Wulaba Drum

Wulaba and Soma Beats Performing at Saranac Lake Farmers' Market

2011-09-05T19:43:00.000-04:00

Juneteenth Celebration at John Brown Farm in Lake Placid Sunday June 19th!

2011-06-05T15:15:00.000-04:00

Come join Soma Beats dancers and Wulaba Drum West African drumming for the Father's Day Juneteenth Celebration - John Brown's Farm, Lake Placid, NY - Sunday June 19th 2011 12noon - 5pm:

12-1PM - Community Drum Circle - bring an instrument, spoons, pots and pans

1-2PM - Kid's Corner in the Barn -- recycled instrument making class Bring: empty toilet paper and/or paper towel holders

2-4PM - A " Celebration of Freedom "Spirit of West Africa in Poetry, Music and Dance" (Light picnic fare will be provided, bring additional items as needed or wanted)

4-5PM - Community Dance

Summer Drum and Dance Classes Beginning June 21st!

2011-06-05T15:11:00.000-04:00

This summer, we have a new home for our African dance classes with Soma Beats! The dance studio is Mountains in Motion in Saranac Lake, NY.

Also new is beginner African drumming classes (djembe drums) with James of Wulaba Drum. You can sign up for both drum and dance class eight weeks for only $80!

If you prefer to sign up for just one or the other, the details are below:

8 week Summer Session: Tuesdays June 21—August 16th (Skip July5th)

6-7pm Beginner African Drum Class with Wulaba
—limited number of Djembes are available
$12 per class; $44 / 4 class card; $80 full series card

7-8:30 African Dance Class
$15 per class; $52 / 4 class card; $80 full series card

Sign up for drum and/or dance classes

Contact: Johnna@somabeats.com, call 518-791-9586, or visit SOMABEATS on facebook for more details. For drumming information, contact James at 518-524-1834

Wulaba Drum and Soma Beats Perform for Reason2Smile Fundraiser

2011-04-05T12:48:00.008-04:00

Below are some videos from our latest performance at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts as part of Reason2Smile's Annual Fundraiser. This Soma Beats dancers have been practicing for months and just got nifty new outfits just for this performance!

Celebrating African Style!

2011-04-04T14:34:00.004-04:00

The North Country came out in support for Jambo Jipya School at the first ever Reason2Smile Arts Night held at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts in early March. Attendees enjoyed perusing the artwork made by professional and student artists, as well as the Kenyan marketplace which filled the lower lobby of the LPCA. The Saranac Lake High School Men and Women’s Ensembles started off the evening and were soon followed by the UVM Top Cats (an all male a cappella group from the University of Vermont). The place was rocking as the Top Cats shared their talent and energy. To end the night with an African feel, Wulaba Drummers and Somabeats Dancers took the stage and got the blood pumping! There wasn’t a still foot in the theatre as the audience got into the African groove! Over $3,000 was raised at the event and was sent straight to Jambo Jipya School! A very special thank you to the LPCA staff as well as to all the performers and volunteers! It was an incredibly successful evening! Thanks a lot to all who attended! We’re looking forward to seeing you at next year’s Reason2Smile Arts Night!

African Dance Classes at the LPCA Annex!

2010-11-14T23:41:00.002-05:00

Join us for Beginner African dance classes Tuesdays at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts in Lake Placid, NY. We dance in the Annex building (formerly the craft center) from 7-8PM. Then from 8 - 8:30PM our Soma Beats dancers rehearse their performance numbers (you can stay and watch).

Cost: $10 per class or 4 classes for $32 through December 21st, 2010. Winter session starts January 7th.

For more information, call James at 518-524-1834

Jeh Kulu Drum and Dance Festival

2010-11-14T23:03:00.003-05:00

Wulaba drummers and Soma Beats Dancers took the trip across the lake to participate in Jeh Kulu's Annual Drum and Dance Festival in Burlington, VT. The majority of the dance troupe was able to come on Saturday to do a couple classes with Jeh Kulu and learn some "new" moves.

