquee in the grounds as planned. It was such a shame for those who had made arrangements to camp over the weekend. Hopefully the weather will be kinder next year and we would be very honored to be asked back again to hopefully play on the grass by the riverside in blistering sunshine should the sun god see fit!
Our last gig was at Kontaani Janey Dewar's 50th Birthday Bash at the Jolly Sailor in Macc. Only 6 of us were free to do the gig but we went down a storm. The venue was packed to the rafters - great pub by the way, I made a mental note to go back there for a drink when next in Macc. After playing our set we got members of the Wednesday group who were guests at the party, up to play with us on a number they all knew, thus swelling the number of drummers and almost bringing the ceiling down with the sheer volume! We had a fabulous night and once again received rousing appreciation from the audience. It was an honor to play for Janey's birthday - she is a much loved member of the team.
Prior to that we drummed at Langley Chapel for the 'Womens World Day of Prayer'. This is an anual event is held world wide on the same day. A different country hosts the event and writes the service for all to follow. This year it was Malaysia who had stipulated that drummers should open the service if possible. We were very honored to be asked to play in the Chapel in the very village where Kontaani was born and still has it's headquarters.
Our short but powerful set was well received by the congregation (except for the lady at the back who's face looked horrified as she held her fingers firmly in her ears!) and we received raptuous applause!
Our outdoor gig at Macclesfield Fair Trade Fortnight in the market place in Macclesfield in March proved a great success. We were invited to play to raise awareness of a cause close to our hearts - Fair Trade. The wonderful organisers had ensured we had a huge gazeebo should the rain fall but we were very lucky! We attracted a huge crowd who seemed to really enjoy the break in their shopping to listen to some great drumming from our advanced performance troupe. We were treated by a visit from the mayor and mayoress of Macclesfield who were such good sports they each took a drum and joined in with us! It was a fabulous day - the photos of which are here on the website.
We are very much looking forward to a very busy May - We are playing every weekend starting with a wedding next Saturday followed by Kontaani Pete's 50th in a Brewery the week after (yes a Brewery!!!! Yippee, it's gonna get messy! especially as we are to wear leather and lace - raunchy or what?) and then the week after sees the very first Kontaani Drum Camp -
Our Drum Camp is the result of hours and hours of planning, negotiating and hard work but it will be so worth it. The setting for the camp is the lovely Stanley Head Outdoor Education centre in Staffordshire.
The Centre was originally an old farm set in 30 acres of woodland and countryside with a lake in the grounds to boot!
As well as drumming workshops throughout the weekend, drumming round a camp fire in the woods on Friday evening, archery, a high wire experience, Saturday night party and craft market etc. we are thrilled to have our great friends Tanante with special guest the well respected djembefola and wonderful tutor Iya Sako to perform for us at our party.
All of this will culminate in a farewell freestyle drumming 'jam' for all on Sunday.
I'm starting to get extremely excited about this event, if all goes well it could become an annual thing. It's the first time the Centre has accepted such a diverse clientelle - they normally have school children staying with them for outdoor persuits etc. Lets hope we leave them wanting more!
June brings with it an invitation to play in the bandstand in Victoria park, Macclesfield. Lets all do a sun dance that day please!
Midsummer Solstice this year will be especially poignant - our beloved solstice baby is turning 18. No doubt the drums will be sounding out that evening, as is usual during our annual party at the bottom of the garden by the river.
The following day is Langley Fete! A hair of the dog will steady the hands ready to play our sox's off at our wonderful village fete. Something for everyone on this day and some fab bands from around 4pm onwards. Kontaani performance troupe are on first. This in aid of our wonderful village hall which also happens to be Kontaani headquarters - the place where all our lessons, practises, workshops and regular performances take place.
That brings us into July where we already have a gig pencilled in to play at a another Fete.
