Drumming with Baile

WHO: Drumming Lesson

WHAT: Baba Baile

WHERE: Baile's African Drum Works

WHEN: Last Tuesday night

Directions/Other somewhere in Forestville, MD


I've been looking for a private drum instructor for some time - someone to lock down my djembe technique - tell me the truth - get me up to speed with everything i need to know to move ahead with my playing. I first came to this conclusion after taking 4 group djembe lessons with djembe master Mahiri Keita. Son of Guinean Djembefola Mamady Keita. After the first lesson with Mahiri I had learned 3 new drills to practice - all of which I've incorporated into my planning. I learn fast and practice diligently when I have someone watching over me and lending guidance. So i wrote Mahiri a letter on Aug. 25 - the subject line was, literally, "will you be my teacher?" Outlined in this email I explained all the reasons why I want a private teacher. In short:
A. Improve my technique
B. Gain a greater understanding of the instrument and of the culture
C. Expand my repertoire of rhythms and drills

An excellent teacher must also be an excellent student - I'm a strong believer in that philosophy. Unfortunately, I never received a reply from Mahiri or any sort of acknowledgement of the email I had sent him. So - I called Tammi Hessen. Tammi and I had one private lesson together, in addition to my joining her all-women's Baltimore-based drum troupe BUMBADA on a couple of shows. We go way back - travelled to the 2005 Catskill Mountain Women's World Drum & Percussion Happen'n, which was in itself a bonding experience. In short, Tammi rocks, and is the woman who most inspired me to get my own women's drum class up n runnin. So i asked her what might be up with Mahiri - "he's probably busy," she said, "and email's not the best way, did you try calling him?" I hadn't. Maybe I didn't have the guts or something. She said he would probably refer me to his group classes at Joe's Movement Emporium. Then she said - "What about Baile?"

Baile. I remembered taking 6 very small djembes to Baile in the spring of '05. I'd purchased them from Ken at Eyeclopes Studios in Fredericksburg, VA. That was quite a memory in itself - trekking out to Fredericksburg late one night with Alexandra - through some pretty scary tree-lined, skinny highways, getting lost, stopping at a weird rockabilly diner and winding up singing "black water" by the doobie brothers for kareoke - so so strange. But at any rate, I was hoping Baile wouldn't mind helping me out with tuning them.

When I got there - a tall man with thick glasses and thick eyebrows led me in and sat me down. Here's what I remember from that evening:
-Being questioned on my motives for wanting to teach drumming to DC inner-city youth (fair enough)
-Being told my drums were for babies - not adult-sized people - and that the physics of smaller drums made it so that the "bass" sound character showed up in the tone and slap
-Philosophical discussions that ran wild for over an hour - about culture, race, youth, modernism, tradition, gender, etc....

I left having my mind blown, basically.
Or at least my cover.

I had a couple friends take Baile's group class last year, however, and they wound up as much better players. I remembered that. So regardless of my slight trepidation, I called up Baile. We talked for 45 minutes. He asked why I wanted to take lessons (see points A, B and C above). He then asked why I wanted to take them from him. Then he asked had I ever seen The Karate Kid, The Golden Child, or Romancing the Stone? He instructed me to view these movies as soon as possible, for they all had some common bits of wisdom which he would not relate to me at that time - okay. He then asked me what I took from the phrase "through the eyes of a child" (my apologies to Baile here - the phrase was along these lines, but slightly different). He was sizing me up, let's just say. But by the end of the conversation we had set up a time to meet.

TUESDAY NIGHT - NOV. 14
I began my trek to Forestville by attempting to take PA Ave all the way out until it meets with Forestville Rd. This was a huge mistake. i was perhaps 1 mile from crossing the DC/MD line when I pulled over on Potomac Ave, convinced I should get off and take the metro. I called Alex for some consultation, and found that to take public transportation I would need to take a train to a bus, wait for a bus for about 20 minutes, and then get on a bus. Anyway, it would take just as long as driving. So I called Baile - and he gave me a very succint alternate route via Suitland Parkway. It was still hell, but much better. I arrove 30 minutes later than our original meeting time. But it was OK.

First he wanted to know what I knew about my drum.
What kind of wood was it made of?
"I don't know" is what I told him. "That's a good answer," he said.
I told him I wanted to say walnut, b/c that's what it looked like, but that I didn't think walnut was a popular wood type found in West Africa. As it turns out, the wood is called Khardi. I went back to the website where I bought my drum to get the spelling right. He complimented my drum. Then he asked what I knew about drums from Guinea. I referred to their recognizable shape (more bowl-shaped), and he shot that down too. There are many tribes in Guinea. It's a big country. Drums are built and used for many different purposes. I told him that my information came from a few different sources - but understood what he was saying. You cannot pinpoint where any drum is from unless you have a deep knowledge of the tribes and their cultural practices.

"We are all part of this bigger picture. Some people see it's shaped as a circle; to others it's egg-shaped. We all fit into this somewhere - our natural tendencies and backgrounds and everything that makes us who we are - all of this puts us into a certain place in the whole picture. You have to decide where you belong in that picture - and it may be that where you THINK you belong is actually not where you belong. Do you follow me?"

Somehow - I did - I really was following him, seeing as how I am currently attaining self knowledge right now by necessity - I am creating space for myself to grow - trying to fend off patterns of abuse of the past. I am emerging, you could say. I think this is what he was talking about, in some respects -- where do I plan to EMERGE?

Finally, after about an hour of this type of discussion, he asked me to play. When I brought the drum close, he asked what I knew of the spine of the animal - I think he was a little more impressed by my answers to these questions. The spine of the animal is in the center of the drum head - purposely - because it is the strongest part of the drum, and it is recommended that a djembe player play on either side of the spine - though I'm not sure why - possibly because there is greater resonance when the drum is played here.

He corrected my tone.
He corrected my slap.
He gave me 4 solid drills to practice, and I was very happy and I told him so.

I'm going back on Dec. 2 for my 2nd attempt to impress the unimpressable -- Baba Baile.