We were most excited to learn the dance to Sinte. Why? Because Wulaba drum knows that rhythm and we hadn't created a dance to it. How wonderful to see the "real thing" as taught by Jeh Kulu's Sidiki Sylla.

The drummers took advantage of the djembe classes, krin, balafone and dunun classes. Our "craziest" wild woman dancer, ShoShana, took nine dance classes and one drum class over two days!!

Art Walk Saranac Lake, August 2010

2010-08-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed playing for the Art Walk in Saranac Lake this August. It was two hours of almost straight drumming! Our favorite part is having a two year old boy dancing away to our music...and it was cool when a big dog howled after we finished!

Blue Mountain Lake Community Dance to Tiriba

2010-07-18T23:12:00.000-04:00

Here is our video of Tiriba, the community dance - the last dance of the night where we get the audience involved. Notice the high energy and booty shaking going on! The song starts out with our Soma Beats dancers doing their solos, followed by the community being invited to dance along.

This performance was at the Adirondack Arts Center in Blue Mountain Lake, New York in July 2010.

A Night Full of Talent and Laughter

2010-05-04T06:50:00.001-04:00

Johnna MacDougall of Soma Beats (left) Karen Kan and James Gann of Wulaba rock the Concert for Jambo Jipya.

Saturday March 6th marked the 2nd Annual Concert for Jambo Jipya held in the Saranac Lake High School Audito- rium. This year’s event proved to be even more lively than last year. Quite a crowd of people from across the north country showed up to enjoy an evening of high school musical talent, energetic college acapella, as well as African drumming and dance. Those who came certainly weren’t disap- pointed. Each group proved to be incredibly talented and seeing the college students on stage being led by Wulaba Drumming and Somabeats in African dance, was a real treat! If you missed out this year, be looking for information on next year’s event. It truly is an evening you don’t want to miss!

Thank you very much to all who participated and all who attended. A special thank you to Gail Meyer and her team of volunteers for all their help running the African Marketplace and making the night a true success!

NEW Solo/Dance West African Drumming CD released!

2009-11-30T17:23:00.000-05:00

Want to Solo Like Master Djembe Drummers?

Well, now you can. James Gann had that same desire when he began West African drumming classes. The problem was that he was too intimidated to solo in class. At home he tried practicing his solo technique, but found it challenging without the accompaniment.

His Senegalese drum teacher used to say, “In order to solo well, you need to have strong accompaniment”. Now, a decade later, as a drum instructor and performer, James created this CD especially for drummers like you to help you rapidly improve your solo drumming ability with the drum accompaniment of popular West African rhythms.

“This CD will help your confidence. Feel free to find your own solo style that works for you. Give it a shot!" – James Gann

“Whenever I would attend a drum festival, I was nervous about soloing in front of strangers. Now I’m not because of this CD! I love it!” – Karen Kan

Also Great for West African Dancing!

This CD also makes a perfect practice CD for West African dancing, whether it is in the privacy of your own home or in dance class – with or without a live Djembe soloist!

Ten percent of revenue from the sale of this CD is donated to Reason2Smile, www.reason2smile.org, a charitable organization that supports Jambo Jipya The Future Child School (located just north of Mombasa , Kenya ) whose mission is to educate, clothe and feed orphaned and at-risk children of Kenya .

Bonus tracks with each purchase!

You can drum at any age!

2009-11-30T17:18:00.000-05:00

Here's young Maggie learning how to play the Dununs to KuKu with an appreciative mom, Traci, playing the djembe. James was teaching both this past summer.

Wulaba Motivates ADK Marathoners in Schroon Lake

2009-09-21T12:28:00.011-04:00

Volunteer Tony Kostecki jumped into to play with Wulaba!

While Wulaba Drum leader, James Gann, was in Africa doing an intensive training, the skeleton crew of Karen Kan, Christina and Dusty Grant, made their way yesterday to Schroon Lake for the annual Adirondack Marathon.

