Macalester African Music Ensemble

By Josh Kramer

The Macalester College African Music Ensemble is a student and alumni comprised group that plays a combination of traditional and original pieces mainly from West Africa, arranged by Sowah Mensah, a Master Drummer from Ghana. Mensah, the group’s director, also teaches all of the musicians how to play these pieces using instruments from West Africa. The program has been around for over 23 years, over which time it has developed a network of alumni who come back regularly to perform with the group.

The instruments used by the group include flutes (atenteben), gourds (calabash), xylophones (gil), drums, and many others. Students in the ensemble can take lessons from Sowah on flute, voice or drumming, as well as xylophone. All members of the ensemble sing, play flute, and play gourds.

Members of the ensemble come from a variety of musical and cultural backgrounds. Some members have little or no musical training, while others may be multi-instrumentalists. Sowah instructs everyone from the beginning, and the music is taught without using staff notation, and is performed by memory. During performances, the members of the ensemble receive their cues from Sowah, meaning they always need to be focused on what he is doing. “I don’t know how the songs are going to go, so how could you know,” is a phrase Sowah said the night before a show. This sets this music apart from many other ensembles. If a song is going well, and people are dancing, then he might extend a section. Musicians and singers in the ensemble know never to assume or predict anything, because Sowah cues every entrance and exit.

A performance by the African Music Ensemble is not only impressive to hear, but to see as well. In addition to playing and singing, many of the shows feature dancers, both professionals from Ghana and students. The dances are part of the music, interacting with it and responding to it, and together create a striking display. They also serve to bring some context back into the music, adding another layer of West African culture to the performance. Many of the songs have purposes or associated events. The ensemble plays funeral songs (adowa), coming of age songs (otofo), and royal songs (kete), along with many other pieces. Other aspects of the performance include brightly colored shirts, as well as intricately decorated cloth tapestries.