Fodé Seydou Bangoura in Portugal last october

[davidognomo]

Hi guys

Last october Fodé came for the second time to Portugal to give a djembe workshop. But this time at the last day of workshop, he played as special guest at Slap - Hand to Hand's concert (this is the name of one of very few west african drumming bands from Portugal, probably the only that is active). This was a very special occasion for various reasons. It's not usual to have african djembefolas playing or teaching in Portugal. And most of all, he was a guest at a concert from a band that has 3 members who were his students in Conacry at his camps. They were all very excited, happy, Fodé included.

I had the chance to be at the checksound/rehearsal. I'll see to post here one or two of the videos I shot from that. I even got the chance to play the kenkeni at the rehearsal, for one of the members had not yet arrived.

A note on Fodé. He is a monster and a master. I could realate his know-how about being in stage with his background story. He knows how to reach the audience. My impression is that he is a true professional of the stage along being a great djembefola. His workshop was really tough. Mainly because of the amount of information, material that he gives us. In 3 days we worked on 4 rhythms. We had a succession of techniques to learn and play, and almost none of us could play it from top to bottom without stopping because of lack of memory. And that seemed to be one of the subjects of the workshop for him - catch up, go forward.

One final note: the word you see at the beginning of the video over Fodé's head, "INCRIVEL", is the name of that theatre, written on the edge of the stage. I read jimmy mack's comment on a post I did with a concert in the States with Fode and Fara Tolno, he commented "Fode is incredible". Well, that's what was written right above his head

[michi]

Thanks for posting this! Fode is one of the best and most musical of the young generation of masters. I really love his playing!

Cheers,

Michi.

[davidognomo]

ok, from the rehearsal:

[jimmymack71]

Wow,that was great!! any footage of Fode Bangoura is like gold!! Theres not that much of it.I must of listend to "fakoly" about a million times and also the dvd with Fara Tolono is priceless.I also love Thomas Guei's playing,another incredible player! Thanks for posting this.
James