Check out our feature video which encapsulates our journey to Sangbarala and adventures in the village.

En-route to Sangbarala, 18 hours by plane, and other 18 hours by road, along the banks of the Niger River.

Conakry

Stopping off en route to the Hamana Region

The highway meandered through towns and villages, through brush fires, past broken down trucks, and every once in a while, we passed by sights like this.

On January 3, 2020, we were invited to celebrate the legendary Famoudou Konate's 80th birthday deep in the heart of djembe country!

Inike Papa - Thank you Papa Famoudou Konate

Road tested Master Djembe Bag in Guinea

At Famoudou's 80th Birthday Fete

Even Santa Claus came to dance

Alas, after 18 hours through the forest, various ethic groups, and nearly to Mali, we arrived in Sangbarala. See the Renault Kangoo with the red license plates next to the Mercedes? That's our ride. Cars park on the other side of the Niger river, making for a very quiet and pedestrian friendly village. The next two weeks were full of ceremonies, mystery, beauty, and even danger.

On the banks of the Niger River. Water to bathe, cook, and wash clothes.

Sanbarala, small girl washes clothes in the Niger River

Teeter-Totter, Village Style

Future Master

The Barati - Strongmen of the village dance Dununba

In the heart of the Hamana Region

Sangbarala, Guinea

Music for the Hunters. That silver flute was an upcycled cane

Architecture in Sangbarala

Reuniting with Famoudou!

Each morning we were in the village, we would wake up as the sun was rising to explore and take in the natural beauty before beginning our drum lessons for the day.

Rhythm Traders owner Brad Boynton along the banks of the Niger River

Water is the life-blood of the village

The village ferry is actually 2 dugout canoes upgraded with planking to be able to carry cars and livestock.

Cassava drying along the riverbanks

Getting the truck unstuck. It takes a village....

Checkers - village style

Sangbarala, Guinea

Kids dancing

The strong man from Oregon plays with the kids.

Heading to the fields: Drummers, dancers, singers, farmers, and cooks.

Kekoro Konate plays Kassa

Master in Training

Hamana Foli Kan -- our buddy Solo Keita

Clearing the bush to plant cassava.

The Niger River is the lifeline of the village. It keeps the cars out, and is the village water source for bathing, drinking, and washing clothes.

Tires are a popular toy for kids in Sangbarala.

Every day consisted of having our daily Cafe Noir accompanied by Kola Nuts -- two stimulants to get the day started! Here we are flanked by our North American friends Irena and Drew. Bonjour!

Returning from fields after a day of farming, drum and dance, we found these signs marking the entrance of Sangbarala. As you can see, no one can agree on the village's spelling.

Our classes were here, 3 hours each morning, and 3 more each afternoon

Solo Keita.

The Hunters

The annual gathering of the Hunters

The Hunters

A sacrifice to the gods of Hunting

After placing an order for several sets of B.S. Baro Bells, the Bell Maker to the Masters in the Hamana Region, Tavin went to the workshop to check it out.

B.S. Baro Bell Factory -- Ball Maker to the Masters

Tavin learns the process and takes delivery of the B.S. Baro Bells!

These guys! As we prepared to go home, we had a meeting with the bell makers to take delivery of the handcrafted bells he had made just for us. The bells are now available for purchase here.

Learn to drum in Guinea. More info here:

https://www.namorydrum.com/classes-events/study-in-guinea.html

Here with 2 of three village Chief's

A fieldtrip from Conakry to the Island of Room.

Room, Guinea

Brad's playing with the kids

Sunrise along the 18 hour drive from Conakry to Sangbarala.

Seattle- Paris- Mauritania - Guinea

After 12 hours of driving, we stopped in Mamou to grab dinner and walk around.

Famoudou reuniting with Tavin, Brad's son. When Tavin was in Elementary school, Rhythm Traders hosted Famoudou in Portland, Oregon for a series of workshops. Upon seeing an old photo of him with the kids, Famoudou lit up!

Village life

Billy Konate kicks it off, for his dad's 80th birthday celebration!

Namory Keita and the boys

Learn to drum in Guinea. More info here:

https://www.namorydrum.com/classes-events/study-in-guinea.html

Friends since Brad and Famoudou met in 2003 when Famoudou came to Portland for a workshop at Rhythm Traders. They've been visiting each other's homes ever since.

Famoudou's Birthday Fete

Famoudou's Birthday Fete

There's a dancer in those leaves. At Famoudou's birthday fete.

Tavin with the village Baobab tree, which towers over the village.

Drum and Dance is a daily occurrence

The Stongmen of Sangbarala dance Dununba

The Stongmen of Sangbarala dance Dununba

Donso Foli, music for the Hunters

Village Life

Serious Stuff: This dancer even has cleats for better grip.

Heading to the market. Want to join - we have room for 1 more !!

Tavin grinding grains for lunch.

Village life along the Niger River feels like you've stepped back 300 years.

This is how they dry clothes after they've been washed in the river

Our room for 3 weeks

Father and son - at 24 Tavin was the same age Brad was when he lived in Africa before starting Rhythm Traders in 1992.

Djembes everywhere

Learn to drum in Guinea. More info here:

https://www.namorydrum.com/classes-events/study-in-guinea.html

New home construction. A new room can be built in a day from mud bricks made just steps away along the riverbank.

