Rainer Polak
Encyclopedia
Rainer Polak is an ethnomusicologist and djembe
drummer who has done extensive research in the field of West African celebration music performances and wrote important contributions in the field of ethnomusicology
.
, African linguistics, Bambara language
, and History of Africa
from 1989 to 1996 at Bayreuth University (Germany
), and jenbe
music performance from 1991 until today in Bamako
(Mali
). All of his studies and work in Bamako
were accomplished with the help of the musically outstanding, yet rather locally and traditionally minded drummers whose playing is presented in his book and the corresponding CD.
Polak has worked as a professional jenbe
player in Bamako
for one year in 1997/98, performing at well over a hundred traditional weddings, spirit possession dances and other celebrations on the basis of being hired by the late Jaraba Jakite, most of the times, and occasionally by the late Yamadu Bani Dunbia
, by Jeli Madi Kuyate, and by Drissa Kone
. The ethnomusicological dissertation and book he wrote on that experience won the academic prize of the German African Studies Association in 2003/04. Polak ranks as an outstanding jenbe
soloist in Germany
. As a teacher he has specialized in giving focussed classes on micro-timing, and master-classes in jenbe
solo performance.
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
drummer who has done extensive research in the field of West African celebration music performances and wrote important contributions in the field of ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
.
Biography
Dr. Rainer Polak studied social anthropologySocial anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
, African linguistics, Bambara language
Bambara language
Bambara, more correctly known as Bamanankan , its designation in the language itself , is a language spoken in Mali by as many as six million people...
, and History of Africa
History of Africa
The history of Africa begins with the prehistory of Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, continuing into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Agriculture began about 10,000 BCE and metallurgy in about 4000 BCE. The history of early...
from 1989 to 1996 at Bayreuth University (Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), and jenbe
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
music performance from 1991 until today in Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
(Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
). All of his studies and work in Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
were accomplished with the help of the musically outstanding, yet rather locally and traditionally minded drummers whose playing is presented in his book and the corresponding CD.
Polak has worked as a professional jenbe
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
player in Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
for one year in 1997/98, performing at well over a hundred traditional weddings, spirit possession dances and other celebrations on the basis of being hired by the late Jaraba Jakite, most of the times, and occasionally by the late Yamadu Bani Dunbia
Yamadu Bani Dunbia
Yamadu Bani Dunbia was a notable djembe master drummer from Bamako, Mali. Although recordings of his playing are scarce, he was well known across Bamako. He recorded his first songs at the age of 78.- Biography :...
, by Jeli Madi Kuyate, and by Drissa Kone
Drissa Kone
- Biography :Drissa Kone, born in the fifties in a village named Kuruba , is a widely respected djembe player who has captured the attention of many far beyond the borders of Mali....
. The ethnomusicological dissertation and book he wrote on that experience won the academic prize of the German African Studies Association in 2003/04. Polak ranks as an outstanding jenbe
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
soloist in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. As a teacher he has specialized in giving focussed classes on micro-timing, and master-classes in jenbe
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
solo performance.
Publications
- (in Vorbereitung): West African Percussion. One World–Many Musics, vol. 6 (DVD). Rotterdam: Codarts / Hogeschool voor de Kunsten.
- 2004 Festmusik als Arbeit, Trommeln als Beruf. Jenbe-Spieler in einer westafrikanischen Großstadt. Berlin: Reimer.
- 2007 »Performing Audience: On the Social Constitution of Focused Interaction at Celebrations in Mali«. In: Anthropos 102.2007/1: 3–18.
- 2005 »A Musical Instrument Travels Around the World: Jenbe Playing in Bamako, in West Africa, and Beyond«. In: Post, Jennifer (ed.), Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader. NY: Routledge Press, 161–185. [Erstveröff. 2000 in The World of Music]
- 2005 »Drumming for Money and Respect. The Commercialization of Traditional Celebration Music in Bamako«. In: Jansen, Jan and Stephen Wooten (eds.), Wari Matters: Ethnographic Explorations of money in the Mande World. LIT Verlag, pp. 135–161.
- 2004 »Die Kommerzialisierung der Hochzeitsfestmusik in Bamako«. In: Beck, Kurt, Till Förster und Hans Peter Hahn (Hrsg.), Blick nach vorn. Festgabe für Gerd Spittler zum 65. Geburtstag. Köln: Köppe, S. 235–249.
- 2003 »City rhyrhms: The urbanization of local drum/dance celebration music in Bamako«. In:Jansen, Jan (ed.), Experts in Mandé. Leiden: Nederlandse Vereniging van Afrika Studies, pp. 1–24.
- 2001 »Festmusik: Zur Ethnographie musikalischer Gattungen in Westafrika«. In: Marianne Bröcker(Hrsg.), Berichte aus dem ICTM-Nationalkomitee Deutschland IX/X. Bamberg: Universitätsbibliothek, S. 19–50.
- 2000 »A Musical Instrument Travels Around the World: Jenbe Playing in Bamako, in West Africa, and Beyond«. In: The World of Music 42/3: 7–46.
- 2000 »Ein Musikinstrument geht um die Welt. Zur Verflechtung lokaler, nationaler und internationaler Kontexte im Bamakoer Jenbe-Spiel«. In: Bauer, Ulrich, Henrik Egbert und Frauke Jäger (Hrsg.), Interkulturelle Beziehungen und Kulturwandel in Afrika. Beiträge zur Globalisierungsdebatte. Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang Verlag, S. 291–312.
- 1998 »Jenbe Music in Bamako: Microtiming as Formal Model and Performance Practice«. In: Iwalewa-Forum 2: 24–46.
- 1997 »Bewegung, Zeit und Pulsation. Theorierelevante Aspekte der Jenbemusik in Bamako«. In: Jahrbuch für musikalische Volks- und Völkerkunde 16: 59–70.
- 1999 »Andreas Meyer: Afrikanische Trommeln«. In: The World of Music 41/1.
- 1999 »Gilbert Rouget: Guinée. Musique Malinké«. In: The World of Music 41/2.
- 1999 »Thomas Hale: Griots and Griottes«. In: The World of Music 41/3.
External links
- MANDING BIBLIOGRAPHY Compiled by Rainer Polak
- Jenbe Music: Microtiming Article about Microtiming