“If you've ever had the split-second opportunity to spy Naranjo in action when SNL cuts to a commercial break, you've witnesses a blur of energy behind a fortress of percussion.”
—Andy Doershuk, DRUM! Magazine, May 2005

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The Gyil
Most of the World's popular musics have looked to the African tradition for their driving force and breath. Many of the West's percussion instruments also have their roots in Africa. The gyil, one of those, is the national instrument of the Dagara and Lobi people of West Africa, who believe that the vibration of its wood resonates with the water in the bodies of human beings and animals, able to change the condition of life; and especially helpful to heal mental, physical, and emotional malady.

The sound is a dazzling conversation among several musical elements. What makes the gyil unique among African marimbas (balophone, madjimba, etc) is its technique, in which a single musician sings, plays bass, comps chords, and improvises simultaneously, setting a spellbinding example of right hand/left hand/vocal meta-dependence. The gyil's format of playing is related to the concept of improvising used in jazz. (Please refer to "the gyil" and "writings" areas for more info.)

Our Latest CD has a new look   Please note that the CD Mandara Music Sampler is the repackaged "World Music for Western Percussion Ensemble".  Mandara Music Sampler has exactly the same great percussion ensemble pieces as does the World  Music for Western Percussion Ensemble. Mandara Music Sampler, while being a guide for percussion ensembles using Western instruments, is also a great listen. This "Best of" CD provides example ensemble recordings for Abibigromma, and Guun -  for soloist and percussion quartet (Ghana), Tommy Tall Bird (Dineh, Native America) and "Rising (Naranjo, Olsen, Palombo); for the West African Music for the Marimba Soloist transcriptions Wenda Kanawa, Kpanlogo, Jong Kpek Kple, Kaang Kuon Kpar, and Fer Barre Kona Jeno (the trio version. The Orchestral Version can be found on the CD Concertos by the CYO of Cleveland.) There are also included new selections for the recent WAMMS transcription book "Song Collection #2"  The new title Mandara Music Sampler has made the CD friendlier to listeners who are not specifically percussionists.

Knock on Wood is about how a single individual can change the status quo. This documentary by Ron Grunhut is the story of Valerie's groundbreaking first trip to Ghana, where her quest to master an obscure West African marimba led to an unexpected change in the area's relationship to its women.

Knock on Wood has shown recently at the Woodstock, Big Apple, and Nashville Film Festivals, as well as the Desmond Lee Africa World Documentary Film Festival (St. Louis, Missouri and Bridgetown, Barbados), the "Tiburon International Film Festival" in California, and "The United Nations Association Film Festival" at Stanford University.

Barry and Valerie have been performing together since 1982. With the kind assistance of Nobuco "Cobi" Narita (The Universal Jazz Coalition) and countless others, they went from local libraries, parks, museums, and New York City Public schools to the international stage, where, in 1996, they performed in the Kobine Festival of Traditional Music in Lawra, Ghana, where they were honored as the first non-West Africans to be awarded a first prize.

As a duo, they have performed at festivals worldwide including The Percussive Arts Society International Conference (1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001); The New Music Festival (Leon, Mexico); Semana Internacional de Percusiones (Mexcio City); El Primer Festival Internacional de Marimbistas (Chiapas, Mexico); The Bath Festival (Bath,England); and Arts Alive (Johannesburg, South Africa). In July 2005, they were performers and clinicians at the 25th Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, and have been invited to return in 2006.

They co-direct the multi-instrumental/vocal quintet Mandara, which has performed at such venues as the Kaisuka Festival (Japan), Lincoln Center, and The Kennedy Center. (Please see "about Mandara").