Saturday,
AddLife! Studio presented three titans of music in a lecture and learning party
at Schlafly’s Library in St. Louis.
In honor of
June’s Black Music Month, AddLife! designed the program to give attendees a
hands-on experience of music, dating back to Ancient Africa, and up through the
rise of West Africa’s Djembe orchestra and America’s Hip-Hop renaissance.
I kicked off
the presentation with an explanation of Nubia’s rock gong – an ancient stone
drum our ancestors played to communicate some of the most intricate messages.
Later, co-founder of Kreative
Pandemonium,Weedie Braimah, lit up the room with a jolting lesson about the
dynamic Djembe orchestra which owes its heart and soul -- and advanced
communication system -- to its three barrel drums – the Kenkeni, Sangban, and
the Dundunba.
“If you can
say it, you can play it,” Braimah said, highlighting African drum music’s
implicit tie to the poly-rhythmic language of the people.
Tapping
their hands to flipped-over chairs, the audience sang and drummed in unison “I
can play the drum, I can play the drum!” Two audience members who had never
laid hands on a West African drum were instant converts as they chanted and
commanded their hands to animate the beats spoken on their tongues.
After
Braimah's presentation, St. Louis jazz and gospel star Al Anderson gave a
riveting lecture about how African Americans formed gospel music by bending
classical European church hymns into voluptuous ballads.
“Gospel
music is sacred music,” Anderson said. “And it is a marriage of European and
African music. Now anyone in the world can hear gospel music and it will
resonate. The same goes for jazz.”
After
Anderson, super producer Dan Liddell, aka StLou. Hitz, traced the evolution of
African music from village to urban Hip Hop culture. “Hip-Hop music comes from
those African beats,” Liddell said. “Now we have a multi-billion dollar culture
defined by dance, fashion, and mindset.”
As AddLife!
grows, we look forward to bringing more high-caliber master classes to you –
especially concerning the intersection of art, life, and business.
The support
from institutions and attendees in St. Louis has been remarkable and I look
forward to partnering with more powerhouse people to bring bold life to our
world.
--Malena
