E For Evil, J for Juju, D for Devil: Three of my best friends!
/These guys! For months these guys have taught me, had beer and guinea fowl with me, put up with me, and always have been there for me. Eddie taught me the drumming I know. With a big smile, and a hearty laugh to match, Eddie is one of the friendliest people I've met. He taught me to say palm drumming instead of hand drumming, something I can totally get behind. He brought around the entire village once to lift the drumming ban, there were a few "libations" involved and a reward of 30 cedis. Jerome, my gyil teacher, didn't understand why we had to play for so long...but did not complain about the free beer we got.
Speaking of Jerome, he is responsible for almostalmost everything I know when it comes to gyil. We have traveled across Ghana together, he has led me on many adventures, and once gave me raw pork. Fresh meat is the best meat? Through the years of knowing Jerome, he has become a brother to me. Jerome always has interesting ideas on music, culture, and always has something to say to make me laugh. He always is down for an evening beer and along with myself has a PPP, a permanent personal pregnancy. Jerome is always excited to teach me the next thing, and insists he will build me a house in the Dagara homeland.
Dennis, the newest member of the crew is the best...goofy...but the best. Due to learning English, Dennis started calling me Mario instead of Matthew. I'm not sure if he realized this so I started calling him Derio. I figured if he noticed he would go back to calling me Matt and if he didn't notice we would continue calling each other Mario and Derio. To this day it's Mario and Derio, and I couldn't enjoy it more. Dennis has so much patience and is a great player, and well established creator of traditional music! I learned of his patience by making him teach me Binne, Dagara funeral music. Easily one of the most complicated styles of gyil music, for two hours a day Dennis would spoon feed me this music with varying levels of success. I was only able to scratch the surface of Binne, but through our lessons Dennis became one of my newest friends. A friend that I'll never forget.
I have too many stories about these guys for one post, maybe even one blog. As time goes on I'll include more stories and memories. While I love remembering everything about these guys, I'm looking forward to the next adventure, until then stay out of trouble!
