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Light begets light When John asked me to write an article for the Rhythm Revolution News Letter, two things happened - 1) I thought 'wow! there is so much to say; I hope one page will be enough, then 2) writers block. So, I begin. In my relatively short experience with drumming and the djembé in particular, I have learned much. Ya know when you meet someone and you know they have a lot going on under the surface? Well, that was how it was when the djembé first found me. The circumstances were that I had just auditioned for a play and didn't get cast. This would be the first in a series of learning experiences which this particular theatrical production would spark. A couple of weeks later, one of the directors called me and asked if I would be interested in helping with the music for the play; I accepted. There were two composers and myself and we were charged with creating original music, which would be played live with the play; all instruments acoustic. The cast, directors, stage manager and composers, et al are some of the most talented people I will ever meet, and we would grow to become not only friends, but family. The play took place somewhere in a village in the East and it's title was 'Light in the Village' by John Clifford. Most of the instruments we experimented with were percussive. Eventually, one of the directors heard of this drum called the djembé. We hunted around and picked up 2. They looked and sounded incredible. Little did we know that they actually looked ok at best and sounded bad - that learning experience came a month or so later, when we rather accidentally came across some superior quality djembés; this is when things really took off; this is when I met Djembéyaya, my first #1 drum. My main focus became the djembé. We played for the actor's character warm ups, slowly and meditatively creating a soundscape. The drum became a conduit to another place. We had rehearsals 6 days a week for about 3 months, so I got to play a great deal in the early stages of development. This was a period of getting to know one another - me and the drum as well as the members of the play. I was deeply honored when the members of the theatre company sponsoring Light, 'Stark Raving Ensemble', invited me to become a member of their company. I readily accepted. The djembé taught me how to play djembé. It told me where to strike it, when and how. It made clear where, when and how not to strike it as well. Rhythms I had been hearing in my head for years finally were given voice via this incredible instrument. It was as if a new road had been paved in my mind and all these things, rhythms, flocked toward it to be heard. At times I would hit a particularly heavy merge of ideas and I would mentally and physically lock up - major bottleneck. No problem; take a break, relax. The more I played the more the drum wanted me to play (at least so it seemed). I would drum myself into conscious trance-like states where all I could perceive was rhythm. The parts would dance together, diverging and converging, entire ensembles sprouting out of one drum. The more I played, the more I understood about this world of rhythm; the more it allowed me to understand. Things like creating and sculpting space, communication between parts, creating 'rhythmic environments' were everything was in harmony and balance. I was no longer drumming, but creating music with one drum. By the time the play was erected, I was composing rhythms to set a mood or reinforce an action or to create a certain 'sense' about the moment. During that time I started playing on the shore of Lake Michigan and learned some important lessons there. I learned that because rhythms are based on communication, that playing with other people was not always a positive experience. If you are speaking with someone and they are babbling aimlessly, how are we to communicate and make something beautiful? Then I realized that my young mind was making an assumption that drumming should be about communication - I only had intuition telling me, but it seemed right as the day is long. This is when I decided to make my own place on the lakefront. Its not that I owned it or anything, but I made sure no other drummers were around when I was there; besides, who the hell would wake up at 6:30 am on a Sunday to drum besides me!?! Something told me that I needed more alone time with the drum.; that the drum itself held the nectar of knowledge. If other folks wanted to come by and join in, they could feel free in doing that; the understanding was that if you were there to communicate, I'm right there with you, but if you were there to randomly flail, please go somewhere else. Why waste the moment with babble when it is so easy to converse and discover new ground together, getting to know each other along the way? People began asking me to teach them how to play. I would only agree to teach them if they understood that I really didn't know what I knew, I just know what I know. And so we all got stronger together; we understood together; we communicated together; we created together. The bonding experience that can come from rhythm has brought me to tears, in awe of its beauty; this has even happened when I am playing alone. Some of the members of SRE were among those crazy enough to join me so early on Sunday mornings. It was clear that this Sunday morning thing was more than just folks hanging out and drummin'; it had gone way beyond that. It had quickly become a ritual of sorts in need of a name. After much debate and reshuffling we deemed the regular Sunday morning drum 'The Haunt of the Holy Goat'. Soon after, my company was born, 'Holy Goat Percussion'. If you want to know the real story behind how the term 'Holy Goat' came to be, you will have to ask me personally (hint: it has nothing to do with drums or skins or anything like that). I would go on to find that it seemed fate was directing me to the drum or it to me. Many ironies, the 'Holy Goat' thing included, would show themselves, all the while giving me a knowing look, as if to say 'glad you finally made it here'. The deeper I go with the drum the more I seem to want of it's secrets. There is something infinitely more amazing to me about a simple as a piece of wood with rope and a skin than some super-computer, that it is hard for me to explain; very easy to understand. By the time I met my teacher, Yaya Kabo, I had been giving lessons, doing performances and workshops and was almost finished recording my first CD. None of my work with djembé to this point had been in the West African style. This next era, learning from an African, would introduce me to a world within a world that I never knew existed. Among the things I would learn were the fact that some of my 'lakefront' rhythms were actually African parts. This taught me how incredibly rooted these rhythms are in the human psyche. I got Yaya's phone number as the result of someone attending one of my Guitar Center workshops. The contact's name was Jeff Bodony, a player and maker of West African instruments in Washington state who happened to be in Chicago. After a short conversation with him, I had Yaya's number in my hand. From the first time I played with Yaya, I knew my life would change. He would give me an accompaniment and he would go to Africa and solo for one of his friends while they danced for him. Seeing his eyes at the moment he started soloing glaze over and hearing him soar atop the rhythm was mind-boggling. I was so glad to be a student again. I was excited by ignorance. During my discussion with Jeff Bodony, I had heard that Yaya and his African counterparts were putting together a ballet. So, during that first lesson, my goal was to have him ask me to be a part of the ballet. I am glad now that I didn't know how lofty an aspiration that was at the time. By the end of our first lesson together, I was honored when he said he would be calling me when the ballet began rehearsals. Drum with the wise and you will become wise. |
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Holy Goat Percussion | Taylor | Classes | Drums
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