ADDLIFE! STUDIO

100 Dancers Unite! Was a big, big success!

10:21 PM

AddLife!'s music class was a success! 'If you can say it, you can play it!"

10:29 PM

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