Rainer Polak is an ethnomusicologist and

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

drummer who has researched in the field of West African celebration music performances and written in the field of

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Biography

Rainer Polak studied

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

, African linguistics,

Bambara language Bambara (Arabic script: ), also known as Bamana (N'Ko script: ) or Bamanankan (), is a lingua franca and national language of Mali spoken by perhaps 15 million people, natively by 5 million Bambara people and about 10 million second-language us ...

, and

History of Africa The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans and — around 300–250,000 years ago—anatomically modern humans (''Homo sapiens''), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of d ...

from 1989 to 1996 at

Bayreuth University Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital o ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

), and jenbe music performance from 1991 until today in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

(

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

). All of his studies and work in

were accomplished with the help of locally and traditionally minded drummers whose playing is presented in his book and the corresponding CD. Polak worked as a professional jenbe player in

for one year in 1997/98, performing at well over a hundred traditional weddings, spirit possession dances and other celebrations on the basis of being hired by the late Jaraba Jakite, most of the times, and occasionally by the late

Yamadu Bani Dunbia Yamadu Bani Dunbia (1917-2002) was a notable djembe master drummer from Bamako, Mali. Although recordings of his playing are scarce, he was well known across Bamako. He recorded his first songs at the age of 78. Biography Dunbia was born in 191 ...

, by Jeli Madi Kuyate, and by

Drissa Kone Drissa Kone (born 1960) is a djembe master drummer from Mali. Early life Drissa Kone was born in 1960 in a village named Kourouba, around south of the capital, Bamako. At an early age, and against the will of his parents, he began drumming i ...

. The ethnomusicological dissertation and book he wrote on that experience won the academic prize of the German African Studies Association in 2003/04. Polak ranks as an outstanding jenbe soloist in

. As a teacher he has specialized in giving focused classes on micro-timing, and master-classes in jenbe solo performance.

Publications

* (in Vorbereitung): West African Percussion. One World–Many Musics, vol. 6 (DVD). Rotterdam: Codarts / Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. * 2004 Festmusik als Arbeit, Trommeln als Beruf. Jenbe-Spieler in einer westafrikanischen Großstadt. Berlin: Reimer. * 2007 »Performing Audience: On the Social Constitution of Focused Interaction at Celebrations in Mali«. In: Anthropos 102.2007/1: 3–18. * 2005 »A Musical Instrument Travels Around the World: Jenbe Playing in Bamako, in West Africa, and Beyond«. In: Post, Jennifer (ed.), Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader. NY: Routledge Press, 161–185. rstveröff. 2000 in The World of Music* 2005 »Drumming for Money and Respect. The Commercialization of Traditional Celebration Music in Bamako«. In: Jansen, Jan and Stephen Wooten (eds.), Wari Matters: Ethnographic Explorations of money in the Mande World. LIT Verlag, pp. 135–161. * 2004 »Die Kommerzialisierung der Hochzeitsfestmusik in Bamako«. In: Beck, Kurt, Till Förster und Hans Peter Hahn (Hrsg.), Blick nach vorn. Festgabe für Gerd Spittler zum 65. Geburtstag. Köln: Köppe, S. 235–249. * 2003 »City rhythms: The urbanization of local drum/dance celebration music in Bamako«. In:Jansen, Jan (ed.), Experts in Mandé. Leiden: Nederlandse Vereniging van Afrika Studies, pp. 1–24. * 2001 »Festmusik: Zur Ethnographie musikalischer Gattungen in Westafrika«. In: Marianne Bröcker(Hrsg.), Berichte aus dem ICTM-Nationalkomitee Deutschland IX/X. Bamberg: Universitätsbibliothek, S. 19–50. * 2000 »A Musical Instrument Travels Around the World: Jenbe Playing in Bamako, in West Africa, and Beyond«. In: The World of Music 42/3: 7–46. * 2000 »Ein Musikinstrument geht um die Welt. Zur Verflechtung lokaler, nationaler und internationaler Kontexte im Bamakoer Jenbe-Spiel«. In: Bauer, Ulrich, Henrik Egbert und Frauke Jäger (Hrsg.), Interkulturelle Beziehungen und Kulturwandel in Afrika. Beiträge zur Globalisierungsdebatte. Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang Verlag, S. 291–312. * 1998 »Jenbe Music in Bamako: Microtiming as Formal Model and Performance Practice«. In: Iwalewa-Forum 2: 24–46. * 1997 »Bewegung, Zeit und Pulsation. Theorierelevante Aspekte der Jenbemusik in Bamako«. In: Jahrbuch für musikalische Volks- und Völkerkunde 16: 59–70. * 1999 »Andreas Meyer: Afrikanische Trommeln«. In: The World of Music 41/1. * 1999 »Gilbert Rouget: Guinée. Musique Malinké«. In: The World of Music 41/2. * 1999 »Thomas Hale: Griots and Griottes«. In: The World of Music 41/3.

References

External links

MANDING BIBLIOGRAPHY
Compiled by Rainer Polak

Article about Microtiming {{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, Rainer Living people Djembe players German ethnomusicologists Year of birth missing (living people) University of Bayreuth alumni