Aly Tatchol Camara
Aly Camara, known as Tatchol, from Guinea West Africa is a master dancer and drummer. With his album, he hopes to assist both dancers and drummers in their study of the traditional art forms. He says "In Guinea when we are not dancing we sing the rhythms with our mouths. When I moved to the US in 1993, I saw that people would clap while counting. I realized this way of counting the 8-counts would be a good skill to teach people. Using this counting, I can add a break at the proper place, and I can make music. I had to wait until the right time to create this album, and I am happy now to offer it to the African Dance Community! I hope it will be easy for you to use in your home practice, or as a tool for your own teaching or performances. Thank you to my parents for bringing me into the world. Thanks to my grandparents for raising me. For my love of dance, special credit is due to N'famara Mimo Camara, who took me from street dance and introduced me to professional dance. To play the leads here, I chose my friend Michael Markus - who used to be a student. There are many masters who could play well, but I chose Michael because of his dedication to his art. He has put in his practice time & learned so well. I thank him forever. I thank my wife Cheree Camara for playing dundun on several tracks (1, 4, 8). A bonus track is included for my son (Papa) Seny Tatchol Camara.