It was a chilly morning at about 40 degrees when we arrived so everyone was thankful they brought layers. Wulaba was stationed at mile 11, 22 and at the finish line having short break between drumming session. The first ten minutes were a bit challenging as our hands were cold and a bit stiff (karen had gloves on at first!), but we warmed up quickly.

As marathoners ran, walked or biked by, most gave us a wave, a thumbs up, a smile and a, "THANK YOU!" as we drummed them up the next hill. Given the 5:30AM wake-up call for us, I can say it was well worth it to see the difference we made!

One woman, as she ran by said in an incredulous voice, "Who ARE you guys? You are incredible!" We were surprised but obviously thrilled with the comment. My guess is that the drums reverberated among the trees and rocks to be heard for well over a mile along the course.

One man on bicycle (and later on foot) actually slowed to a stop to ask where he can buy an djembe. Luckily we had Wulaba cards for John Paul. So we hope we'll be hearing from him soon!

Once we made the move from the forest to the highway, we were in full sun and layers of clothing were peeled off. In fact, we all got a sun tan! Much to our surprise, we attracted another drummer to play with us! ADK Marathon volunteer, Tony Kostecki, general director of Seagle Music Colony, joined us for KukuKase, Kakilambe and Triba after a quick 10 second lesson from Karen.

We met our dance teacher, Johnna MacDougall at the finish line where her and her band of happy massage therapists were doing their thing for all the athletes. We also got to say a quick hello to Stuart Paton from Burlington Taiko who was also on hand with his group drumming around the last corner before the finish line.

Drum and Dance at Lake Placid Center for the Arts

2009-08-29T11:15:00.010-04:00

Wulaba Drummers celebrated Salute to the Arts Day at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Wednesday August 26th together with two members of the Soma Beats Dancers, Tammy Loewy and Melanie Niemczura. On Thursday August 27th, Wulaba was on hand to present live drumming before and after the incredible film, Throw Down Your Heart, a story of how virtuoso banjo player Bela Fleck travelled to parts of Africa searching for the origins of the Banjo and playing with traditional musicians. Inspired by the film, movie-goers got to dance and try some drumming of their own during the after-movie Drum Circle celebrations at the LPCA (see above pictures). Nine year old Mistra, originally from South Africa, led the dancing.

Wulaba and Soma Beats Heat Up Will Rogers!

2009-08-29T11:08:00.004-04:00

On Saturday August 22nd, they performed on stage at the Will Rogers retirement community. Retirees on foot, in wheelchairs and with oxygen tanks came to watch as did children and other community members. Despite the multitude of fans in the room and on stage, Wulaba and Soma Beats drummers and dancers worked up such a sweat that the pre-alarms went off (fire alarms) because of the temperature rise in the room! Although somewhat reserved, a few Will Rogers residents got up the courage to shake their bootie and dance. Everyone, of course, enjoyed the "kids dance" where the kids got up on stage to strut their stuff. Nine year old Mistra, a member of the junior dance troupe was there to encourage all the kids.

Latest Wulaba Drum - Soma Beats Videos

2009-06-20T20:20:00.001-04:00

Check out our Wulaba Drum Videos link for videos from our June 2009 performance in Jay, New York at the Julia and Amos Ward Theatre (Jems Group)

Jems Community Dance June, 2009 - Maraka Don

2009-06-20T20:03:00.002-04:00

African Dance Classes at LPCA

2009-06-11T20:12:00.003-04:00

African Dance Classes Lake Placid Center for the Arts

17 Algonquin Drive Lake Placid, NY

Tuesdays 7-8:30PM

June 9th to August 4th, 2009

Class Fee: $15/class

Multi-class discounts available

For more information: www.somabeats.com

James Gann of Wulaba in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise

2009-06-11T19:56:00.004-04:00

James Gann, born in 1973, was a "free-range" child, unfettered by convention. His mother raised him in a small California biker-hippie community. He was to navigate his way through a number of obstacles before finding the right beat for the rhythm in his life.

