|
Video
Tapes "The
Drum: Ancient Traditions Today" Add
to Cart For this session, Teasley employs a wide array of pan-cultural percussion tools from ancient to futuristic; from the simplicity of his various shakers, frame and clay hand drums, to the modern technology of his MalletKat. Throughout this extremely user friendly demonstration of cross-cultural rhythmic landscapes, Teasley takes the viewer/listener on a journey that ranges from ancient Africa to the Indian sub-continent to the Orient to the West. One piece even humorously engages a marriage of electric bass guitarist Bootsy Collins and Igor Stravinsky, a matrimony which neatly intersects at Eddie Harris' classic, "Freedom Jazz Dance". Teasley,
the percussionist-storyteller, integrates these seemingly disparate
rhythmic traditions with an engaging aplomb and loose-limbed technique
that is both instructive, informative, and entertaining. Case
in point is the sequence wherein he illustrates his use of a shaker
in his left hand, trap drums with his right,demonstrating the
naturally integrated aural landscapes of the shaker and the hi-hat
cymbal. He further depicts how this dual action brings a natural
fluidity, the hand engaging the shaker lending a logical sense
of gravity to his expression, with the digitally-triggered, melodic
underpinning of The Felonious Monk's "Well You Needn't"
as source material. Teasley does it all with a palpable joy, all
the while conveying valuable and often innovative musical information.
"Hand
Drumming: Exercises for Unifying Technique" Add
to Cart In this video, N. Scott Robinson presents his concept of Unifying Technique for Hand Drumming and demonstrates how to apply this idea to clay pot drums made by the Wright Hand Drum Co. This video is eighty minutes long and is divided into four sections: Part
1
Part
2 Part
3
Part
4 Material is presented for beginners and demonstrates how to develop technique for playing and a concept of rhythm including a clear method of counting. Intermediate players will learn how to adapt techniques from snare drum and drumset studies as well as concepts of rhythm and hand technique from India. Advanced players are presented with the application of rhythms derived from Latin America and Africa combined with the idea of hand independence an ambidexterity. This material is divided into thirty-five exercises clearly demonstrated and explained and makes up the first hour of the tape. The closing twenty minutes features a quartet of musicians performing four pieces that feature a variety of hand percussion not easily found elsewhere. Instruments include all-clay drums such as the ubang, ghatam, doumbek, claypan (clay frame drum), REMO riq, mbira, and more. Supplemental manual included. "This
video explores new and original ideas for playing the ubang. All
in all, an interesting treatment of a unique musical avenue." "Robinson
speaks clearly and knowledgeably, and he demonstrates each idea
in a manner that can be easily understood."
"Poetry,
Prose, Percussion & Song in Performance"
Africa
| Funga Alafia | The Creation The performance rendered here begins appropriately with an excerpt from Langston Hughes' (whose work serves as a central touchstone for Williams and Teasley) classic "A Negro Speaks of Rivers," which sets an indelible tone, an invocation if you will, for these are all "ancient, dusky rivers..." which Teasley the percussionist and Williams the narrator/griot are exploring. These "ancient, dusky rivers" range from the traditional West African song of welcome, "Funga Alafia" to the various tributaries explored by South African visionary Nelson Mandela in his historic presidential inauguration speech. Williams
and Teasley achieve a true marriage of ancient to the future,
of African and the West: ancient world rhythms as rendered by
Teasley's Western-bred reverence for the forms and engagement
of modern electronics, and traditional African and African-American
verse as rendered by Williams the performance artist. Throughout,
a distinct partnership permeates this collaboration. These are
not two disparate souls rendering their talents in search of a
meeting place, rather, these are heartfelt collaborators seeking
to explore the rich and varied tapestries of word and percussion...the
very origin of musical and dramatic expression. |