Only God was the only transport truck in the village.

Drew gets a shave.

Village essentials: Drum and Fun

Dinner

Playing Kassa in the fields

Cultivators brought talismans, amulets, and other luck charms and protection to help them clear the brush

Famoudou Konate explains the significance of the rhythm Kassa

Clearing the fields with the help of rhythm and dance

Clearing the brush

The Strongmen of Sangbarala

The griot women sing for encouragement and praise

Even our ferry captain came along, and is blowing the horn (literally) he uses to announce ferry comings and goings

En route 18 hours

The Hunters

Each family sent a young boy with a chicken to sacrifice, to ensure a good hunting season.

Celebration of the Hunters

Learn to drum in Guinea. More info here:

https://www.namorydrum.com/classes-events/study-in-guinea.html

Dance of the Strong Man was performed at every celebration or "Fete" we attended. It all started in the Hamana region, as an expression of independence and resistance to modernization.

This is actually a gas station - where motorbikes come to fill up

Father and son, on the banks of the Niger, January 2020.

Learn to drum in Guinea. More info here:

https://www.namorydrum.com/classes-events/study-in-guinea.html

Village transportation. Cars are a very rare sighting.

Tavin with the Sangbarala Chief.

Baro Bells before they're bent into their final shape.

In Sangbarala, they don't have building codes or mortgages. They can build a house in one day and it costs nothing except for bags of cement for the floor.

Brad with his business partner and friend, Mustapha Beretey, who's been sending us the best drums for decades. We stayed with Mustapha and lovely wife Mariama at their home in a neighborhood of Conakry called Kapporo.

We spent the first day exploring the streets of Conakry and hanging out with Mustapha and Mariama Beretey, and son Alseni.

Drum Carvers, Conakry

Hmmm, where to go?

Along the drive we passed through many small towns with lots of vendors, places cooking stew for lunch, cows and goats walking around, and children selling fruit. Here's a view from inside our Renault Kangoo.

Roadtrip to the Hamana Region of Guinea

The Mosque

We arrived in Sangbarala at midnight on New Year's Day, 2020, so the next morning was our first chance to explore. On our walk, we found this cow walking through peoples' compounds, through market stalls...just another day in the life!

Brad, Famoudou, Namory, and Namory's son Solo. Sangbarala, Guinea 2020

Dance of the strong men at Famoudou's 80th Birthday Fete!

Namory plays a tasty lick.

Friends: Nansedy Keita, Brad Boynton, Namory Keita

Thank you Papa Famoudou

Village Dance

Our breakfast routine while in the village. We had Foo Foo's, Nescafe, Tea, and egg omelets. Our crew consisted of us from Portland, Oregon, one other American, a Canadian, and 2 women from Japan. Hello Irena, Drew, Ayako, & Mika!!!!

Foo Foos from our favorite market stall on the main drag! They cost about 5 cents each and are kind of like donuts.

The Strongmen of Sangbarala 2020

She's playing the Kariyan, a guiro-like bell with ridges in it that is scraped.

Nearly everybody in this village has the surname Konate or Keita. Here is one of our buddies, one of many Mamady Keitas in Sangbarala.

Learn to drum in Guinea. More info here:

https://www.namorydrum.com/classes-events/study-in-guinea.html

Along the banks of the Niger River

Former General Secretary of the UN, Kofi Annon is a popular guy in these parts.

Typical day

Djembes everywhere !

"Drumming? Maybe check over there..."

The young boys in the village made drums out of anything they could find.

Tires are the top toy choice for kids around here

Grain silo

The water for our compound. Every bucket was carried from the river on someone's head. You bathe with half a bucket, and the big garbage can lasted 10 people an entire day.

Crushing millet

Shea Butter at the market

Moving a bed in Conakry

On the way to Kassa, everyone loaded onto the village barge - actually 2 dugout canoes modified with planks between them to hold cars, including this truck, which would later get stuck in the water. (and made it out -- as they say, it takes a village!)

Sangbarala had two griot singers who accompanied us everywhere, including here to a Kassa where drummers drummed and dancers danced for cultivators clearing the land to plant cassava.

Learn to drum in Guinea. More info here:

https://www.namorydrum.com/classes-events/study-in-guinea.html

Drumming in the fields

Ding-ding-ding. We have a winner!!

Transporting drums in the village

Tools of the trade

Carrying a dununba to the fields to play Kassa

Rhythm Traders owner Brad Boynton with workshop host Namory Keita

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!

Taking the drums to the gig. I guess they drive themselves!?

The boys show the head from a goat that was sacrificed for the hunters

Hunters of Sangbarala

This Fula Flute is acatually a repurposed cane

There are the big hunters right there

The "Strongmen of Oregon" during daily drum lessons. Six hours per day, plus some form of celebration with drum, dance and song long into the night. Every day. Every night.

The village Baobab.

Here are the bells before they are bent into their final form.

BS Baro Bells -- Bellmaker to the Masters in the Hamana Region

There's a tres grand cloche, right there

Every cup of water you drink, every bucket you use to bathe, every item of clothing that is washed is carried on one's head from the river about 300 yards into the village proper.

"Djaa", dance of the young girls. On this night was a gorgeous sunset. It blew us all away.

Djaa: Dance of the young girls

Djaa: Dance of the young girls

The pirogues - River transport