Improvisation on congas and very fragile, clay Moroccan bongos (which my brother found for me from an African display at some zoo!). These bongos are basically clay pots with permanent, very thin goat skins stretched over the top - they can not…

Abakua refers to a secret, Afro-Cuban, male society of percussionists - as I understand it, one had to be initiated into this society before they would be taught how to play percussion in their style. One of their hallmarks is to impose what I…

You're just kidding yourself if you thought I could resist the chance to add a bit of percussion to this wonderful song by Osckilo & Launched. I used Paiste Sound Discs to create a 3vs.4 polyrhythm against the delightful underlying 4/4 Spanish…

This is one stereo track of 6 conga drums tuned, by ear, to roughly a chromatic scale (I don't know which one - perhaps I've gone micro-tonal!) coupled with a single track of ad-lib quinto (the high drum) and a "shuffle" groove on trap-set…

While I'm certain there are those who may be growing weary of scratching, I couldn't resist posting this great mix by Alister Flint, who is truly a master mixologist extraordinaire - he didn't even have individual tracks to work with! Al was too…

If you have the fever and the only cure is more tambourine, here it is. MORE TAMBOURINE SOLOS!! (But you should probably wait until you have the house to yourself...)

This is a 3/16 Bembe on tuned congas, played with mallets. I've arranged it (at the very kind suggestion of Vaisvil & ReefWalker) in a verse/chorus/bridge/capo fashion to get away from a straight pattern - I think this sort of arrangement…

Rumba Columbia is a traditional Cuban pattern in 6: the "go-to" pattern for 12/8 - if you have only heard one Afro-Cuban rhythm in 12/8, this is probably it. As an energetic Afro-Cuban dance, Rumba was often suppressed and restricted because it…

So, what's "Fly"? This. Bass Cajon; tambourine; congas; cymbals. 4/4 180bpm.

Caveat emptor: I did absolutely none of the drumming in this piece. WORLD PREMIER! FIRST RECORDING OF THIS PATTERN - EVER! My friend Kokou "Alex" Yemey called me a few days ago with some urgency in his voice: "I must record this before…