Looking back, James remembers his younger years as a fun era, surrounded by musicians, art, some degree of discipline and a large degree of freedom. At age fourteen, he moved to Lawton, Okla. to be with his father and stepmother. Living in the city in an over-sheltered, highly restrictive culture was a radical change. He tried his best to behave, but found nothing he did was considered acceptable. Earlier, at the age of five, his mother had introduced him to drumming. He loved and practiced it for many years but after his move to Oklahoma, found it a skill which was neither approved of nor encouraged. Hard as those years were, he stuck it out through the 12th-grade. He tried to please his father, who was a drill sergeant in the military, but never seemed to do the right thing.

James had little interest in school but was an excellent athlete and much admired for his skills in ROTC classes. Partly for his father's sake, he had planned on joining the military after graduating. To James's surprise, his father, a Vietnam veteran who had known his share of suffering and indeed loved his son very much, talked him out of it. Instead, James was sent off to the National Education Center in Phoenix, Ariz. to study graphic arts. Sprung loose from the restraints of his Oklahoma home, he soon fell into the drug scene, his grades plummeted, and he dropped out of school a year-and-a-half later.

Returning to California, he adopted the gypsy life, rather enjoying the varied experience of living in different places. When he met a girl named Tara, life turned around. They went out together for two-and-a-half years before marrying in 1995 and settling down in Salinas. He stopped all drug use, took a job at UPS and another as a part-time roofer, made good money and had a nice home. The two of them were quite religious, joining first the Church of Christ and later the Pentecostals. Not quite satisfied with what he found, he slowly dropped away from formal religion. Today he says that he has found a stronger relation to God and one that is more joyous than he experienced in earlier years.

In 2000, still in California, James felt a certain lack of purpose in his life. Accomplished in several areas such as snowboarding, art and drumming, he excelled in none. Walking to the mailbox one day, he put it out to God: "I want to be really good at something." A few days later, it came to him what that something was - he wanted to become a master drummer. He found a mentor by the name of Abdulaye Diallo, a West African master drummer from Senegal who "took him under his wing." James bought a drum and upon going to Abdulaye for lessons, discovered the drum he bought had once belonged to his teacher. It seemed a good omen. Abdulaye, seeing talent in James, pushed him hard. At first it was real agony, his hands hurt, his shoulders and arms burned. But he persevered, advanced quickly, became passionate about West African drumming and grateful to his mentor for sticking with him and pushing him toward greater achievement. Unfortunately his wife, Tara, was not so enthused about his drumming. It gave her a headache every time he played.

The marriage, already sagging, ended two years later; the drumming did not. James pursued it with intensity for six years, doing some teaching and playing in his mentor's band, Casamance, named for the place he came from in Senegal.

Then, in 2005, walking to the mailbox again (was it something about communicating?), he spoke to God. "I need a partner, a woman with whom I can share mutual interests, one who is spiritual and one who does not get a headache when I play my drums!"

Once more, his wish was granted. Karen Guenette, a Lake Placid resident, was in California for a workshop on intuition. She met James when he was teaching an outdoor drumming class. Having learned to listen to his own inner rhythm, James now sensed that he had finally found the right person. On that beautiful day in July, Karen, following her own intuition, sat down to drum along. From that moment, the relationship grew, continuing by phone after Karen returned home. Six months later, in January 2006, James packed his belongings and moved east to join her.

Now living in Lake Placid, both their lives have expanded. Karen is a dedicated and accomplished figure skater who shares James's love of drumming, playing with him in performances. James, exceptional athlete that he is, learned to figure skate. Amazingly, in 2008, they skated together to take a Gold medal in the silver pairs level at the Nationals Skating Championships. They truly share one another's passions.

