marimbamarkingram

 COMING IN FEBRUARY 2013

PAST EVENTS SEE BELOW 

 COMING SOON ---- Mark Ingram in concert and discussion

Kalimbas of Africa & The Americas

At The New Haven Free Public Library, Stetson Branch, New Haven CT

Wednesday April 18,6:00PM

 Mark Ingram's performance at the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington Connecticut. See below to catch the vibe!

 SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11 1:00PM 

Mark Ingram at IAIS MUSEUM - SEE BELOW

WORKSHOP, April 24th, 12:00pm: Mark Ingram gives workshop at Institute Of American Indian Studies on "Making Drums From Recycled Materials."

Read more on their website:    www.birdstone.org

SONGS FROM THE AFTERLIFE, title song from the album "Songs From The Afterlife," will be due for a fall season 2010 release date. The 1990 kalimba music compilation is undergoing re-mastering and re-mixing which has been slowed by Mark Ingram's studio sessions of new music.  

Weekend Living
Mark Ingram to Share Music of Flute in Washington
Published: Friday, September 03, 2010
By Jaime Ferris
Musician and multi-instrumentalist Mark Ingram, who will lead a flute-making workshop at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington.

Music has been a means of communication since the dawn of mankind, melodies and rhythms helping to define civilizations and cultures. Modern trends and the impact of Western culture, have affected specific traditions, however, causing a serious threat of decline to indigenous music many musicians are trying desperately to prevent.

One of those people is Roxbury musician and multi-instrumentalist Mark Ingram. For more than 30 years he has been a virtuoso of traditional African musical instruments, such as the kalimba, m’bira and sanza (versions of an African thumb piano), the rhumba box (a Caribbean folk instrument), and the African-American marimba Brett, a kind of xylophone.

“People of African descent in North America have created a very diverse, unique and imaginative family of instruments for music making,” Mr. Ingram explained. “Some are related to their African cousins, still others are now famous in their own right. [Many] of these instruments have been historically documented from the 1880s, with histories that go back even earlier.”

Among them are the variety of percussion instruments Mr. Ingram performs on—and makes himself—including the kalimba, balafon (wooden keyed percussion idiophone from West Africa), marimba Brett and bamboo flute. The last named will be the topic of an upcoming workshop at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington.

Where did the first flute come from, and what was it made of? Participants at Mr. Ingram’s Sept. 12 workshop will discover the history of flutes as part of African and Asian cultures and, using a few hand tools and a drill, will construct a six- or seven-note flute out of a bamboo pole. The workshop is appropriate for youth ages 16 and up; it is not necessary to be a musician to participate.

“Through performance, discussion, demonstration and hands-on activity,” Mr. Ingram said, “the ‘learning tree’ of culture weaves a fun exploration, touching on … African-American history, early American history, sound science, nature, music, art and geography. The stars of the program … are the handcrafted instruments of the old tradition. Some are five feet long, [some] weigh nearly 100 pounds, while others can fit into the palm of a kindergarten child’s hand.”

Some might say music is a thread in Ingram family history as both his father, jazz guitarist R.L. Ingram (he performed with Billy Dixon and His Beboppers in the late 1940s), and mother, Donna Swain, were musicians who formed the Donna Ray Quartet. When Mr. Ingram was 8 years old, he was influenced by drummers, such as Victor Smith, who played with Donna Ray and, later, with Gloria Gaynor. His parents encouraged his studies, performance and research of jazz’s roots, soul, gospel and Caribbean music.

“Percussion was my first love. I loved the kalimba, but my parents helped me add new instruments to my repertoire. Unfortunately, I couldn’t major in the instruments I was playing,” Mr. Ingram recalled, reporting that he attended Five Towns College on Long Island. “The contemporary curriculum was focused on jazz, and all of the professors were professional musicians. I also did fine art and started exhibiting my work … which eventually led to video production.”

But traditional African music remained a focus for Mr. Ingram, who studied balafon music with Chris Ibe’ of Nigeria and Abo Sylla. “The jazz rhythm section, to me, sounded similar to African instruments,” he said. “I wanted to play the melodies and harmonies my way… . Even today, I try to combine the sounds of traditional instruments with rocker infusions in my music.”

