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Master drummer Sowah Mensah and his African Music
Ensemble bring audiences to their (dancing) feet
by Elizabeth O'Sullivan '95
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"I compose pieces that cross-fertilize
my African and Western influences," says Sowah Mensah,
who has taught at Macalester since 1987. His countrymen in
Ghana recognize him as a master drummer, a title that reaches
far beyond musical skill.
GREG HELGESON
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The song begins with a simple, penetrating rhythm, played on claves.
A single drum adds its beat and other instruments join gradually,
weaving the rich layers of sound that characterize Ghanaian music.
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'You couldn't ask for anything better than
that--you bring your music to people and they like it.'
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Sowah Mensah, director of the African Music Ensemble, is in his
element as he guides his students through this song while an audience
sways, claps and dances in appreciation.
"You couldn't ask for anything better than that<em dash>you
bring your music to people and they like it," exclaims Mensah,
who has been teaching at Macalester since 1987. The ensemble's vibrant
concerts at Macalester are invariably sold out, and he has enjoyed
similar appreciation with audiences from China to Carnegie Hall,
where he played as a soloist.
Like all of his musical life, Mensah's education has two roots:
Western and African. He studied Western music in school as a child,
and in 1985 he moved from Ghana to study at the University of Minnesota,
earning a degree in ethnomusicology. The Twin Cities attracted him,
he says, because his sister lives in the area. He stayed on after
completing his degree because his granddaughter was born here and
because he had the opportunity to teach music at Macalester, the
University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas.
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The African Music Ensemble performs at a Macalester
commencement. Mensah leads two ensembles--one at Mac and one
at St. Thomas--and they sometimes play together.
JIM HANSEN
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Growing up in Ghana, he also learned traditional music informally,
by the side of his community's musicians. His countrymen recognize
him as a master drummer, a title that reaches far beyond musical
skill.
"It's not just about the music; it's about the total life of
the people," Mensah explains. Master drummers are expected
to be experts in their communities' culture and to preserve an oral
history that recounts eons of wars, battles, leaders, genealogies
and other important events in the lives of the Ghanaians. Those
who can lead music are leaders in the community, Mensah adds.
In part, this is because traditional music forms the backbone of
every social gathering, whether it is a cluster of children playing
together, a group of adults working, or a special ceremony such
as a funeral. When musicians get together to practice, a crowd gathers
and casually learns any unfamiliar songs and dances, so when the
music is played at a gathering, everyone can sing or dance along
with it.
People are eager to take an active role in music no matter where
they are, Mensah believes, and so he encourages listeners to participate
during his concerts. With his invitation, audiences in even the
most staid concert halls find themselves singing, clapping their
hands or dancing.
As much as possible, Mensah also teaches African music the way he
learned it: by observation and oral instruction. Initially, this
can be a challenge for students who have always relied on sheet
music, observes Marcy Laughinghouse Rede '93, who still studies
with Mensah. He gracefully bridges the differences between his own
experience with music and students' experience, she notes.
"It's a huge privilege to be able to work with someone like
Sowah," Rede adds. "He's a master musician not just in
African music but in Western music too, and he's one of the few
musicians I know who is also a really good teacher."
Many of Mensah's compositions invite a blending of cultures as well.
"I compose pieces that cross-fertilize my African and Western
influences," he declares. Some of these pieces are written
for Western bands, but others need traditional Ghanaian instruments.
Those aren't readily available in the United States, so when Mensah
visits home, he often returns with more drums, shakers, xylophones
or flutes. He estimates that he has secured more than 200 instruments
for Macalester, and his personal collection includes more than 50
pieces. Each one is made by hand to capture the precise sound that
it is expected to bring to the ensemble. "I use some of the
best carvers in the country," he says.
Equipped with these carefully imported instruments, Mensah's students
are able to share the music that nurtured him and generations before
him in Ghana. His face lit with a generous smile, Mensah declares
that sharing music is one of the most joyful things in the world.
He sums it up simply: "It gives you a good feeling."
Elizabeth O'Sullivan '95 is a free-lance writer. She lives
in Minneapolis with her husband, Ian Rhoades '95, and two children.
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