Today, James has been awarded two grants, gives lessons in West African drumming and collaborates with a colleague, Johnna McDougall, a West African dance teacher. He teaches in schools and at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. Community is important to him. He reaches out to children and adults alike, encouraging them to join him in the joys of drumming and dance. He has performed at JEMS in Jay, NCCC in Saranac Lake, Pendragon, the Saranac Lake Art Walks, the Winter Carnival Rotary Show and was honored to play this year at the opening ceremonies for the Empire State Games.

When he runs his drumming workshop at St. Joseph's Rehabilitation Center, he happily shares the rocky road that finally brought him to fulfillment. In 2006, he traveled to Senegal to improve his West African drumming technique; he looks forward to returning again in September. He also plays with Jamie Whidden's Capoeria group, an African-Brazilian dance and acrobatic art. Enthused and bubbling with energy, James has indeed finally found the right beat in his own life. --- Based on an interview with James Gann. Caperton Tissot can be reached at Tissot@SnowyOwlPress.com.

Wulaba and Soma Beats First Summer Performance in Jay, NY

2009-05-30T14:44:00.003-04:00

Wulaba Drumming & Soma Beats African Dance Saturday June 6th, 2009 Time: 6:30 pm At the Amos & Julia Ward Theater Located at the Green in Jay Admission: $5.00 Join us next Saturday for our first summer performance on stage at the Amos and Julia Ward Theatre (Jems Group) in Jay New York!

Wulaba and Soma Beats Rock the NCCC International Festival!

2009-04-21T23:30:00.003-04:00

Soma Beats dancers, led by Johnna MacDougall, debuted two new dances: SoKo and Yankadi-Makaru. The SoKo dance, choreographed by Johnna MacDougall, was meant to signify the "cutting of chains" from captivity to freedom. It represents the freedom of all human-kind and is a rejoicing of that transformation. Dancer and yoga instructor, Mimi Wacholder Frantz, brought back the dance of Yankadi from her trip to Mexico where unexpectedly, there was an African dance class. The Yankadi dance is the dance of seduction. Flowing movements and lots of "hip" make this dance sensuous and playful - a courting dance of sorts. Then without warning, Yankadi becomes Makaru, a spirited fast-paced dance where traditionally the "couples" that have formed during Yankadi, dance at a feverish pace together. One of the highlights of tonight's performance at the North Country Community College International Festival was the Community Dance done to Kakilambe, a dance of healing celebration, where the audience is invited to participate, as well as the Circle Dance where free expression inside the "circle" reigns. Children to adults enjoyed the rhythms and shook their bodies to the delightful sound of the drums! videos to come!

Wulaba and Soma Beats Slideshow!

2009-02-24T22:59:00.001-05:00

Wulaba Rocks the 1980 Olympic Arena for the 2009 Winter Empire States Games Opening Ceremonies

2009-02-23T22:39:00.002-05:00

We had a one and a half minutes of fame in front of thousands of people (our biggest audience so far) last Friday February 20th for the opening ceremonies of the 2009 Winter Empire States Games. Mimi Frantz, one of our African dancers who happens also to be a skating coach, choreographed the number on ice. First Lost Dog, a local band (with Nick Loewy, who also plays with Wulaba from time to time), began the night with the Northwood Women's Hockey players performing their high spirited number. Then we transitioned to figure skating where Wulaba played Maraka Don. The Olympic Skating School skaters performed an exciting number. On hand for Wulaba were James Gann, Karen Kan, Candy Merritt and Dusty Grant (on Dununs). We were "amplified" for the first time ever in the large 1980 arena. Despite the large crowds, Wulaba wasn't too nervous. The spotlight was pretty interesting - but we were in our own little worlds drumming our hearts out for one and a half minutes! After we were done, Lost Dog started up again for the speed skaters that came out and did their number. We finished off with a "Jam" session at the end. All in all, we had a really fun time! Hey, and one of our other dancers, Jackie, was actually part of the camera crew! Hope she got us on film!

