Friday, 16 October, 4pm, Perkins Library, Biddle Rare Book Room. Rare Music, featuring Bradley Simmons & the Elements of Percussion. Lecture/demonstration of music from the African diaspora, showcasing instruments indigenous to regions ranging from Africa to Cuba. The Elements of Percussion, directed by Professor Bradley Simmons, will play West African instruments, including djembe, djun djun, sangba, and kenkeni. The group members will discuss the
drums, their origins and the people who play them. Then they will take the audience on a musical journey to Cuba, discussing Cuban instruments and demonstrating the congas, timbales, shakere, and bells.

The Elements of Percussion is an Afro-Cuban and djembe/djun djun ensemble founded in 1997 by Bradley Simmons and based in Durham.  Simmons directs the djembe and Afro-Cuban ensembles at Duke, where he teaches both West African music and history. Co-sponsored by the Duke University Musical Instrument Collections and the Duke University Libraries

• ilene.nelson@duke.edu
• 660-5816