Over the years, he has performed with Bola Afrique and Les Merveilles D’Afrique, Children of the Drum, Sanza, Rhythm Exchange, Ophelia Handberry, and with local drummer John Marshall. He has composed and performed music for the film soundtrack of “Brother to the Wind,” which received the ALA Award, “Notable Recording of a Children’s Film.” For the last 17 years, he has handcrafted ancient Afro-Asian-styled bamboo flutes and performed on them, a highlight of the Washington workshop.

“This flute is rare and usually found in only specific parts of African and Asian culture, and is much harder to play than more contemporary flutes. It requires the use of both your mouth and lips,” Mr. Ingram explained. “The sound possesses a certain breathiness that only a bamboo flute produces. Bamboo is a hard wood, but nothing sounds like it. Its sound is uniquely its own.”

Workshop participants will make a six-tone bamboo flute from a bamboo shaft and learn how to carve holes for notes—“a very non-scientific process”—and how to carve a mouthpiece, which Mr. Ingram said is the hardest part of the project.

“With mass production and the availability of various materials, the culture of traditional, handmade instruments diminished in many areas, and throughout time,” he said. “I love the idea of continuing a tradition by making and performing on these musical instruments.

“This is something for ordinary people, who just want to play, and that’s the essence of these instruments,” Mr. Ingram concluded. “You don’t have to be a musician or read sheet music. This is for people who just want to pick up a flute and make music.”

The flute workshop will be held Sept. 12 from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Institute for American Indian Studies, located at 38 Curtis Road in Washington. Non-members are $30; IAIS members are $25; Connecticut educators may earn .3 CEUs. For details or to register, call 860-868-0518, or visit www.birdstone.org.

 

Youngsters In Windsor Locks Try African American Music
August 18, 1995|By LAWRENCE STRAUSS; Courant Staff Writer
WINDSOR LOCKS -- — A group of youngsters on Thursday took a tour of African American music and its origins, listening to notes and even playing a few instruments.
Their tour lasted an hour, and they never left the Windsor Locks Public Library.
They watched and listened to Mark Ingram, who explored African American music and its history. Performing in the children's library area, Ingram became a historian, musician and teacher rolled into one. His presentation covered many centuries -- from ancient drums used in Africa to instruments fashioned by African Americans in the Deep South during the 19th century.

Seated on the floor, more than 70 youngsters gathered at the library to watch. It was part of the library's summer program for children.
Children's librarian Annette Ouellet said she booked Ingram's performance partly because she thought he would pass on to the children knowledge about how musical instruments developed.
He began at the beginning of music history, starting with the use of primitive sticks to duplicate sounds. Pointing to a hollow log he brought with him, Ingram noted that different-sized holes in the wood can produce different sounds.
He later banged on a drum, producing three distinctive sounds -- low, middle and high. Ingram wove his presentation around that theme -- that musical instruments, however primitive, can be manipulated to produce different sounds. Those sounds, he said, can also be made louder or softer.
At one point, Ingram played a balafon, an ancient African percussion instrument. An assortment of sticks banded together, a balafon resembles the modern day xylophone. Each stick produces a unique sound when struck.
Throughout the presentation, Ingram encouraged the students to play the instruments themselves. In groups of four, some of the students played the balafon, each assigned to different notes.
Other instruments Ingram played or displayed included flutes; kalimbas, on which sticks are plucked; and a sitar.
Ingram, who is based in Sandy Hook, credits his interest in African American music and its origins to his parents, who are jazz musicians.
``I was always interested in history,'' Ingram said.
He has performed at many libraries, and finds children receptive to his performances and musical themes.
On Thursday, there was a sprinkling of adults in the audience, too.
``It gives them a taste of the way music originated,'' said Sandra Sandone, who brought her 2-year-old grandson, Nicholas, to the performance.
She said Ingram communicated well with the children. ``His presentation is very good,'' she said. ``They seem to respond to him.''
Sean Dowd, 8, was one of the children called on to play the balafon.