More Photos of Wulaba and Soma Beats from the Rotary Variety Show

2009-02-23T17:07:00.013-05:00

Wulaba Drum and Soma Beats performs for Saranac Lake Rotary Show

2009-02-16T21:47:00.004-05:00

Wulaba and Soma Beats performed for the first time at the 2009 Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Variety show hosted by the Saranac Lake Rotary. We were the first professional group to perform after the "court" performed and we got everyone up off their seats and clapping or dancing to the beat of the drum! The teenagers who were performing their own dance number quickly jumped out of their seats to dance along with Soma Beats. Wulaba performed Kakilambe as the Soma Beats dancers danced up to the stage in the 624 capacity seating-only event. We then debuted BAO. The stage was narrow because of the equipment out at the front so the dunun sticks actually hit some of our dancers during Bao! Luckily no one was injured :o) Then Johnna MacDougall, choreographer, joined the dancers to do DJOLE. The energy was HIGH and it set the stage for great performances that night including Inisheer and the Dustbunnies and Long Hairs, two other professional groups. All in all, we had a fabulous time! We are just waiting for copies of the video!

Gidambe - solo by Johnna MacDougall

2009-01-20T23:21:00.001-05:00

Soma Beats & Wulaba First Night 2009: Community Dance Kakilambe

2009-01-18T22:31:00.001-05:00

Soma Beats & Wulaba perform Djole New Year's Eve!

2009-01-18T22:21:00.001-05:00

First Night 2009 - Yankadi/Makru

2009-01-18T22:08:00.002-05:00

Beginner Drumming Lessons - New Year's Special!

2008-12-31T01:07:00.004-05:00

Special Beginner Private Lesson Package - three one-hour lessons for $50 (value over $100)

Six year old draws a picture of Karen drumming with her and her mom

2008-11-30T17:25:00.002-05:00

Karen, Maggie & Mom Drawing by Maggie Ploufe, age 6

Jeh Kulu's Drum and Dance Festival

2008-11-30T17:21:00.004-05:00

We had a great time at the annual Jeh Kulu drum and dance festival! Although all of our drummers couldn't make it, we had two dancers that did, Johnna and Melanie.

Karen got to dance to two drum rhythms she is familiar with and together with Melanie and Johnna, taught it to the Soma Beats dancers in Saranac Lake.

James got to play drums with the master drummers from Africa during dance class and he had a blast and elevated his level of playing one step further. The show was amazing as usual and we had great classes with Ismael Bangoura and Moussa Traore. Karen met Pape Ba from Casamance, the town where James' drum teacher is from in Senegal.

Next year we hope everyone can join us!

Marsha Kameron's Freedom Birthday Bash

2008-09-28T13:31:00.005-04:00

What a terrific time we all had celebrating Marsha Kameron's Freedom Birthday Bash at the Presbyterian Church in Saranac Lake on Saturday! Over 70 people were there and Johnna MacDougall of Soma Beats shared her "babies" (percussion instruments) with the party-goers so they could dance and rock to their own rhythm.

Wulaba Drums for Adirondack Marathon

2008-09-27T22:45:00.003-04:00

On Sunday September 21st, Wulaba was on the race track at the Adirondack Marathon in Schroon Lake to help those marathoners push through with the beating of the drums echoing the beating of their hearts. Together with Burlington Taiko and Songs of the Spheres (another West African drumming group), we were strategically placed along the entire race track until the racers went through the finish line. We heard, "Thanks for the drumming! That really helped!" over and over again. We saw kids on the sidelines cheering for their mom or dad and bouncing up and down to the beat of the West African drums while they waited. Wulaba got together with Len Mackey to perform together near the finish line, where Len performed on the Balaphone while Wulaba played drums. He also played the African flute which, apparently, could be heard for miles. We look forward to next year when we'll be able to jam together outdoors again! It was an awesome day! Karen

