About
Hello my name is David Day i am a musician from Athy in County Kildare. My first instrument to take up was Guitar in my teenage years, I discovered the jembe and west african drumming when I had finished school and moved to Dublin,
This had sparked a huge interest for me in ethnic drumming and world music, I have since been studying African and World Drumming for over 10yrs years at home in Ireland and also while travelling in Europe, the US, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Ghana, West Africa.
I have been very fortunate over the years to have the opportunity to learn from some of the finest musicians in these countries and spend time on study tours developing my knowledge and understanding of the jembe and various other world percussion instruments.
In Ireland I perform with Wassa Wassa a Dublin based group showcasing music, song and dance from west Africa. I also enjoy playing with other genres of music including Irish trad, funk, reggae, folk and blues..
Its hard to briefly explain how Jabba Jabba Jembe started out...
I guess in the beginning it all started out with me giving some Drum workshops to a local youth group who i've been a member of since i was 14. These years attending the youth center and eventually progressing into an adult leader gave me a huge amount of experience and knowledge of group dynamics and communication skills which are necessary for working successfully in and with groups.
After some time i found more and more interest in my workshops and drum circles, with an increasing range of groups participating and having events. This new experience of working with many different types of people and groups gave me the opportunity to design a program which i could tailor to suit all groups..
In 2005, I started the Trip to Africa program, this was an event which included Okoe Ardyfio and Simon Annoh two master drummers from the Academy of African Music and Arts in Ghana.. I had spent many months in ghana studying Kpanlogo the traditional drum of this region and also the Jembe drum with them and there group Akrowa.
The Idea behind the "trip to Africa program" was to transform a venue in Ireland into an area filled with music song and dance from Africa , all of this was created by the participants and the visiting musicians, the sessions would take people on a musical journey to Africa with out leaving there school or office, or hospital or where ever they may be.
It was my wish to invite these musicians to visit Ireland and allow them the opportunity to showcase there music and give workshops on percussion and dance. The aim of these events was to promote cultural awareness through workshops and performances with African musicians while providing an enjoyable, energetic and fun insight into Drums, Percussion, song and dance from Africa.
This Program of events was very successful and proved to be extremely popular with all the groups we had visited over 3 years many of whom now have annual events.
To get in touch with David, you can email him directly at dave@jabbajabbajembe.com or call (353) 087 240 4442
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