About

The next few years were exciting times for the store. John felt the winds of change and began to add congas and African percussion to his Early Music and Folk Guitar inventory. People took note, and interest in drums grew. Before long, John’s Music burgeoned into an informal percussion cultural center.  Master drummers, drum teachers, and drum students from all over began to stop by. I greeted them all at the door and played with them on the sales floor. (Unlike many music stores, John actually encouraged people to jam out on the drums.)

The number of people interested in African and Afro-Caribbean rhythms continued to grow. The djembe drum arrived on the scene. I was now teaching three nights a week. Other teachers were also teaching full classes (Geoff Johns, Simone LaDrumma, Mbili Tissot, and Tor Dietrichson, among others).

Meanwhile John, with the help of his friend, legendary drummer/teacher, Arthur Hull from Santa Cruz, cooked up an event called “The World Rhythm Festival,” a 3-day event honoring percussion from around the world.

People from all over the country came to attend free drum workshops, dance classes, performances and the “monster” opening night free drum circle led by Arthur.

The yearly event is still running and continues to highlight world percussion, with special emphasis on African and Afro-Caribbean rhythm cultures. Even Babatunde Olatunji, a preeminent ambassador of West African culture, blessed the event one year with his presence.

Also during this time, a local event called “Let’s Dance” (led by Carold Nelson) was taking place regularly at various venues around the city. Non-professional drum bands were invited to perform. People paid at the door to come and dance. This turned out to be the perfect venue for me to bring my intermediate and advanced drum class students to perform as well.

Eventually I became the event’s producer. I decided to add a participatory dance class (led by some great dance teachers, including Laila Atallah and Lara McIntosh) and changed the name to “Let’s Drum and Dance.” With the help of my business partner, Junko Kato, the event moved to Seattle’s Nippon Kan Theater. Alongside the student bands, many African artists came to play as well, including sabar master Mapathe Diop; his son, djembe master Thione Diop; bougarabou master Modibo Traore; djembe master Ibrahima Camara; and dance master Etienne Cakpo, to name a few.

Capoeira groups performed. Mark Lilly brought Orisha dance. And the community danced. And danced. And danced.

In 1994, with John’s blessing, I opened my own shop down the road: a two-story business initially called “Little Village.” Classes were held on the top floor. Students played on an array of my hand-built drums, including ashikos, djembes, bougarabous, congas and djembes, all for sale.

Downstairs customers shopped for world beat CDs, tribal rugs, locally made furniture, women’s clothing and jewelry. The store also allowed me to showcase my other life-long passion: painting. I displayed my works throughout the store as well as my and hand-painted T-shirts and greeting cards.

A few years later, I gave up the downstairs, moved up into the loft to concentrate on drums and drumming and renamed the business Fremont Drum. Classes continued to grow. People began bringing me their broken drum heads for repair, and I began offering monthly drum building workshops. Soon I began taking my students on drum retreats to the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands. I traveled to Baja California to teach workshops.

Eventually I brought groups to Ghana and Senegal for immersive drum and dance retreats. And each year, at the World Rhythm Festival, I taught well-attended workshops, drummed for dance classes and manned a vendor booth with my drums, books, T-shirts and greeting cards.

The store moved a handful of times, though always within the neighborhoods of Fremont and Ballard. In one incarnation, a former ballet studio, I was able to offer dance classes, taught by various teachers, including newly arrived African drummer/dance teacher, Ibrahima Camara. Yoga took place in the morning hours before the store opened. This location allowed me to move the “Lets’s Drum and Dance” event to my shop. I called it “Fremont Drum and Dance” and added an art show and a curated open mic.