Capoeira, Soma Beats & Wulaba Drum at the Art Walk

2008-09-26T18:32:00.005-04:00

Thursday Sept. 18th, which was the birthday of one of our drummers, Sandy Muller, we celebrated by drumming at the Saranac Lake Art Walk. Jamie Whidden was there on hand to show off the fluid martial arts moves of Capoeira, a brazilian art form. Jamie, James and I did some Capoeira together. I had a half Capoeira outfit - half African outfit on for the occasion. Johnna Macdougall, African Dance teacher, brought several of her Soma Beats dancers to dance with us. We even had a few spectators dance this year which was awesome! Just like last year, we were in front of the town hall - the perfect place to be for lots of attention! Karen

New accompaniment to SoKo

2008-08-31T21:10:00.005-04:00

B S TT S B B S TT S B B S TT S B B S TT S B L R RL R L

New accompaniment to Kakilambe

2008-08-31T20:55:00.004-04:00

T S TT SS TT S TT SS TT S TT SS TT S TT SS T

R R RL RL LR R RL RL LR R RL RL LR R RL RL L

T - TONE S - SLAP R - RIGHT HAND L - LEFT HAND

Lorraine Wilson Memorial Party Drum Video

2008-08-30T20:17:00.004-04:00

Lorraine Wilson Memorial Pie Party

2008-08-23T23:52:00.009-04:00

Last Sunday we had the pleasure of playing drums at Harvest Moon Farms, the residence of drummer David Vana and his late wife Lorraine Wilson. Over 200 people attended this amazing pie party to celebrate the wonderful life of Lorraine Wilson who died earlier this year of cancer.

A big tent was set up and we celebrated Lorraine, the passion behind our drumming group, through the sound of our drums. Burlington Taiko graced us with their powerful beat and then Slyde's bluegrass melodies finished off the evening. We were happy that Stuart Paton, an instructor and performer with Burlington Taiko, joined us on the djembe with two of our rhythms, Soko and Gidambe.

We got to sample over 100 pies, both savory and sweet, and each of us signed a prayer flag for our dear friend Lorraine. The flags were strung up proudly from post to post after we all signed them.

The weather was perfect. And even when it poured later in the evening, it was perfect for preventing the HUGE bonfire from going astray into the fields.

We will always remember with great fondness, our drummer friend, Lorraine Wilson.

Wulaba in the News

2008-06-29T21:36:00.007-04:00

Photo from Art Walk

2008-06-25T19:28:00.005-04:00

Saranac Lake Art Walk A Huge Success!

2008-06-23T15:39:00.002-04:00

Thursday, June 19th marked the first Saranac Lake ART WALK for the summer season. We were cordially invited to play outdoors in downtown Saranac Lake, NY. It had been raining all morning, but Karen did her usual weather prayer to the Arch Angel Uriel for dry, warm sunny weather and voila! at the appointed time, sun shone! Since last year's ART WALK, we have doubled our repertoire of West African percussion pieces and unvieled several new ones never before done in live performance, including: Marraka Don, SoKo and KuKu #3 (also known as Adirondack KuKu, created by James). This year we were lucky to have one of our Soma Beats dancers, Shir Filler, make an appearance! She encouraged others in the audience to let loose and get groovy with the rhythms! Shir and Karen also performed the dance Djole, created by Soma Beats founder, Johnna MacDougall, who was not able to attend. Video to follow! Stay tuned!

What Ryhthms to Practice this Week!

2008-05-20T21:42:00.002-04:00

This week, James made up a new rhythm based on Kuku Dununs and two accompaniments from the Kuku/Kukukase family. The first accompaniment is half of "Santa Maria": S SS STT/ S SS STT /S SS STT R LR LRL and the second accompaniment is the one Karen usually plays for Kukukase: TT S TTS/ TT S TTS/ TT S TTS RL R LRL We also worked on Konkoba in Sunday and for practice, we worked in Maraka Don and Soli Des Manian (with Dununs). ATTENTION: Memorial Sunday's class will have fewer people and will be at James and Karen's house in Lake Placid at 7PM. T - tone S - slap R - right hand L - left hand