We are currently working on our performance outfits. Our purple tee shirts and sweatshirts are our trademark but we now feel it's time to go that bit more colorfull. The Kontaani purple will be staying but we will introduce more of an African feel to our outfits. Of course it's hard to please everyone when we are all so diverse but slowly we are coming to an agreement about what we will wear at the summer gigs with variations on a theme to suit all shapes and sizes!
Oooh such a wonderful Summer is opening up for Kontaani and once again I feel so proud and honored to play along side such wonderful people. There have been over 40 drummers since I started the group. Most have absolutely loved it and been comming to classes for a couple of years, a couple tried it and decided drumming is not for them, 11 of us took to it like a duck to water and joined the advanced troupe to commit to study and play gigs at a higher level.
That's the beauty of Kontaani - everyone is made to feel welcome and encouraged regardless of ability. Kontaani is one big family and Kontaani translates as 'Happy' in the African language of Mandinka. Therfore we are one big happy family. Long may it continue!
Lots of love
Marie x
Time is flying by.
Well a lot has been happening at Kontaani over the past few months.
I made the decision to merge the Kumaasi (beginners) and Tawuntee (intermediate) groups together on Wednesday's. The Tawuntee group had previously rehearsed and played with the advanced performance troupe on Thursdays but I found when we were rehearsing hard for up and coming gigs the Tawuntee members were being left behind. We had also incorporated some numbers the Tawuntee crew had not learned. It seemed unfair for them to be sitting around waiting for chance to drum while we battled it out to get the set ready for gigs.
This proved to be the right decision. Wednesdays are much more laid back and geared towards having fun and leaning with no pressure. The performance troupe have now really stepped up a gear and are extremely focussed. We are getting our noses firmly into rehearsing hard and learning some quite complex stuff.
Three of the members of our advanced performance troupe have recently taken 6 weeks out to attend a Drumroots course in Manchester. The course culminated in a performance at the Zion Arts Center last Friday night. I went along to watch them and 15 other students perform the 3 numbers they had learnt in 6 weeks. To be honest I thought this was a tall order to have learnt 3 numbers from scratch in just 6 weeks. However, I was extremely and pleasantly suprised - it was fantastic! The performance was amazing! Well done to Kontaani's Miriam, Ricci and Alisdair! You were all fantastic. The whole evening was brilliant as we were treated to a performance by my hero's Tanante with Sens Segna leading the dancing. Fantastic evening and it was fab to catch up with old drum buddies too. Our famous 3 are now back in the Kontaani fold and I'm certain are more confident, more experienced and better qualified drummers because of it. I sat there actually feeling so proud and emotional watching their performance - great stuff!
Our performance troupe played our latest complex number for the first time in public today at a gig at the Jervis Arms Blues, Roots, Folk and Beer festival in Onecote, Staffordshire.
After only learning this piece over the past two weeks we played it absolutely perfectly and I was thrilled.
Considering some of us had stayed out far too late last night and were nursing mamouth hangovers (no names mentioned but you know who you are, and so do I as I was with you!) we played a fabulous set and received rousing cheers and applause from the wonderful audience who were mostly made up of musicians. Praise indeed!
After battling through the most atrocious weather. we were grateful to find that the festival had thankfully been moved in to the pub instead of the marquee in the grounds as planned. It was such a shame for those who had made arrangements to camp over the weekend. Hopefully the weather will be kinder next year and we would be very honored to be asked back again to hopefully play on the grass by the riverside in blistering sunshine should the sun god see fit!
Our last gig was at Kontaani Janey Dewar's 50th Birthday Bash at the Jolly Sailor in Macc. Only 6 of us were free to do the gig but we went down a storm. The venue was packed to the rafters - great pub by the way, I made a mental note to go back there for a drink when next in Macc. After playing our set we got members of the Wednesday group who were guests at the party, up to play with us on a number they all knew, thus swelling the number of drummers and almost bringing the ceiling down with the sheer volume! We had a fabulous night and once again received rousing appreciation from the audience. It was an honor to play for Janey's birthday - she is a much loved member of the team.
