This is what I learned from my interview with Abdoul:
He began drumming in his homeland of Senegal around 10 years old, when he heard the djembe and fell in love with it. He took classes every week to learn the djembe from a family that had djembe knowledge passed through it's generations. Abdoul considers learning the language of the drum to be one of the most important things in order to be able to play the djembe.
After learning to play the djembe for many years in Senegal, he moved to Italy for school where he taught the djembe for two years. Next, he moved to Spain for four years and taught there, and then moved to the US where he is now. In San Diego, he has met several djembe players, but found that many of them do not know the language. He teaches them the language at the World Beat Center.
I asked him what kind of community he plays djembe for in San Diego. Abdoul mostly sticks around at the World Beat Center to teach djembe, but he also visits local elementary/middle/high schools and holds workshops where they learn about the djembe and its history. In addition, he plays for African dance performers and interestingly enough, in Tijuana. He said they love the djembe in Mexico and he goes there every weekend.
Overall, it seems like Abdoul's contribution of African music to the San Diego community is localized to the World Beat Center, as well as to educating San Diego youths. He also provides a more traditional structure of djembe education to the djembe drummers of San Diego.
I think it's interesting that the Mexican culture appreciates his music so much. Do you think they have cultural similarities in their music with the djembe? Also what is the culture of the World Beat Center like? I'm not familiar with the facility. Is it mostly younger people and what ethnic backgrounds are the students there?
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