How Drumming Teaches Us About Ourselves

2008-05-17T19:24:00.007-04:00

Today, as James was teaching the residents at a local rehab center, as part of their curriculum, I was amazed to witness how "telling" the drum is to a person's personality. Many of the residents were scheduled to show up for drumming, having no inherent interest in drums or music for that matter. But there was definitely a curiosity. In past groups, some participants had expressed fear of having "no rhythm", putting themselves down even before they started. Other's said nothing, their faces a little fearful. Maybe a few were even thinking, "what are we doing here?", and yet others were like, "Cool!"

Just like when James teaches kids, they all eventually can't help themselves and they just HAVE to hit the drum! Everyone's willingness to try something they weren't familiar with gave us a clue as to how comfortable they were with being out of their comfort zone in their "real" lives outside the classroom. Although St. Joe's residents are particularly talented in music (even though they don't know they are) and maybe somehow that is connected to their past history of chemical dependency, quite a few are very critical of themselves when they make a mistake. Wow, I thought, why would they EXPECT to be perfect at something new? But I once was like that too. And I was very unhappy back then. Once in a while, I wonder if they want to give up. But because of peer pressure, no one does. How easily do they give up on something "good" in their lives without peer support I wonder? Drumming is a wonderful analogy to life. Here's more:

I also noticed some who were quite quick to learn the rhythm and yet were so quiet in their drum playing that they could not help "lead" their companions to stay on track. So I surmise that in their everyday life, they are too timid to make an impact in other people's lives although they have the talent for it. Other's didn't seem to notice when they were off-time at all and kept playing oblivious to those around them. Possibly, they are often "out of sync" with others in their lives not paying attention to those important connections that could make their lives happier and healthier. Once they get comfortable with one rhythm, we add another, thus stretching them again beyond their comfort zones. While they are playing well, James will suddenly add another accompaniment. Most will fall off their own s=rhythm at first. How often does that happen to us in our relationships? We get used to being "alone" and then in relationship, we "lose" our own rhythm. The drum teaches us to play our own tune (individuation) yet be aware of others and to harmonize with others. It is not so easy. But by the end of the class, they are all playing in harmony - maybe for just a few minutes - but so much more than at the beginning of the class. The best part of drumming class is watching each new student bloom and begin to really get into the rhythm and enjoy themselves. We welcome mistakes and tell them it is natural. It helps them get more comfortable making mistakes. Many walk away with new-found confidence and big smiles, saying, "Hey, that was fun! Thank you so much!" Karen

Wulaba Plays for Capoeira Batizado

2008-04-20T22:07:00.004-04:00

Wulaba had the honor of playing for the students of North Country School tonight at the 4th annual Capoeira Batizado celebration. Several students from North Country received their "baptism" from the Mestrando Peninha, the Capoiera martial arts professor, originally from Brazil andwho now resides in Montreal. Johnna MacDougall led sixty students in African dance...the roots of the martial arts Capoeira, starting with movements in the feet and then growing the movements larger until they encompassed the entire body. James and Karen both received their next "cord" at the Batizado elevating them to a new level of practice in the art.

Wulaba & Soma Beats Perform at North Country Community College Talent Show

2008-04-20T14:40:00.001-04:00

On April 17th, 2008, we had the grand opportunity to perform with our newly seasoned Soma Beats dancers, led by Johnna MacDougall. What a blast it was! Johnna did her Bird Dance solo to Gidamba and then the Soma Beats dancers took to the floor for their rendition of Djole. Lou, our only male dancer, said that he is really inspired by the drumming and he loves to dance! One of our newest dancers, Shir, a college professor, just joined on a few weeks ago and already is one of our performers! Most of our other dancers have had experience in dance or yoga and in fact, Mimi Frantz, a local yoga professional choreographed James and Karen's gold winning skating program at the Adult National figure skating championships this month. Watch our video!