Category Archives: African Drumming Workshops
Drumroots Artist Spotlight – Iya Sako (Master drummer from Guinea)
This past year has been a tough one for performing artists, but with things starting to open up and the possibility of more live music events on the horizon, we thought now would be a good time to highlight some of the incredible West African artists we have had the privilege to work with. This will be the first in a series of blog posts, so please keep your eye out for more!
Mory Sako (known to friends and family as Iya) is a Malinke djembe master from Samakofadda in the Wassalon region of North East Guinea. We first met Iya in 2007 at a Drumroots Live event at the Rampant Lion in Manchester. He had recently moved to the UK, had heard about the event and decided to turn up. At this point, we didn’t really know anything about Iya, apart from his name and that he had recently moved here from Guinea.
(more…)Sidiki Dembele’s New Website
If you’re looking for something to bring a bit of joy and light into your life in these cold and dark,
wintry days, then look no further! Our good friend and world-renowned djembe master and Griot musician, Sidiki
Dembele, has a new website that is bursting with his positive energy! You can watch videos of his
explosive performances, sign up for online djembe lessons, buy merchandise and even think about
booking the holiday of a lifetime to the Ivory Coast…
New Pro djembes available
After a long wait, Drumroots are excited to announce that our brand new stock of professional, African djembe drums are now available to buy. It has taken us longer than usual to get these beautiful drums shipped here because of problems with shipping due to the COVID 19 pandemic, but it’s well worth the wait. Each drum has been skillfully crafted by our colleagues in Conakry, Guinea, using a range of African hard woods (Lenke, Hare and Djalla) and only the best quality skins, rings and rope. Please get in touch for more details.
Also, don’t forget that Drumroots also stock the best quality Protection Racket Djembe
bags and run a mail order service to send drums out wherever you are.
African drumming workshops and performance for Eatock Primary school 03/02/2018
Ever wanted to come to one of our African drumming gigs but can’t quite make it out until midnight? Well here is your opportunity to see us perform at 10 in the morning! Drumroots are proud to announce that we have been invited to Eatock primary school in Westhoughton, Bolton for their special African Beats launch event on Saturday 3rd February. We will be putting on an extra special performance with our professional drumming group ‘Tanante’. Not only will Tanante be featuring Iya Sako our master drummer from Guinea but we will also be inviting a surprise special guest all the way from East Africa too!
Tanante to perform at Global Grooves charity fund raiser 14/01/2018
The Drumroots performance group, Tanante will be joining our good friends from Global Grooves on Sunday 14th January at the Vale in Mossley, to perform for a special Charity fundraising day of amazing West African Percussion workshops.
2017 summer festivals and gigs.
Well, here at Drumroots HQ, we are more than a little bit excited about our forthcoming performances, so we thought we’d share a few details of what we’ve got lined up this summer. Feast your eyes on this lovely list of musical happenings…
Djembe and Dun-dun workshop with Iya Sako | 16th April 2016 | NEW ISLINGTON MILL
As part of our 10th birthday celebration we would like to offer a very special workshop with our friend and world renowned djembe master Iya Sako! Expect some beautiful traditional Guinean rhythms and a patient and encouraging teaching style. Workshops will be supported by Tanante members and will give students the opportunity to learn both the djembe and the dun duns (bass drums). Also don’t miss the gig in the evening to see Iya doing his thing on stage… a genuine world class percussionist, you will not be dissapointed!
Drumroots in Sudan at the Festival of the Nile
Early in the autumn, The British Council
in Sudan asked Drumroots to be a part of The Festival of the Nile. West Africa has been so successful in popularising it’s traditional music around the world and our friend from the British Council, Mustafa, wanted to use this success as an inspiring example to encourage the youth of Sudan to engage with their cultural roots. Although we knew that we would be performing and leading workshops to celebrate traditional African music, little did we know what incredible experiences were in store for us during the week ahead.
Year 7 drumming workshops St James Catholic High School
It’s not often you would hear the sound of more than sixty African drums being played together in a school in Cheadle Hulme, Manchester. However, once a year, the Drumroots team bring their authentic instruments to St James’ Catholic High School to give the pupils a taste of African culture. (more…)
Drumroots deliver Team building drumming session for Macmillan Cancer support.
If you’re organising a corporate team building event and you’re trying to think of ways to keep your delegates on their toes, then we would definitely recommend taking a leaf out of Macmillan Cancer Support‘s book! We had great fun being accomplices in their secret plan to surprise their staff yesterday, at the conference centre of the Radisson Blu hotel in Manchester. (more…)