Prior to that we drummed at Langley Chapel for the 'Womens World Day of Prayer'. This is an anual event is held world wide on the same day. A different country hosts the event and writes the service for all to follow. This year it was Malaysia who had stipulated that drummers should open the service if possible. We were very honored to be asked to play in the Chapel in the very village where Kontaani was born and still has it's headquarters.
Our short but powerful set was well received by the congregation (except for the lady at the back who's face looked horrified as she held her fingers firmly in her ears!) and we received raptuous applause!
Our outdoor gig at Macclesfield Fair Trade Fortnight in the market place in Macclesfield in March proved a great success. We were invited to play to raise awareness of a cause close to our hearts - Fair Trade. The wonderful organisers had ensured we had a huge gazeebo should the rain fall but we were very lucky! We attracted a huge crowd who seemed to really enjoy the break in their shopping to listen to some great drumming from our advanced performance troupe. We were treated by a visit from the mayor and mayoress of Macclesfield who were such good sports they each took a drum and joined in with us! It was a fabulous day - the photos of which are here on the website.
We are very much looking forward to a very busy May - We are playing every weekend starting with a wedding next Saturday followed by Kontaani Pete's 50th in a Brewery the week after (yes a Brewery!!!! Yippee, it's gonna get messy! especially as we are to wear leather and lace - raunchy or what?) and then the week after sees the very first Kontaani Drum Camp -
Our Drum Camp is the result of hours and hours of planning, negotiating and hard work but it will be so worth it. The setting for the camp is the lovely Stanley Head Outdoor Education centre in Staffordshire.
The Centre was originally an old farm set in 30 acres of woodland and countryside with a lake in the grounds to boot!
As well as drumming workshops throughout the weekend, drumming round a camp fire in the woods on Friday evening, archery, a high wire experience, Saturday night party and craft market etc. we are thrilled to have our great friends Tanante with special guest the well respected djembefola and wonderful tutor Iya Sako to perform for us at our party.
All of this will culminate in a farewell freestyle drumming 'jam' for all on Sunday.
I'm starting to get extremely excited about this event, if all goes well it could become an annual thing. It's the first time the Centre has accepted such a diverse clientelle - they normally have school children staying with them for outdoor persuits etc. Lets hope we leave them wanting more!
June brings with it an invitation to play in the bandstand in Victoria park, Macclesfield. Lets all do a sun dance that day please!
Midsummer Solstice this year will be especially poignant - our beloved solstice baby is turning 18. No doubt the drums will be sounding out that evening, as is usual during our annual party at the bottom of the garden by the river.
The following day is Langley Fete! A hair of the dog will steady the hands ready to play our sox's off at our wonderful village fete. Something for everyone on this day and some fab bands from around 4pm onwards. Kontaani performance troupe are on first. This in aid of our wonderful village hall which also happens to be Kontaani headquarters - the place where all our lessons, practises, workshops and regular performances take place.
That brings us into July where we already have a gig pencilled in to play at a another Fete.
We are currently working on our performance outfits. Our purple tee shirts and sweatshirts are our trademark but we now feel it's time to go that bit more colorfull. The Kontaani purple will be staying but we will introduce more of an African feel to our outfits. Of course it's hard to please everyone when we are all so diverse but slowly we are coming to an agreement about what we will wear at the summer gigs with variations on a theme to suit all shapes and sizes!
Oooh such a wonderful Summer is opening up for Kontaani and once again I feel so proud and honored to play along side such wonderful people. There have been over 40 drummers since I started the group. Most have absolutely loved it and been comming to classes for a couple of years, a couple tried it and decided drumming is not for them, 11 of us took to it like a duck to water and joined the advanced troupe to commit to study and play gigs at a higher level.
That's the beauty of Kontaani - everyone is made to feel welcome and encouraged regardless of ability. Kontaani is one big family and Kontaani translates as 'Happy' in the African language of Mandinka. Therfore we are one big happy family. Long may it continue!
Lots of love
Marie x