Customer Reviews

West African Drum & Dance (A Yankadi-Macrou Celebration) Book & CD, DVD

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are quite a few books out there offering "West African Rhythms." Some are better than others, but in terms of cultural relevance, most if not all of these books seem to be missing something. They tend to be big on the "rhythms," and not so big on much else. More time may be spent on echaufements and solo lines than the songs, other instruments, and most importantly, the meaning of that particular music.

At almost 170 pages discussing only two "West African Rhythms," this book offers a true glimpse of the Susu culture; through teaching their history, their instruments, dancing, drumming, singing, and more. History and culture are offered in a straight-forward, digestible fashion... and when I say digestible, I'm also referring to actual Susu recipes.

West African Drum & Dance, a Yankadi-Macru Celebration is set up as a curriculum; one that could be used for an older elementary school class as easily as it could be used at the college level. Musical items are broken down and offered in a progressive fashion so that a teacher can customize the speed at which the material is presented. The DVD helps out a lot here as well, and when they show performances, it's from the actual village!

I've played Yankadi/Macru in various settings with people of various levels, including acclaimed Susu djembefola. Looking through this book, I have an entirely new perspective about what it is....it's not a rhythm, it's an involved, beautiful celebration.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in djembe/dunun, and/or in cultural music curriculums.

Whether you are an experienced drummer/dancer, new to drum/dance, an educator or an xenophile, this is a great book to dive into. It is wonderful to see a well rounded presentation of one of the celebrations from one of the many ethnic groups of West Africa. You are exposed to the music, the break down of the rhythms, the dance steps, a few phrases in Susu, a little idea of the food and more. I love this book and hope the authors can bring us more books showing some the many other celebrations from the diverse cultures of West Africa.

I'm a junior high school dance teacher and purchased this item for a unit I was doing on West African dance. The video was very useful. The book seemed more geared toward teaching music, but there was some helpful cultural information that I was able to use in my dance class. My students enjoyed getting to see the cultural aspects as well as the dance and drumming presented in the video. It was definitely a worthy purchase for the video alone.

Excellent book with a tremendous amount of wonderful information! I LOVED it! So have my students! Really enjoying putting all the parts of this piece together and we plan a performance in April! Can't wait! Its a group of 24 women playing African drums and percussion and these ladies rock the block with these pieces! I am really impressed with the book's format and the ease of following the suggested lesson plans to get to the finish. Very very well done! COngratulations, guys! And THANKS!

I purchased this book from Amazon and the book came with the cd attached on the back cover - but no DVD. Is the cd also the DVD? How did other people receive their dvds - did it come in a separate package? It looked like the book had lots of good cultural information - and had I received the DVD I probably wouldn't have returned the book.