Music of the West African Kora at The Jones on April 7

Sean Gaskell will give a performance and educational demonstration on the kora, an ancient 21-stringed harp from West Africa. He will feature traditional songs that are the heart and soul of the kora’s musical repertoire in addition to some of his own personal compositions. The performance will take place at 2:00 pm at the Jones Library in Amherst on Saturday, April 7, 2018.

Sean Gaskell features traditional songs on the 21 stringed West African Kora. The Kora is native to the Mande peoples who live within the countries of Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau. The music is traditionally played by oral and musical historians known as Griots (Gree-ohs). The Kora is a melodic and seemingly peaceful instrument, which is somewhat contrary to its musical repertoire. Many songs tell ancient stories of war and hardship, while others praise people of high political status and those who helped expand the Mande Empire. While the Kora is only 300 years old, some commonly played songs can be traced back 800 years to the Mande empires’ founding. Gaskell has studied extensively under the instruction of Malamini Jobarteh and Moriba Kuyateh of Brikama, The Gambia, and Kane Mathis of Brooklyn, NY. Gaskell has been featured at numerous festivals in the US, Gambia, and Senegal.

Free and open to the public. For more information about this event, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223. For more information about the presenter, please visit http://www.seangaskell.com or view video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxkfcUeToiI.

An Introduction to American Indian Music on June 7 at the Jones Library

Learn more about the history of music of the native people of the United States in a presentation at the Jones Library.  Join us in the Woodbury Room on Tuesday, June 7 at 6:30 pm for a presentation by percussionist and educator Craig Harris.

Craig Harris,  author of Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music (University of Oklahoma Press, May 2016), leads an exciting multimedia journey into Indigenous North America’s vibrant soundscape and conjures an aural tapestry in which powwow drums and end-blown woodwinds resound alongside operatic and symphonic strains and Native-infused jazz, reggae, country music, blues, hip-hop, and electronic dance music. Copies of Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music will be available following the presentation.

Percussionist/author/educator Craig Harris has spent more than four decades interviewing and photographing musicians. His articles, reviews, and photographs have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and music-oriented websites and he is the author of The New Folk Music, The Band: Pioneers of Americana Music, and Heartbeat, Warble and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music. A skilled hand drummer, Harris has played in concert and/or on recordings with Rod MacDonald, C.J. Chenier, Jonathan Edwards, Greg Brown, Rick Danko (The Band), Merl Saunders, Melanie, and Standing Bear. Possessing a masters’ degree in education, he taught music in public and charter schools for a quarter of a century before launching his multicultural and participatory Drum Away the Blues program in 2009.

Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.