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Efe Bes, Charter Member

Efe is known internationally for his contemporary African rhythms and innovative drumming, Efe said " the Ancestors communicate with him daily and he in turn relay the message to us through his drums" sometimes playing up to twenty (20) drums at the same time. He has performed and collaborated with some of the African world's most recognized music icon. Efe and international dancer, actress and choreographer Ma'at founded the now world famous Bambuti. the group has six dancers and other guest artist.The group have performed at MBAD African Bead Museum,The Museum Of African American History, African World Festival, Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Chene Park (opened for Beres Hammond), Universoul Circus, Cranbrook Museum, Kent State University (Ohio), U of M (Ann Arbor), Toronto,Canada's African Festival, etc. Experience the Ancestors communicating Thru Efe, you will be amazed and entertained by his fascinating drumming.

Who are the Bambuti Ba'twa?

Several thousand of the Bambuti Ba'twa people used to live in the low equatorial forests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Bambuti are a nomadic ethnic group, they were regarded with fear and they live in the Ituri Tropical Rain Forest. The Bambuti are master of polyphonic and polyrhythmic music. No other people in Africa play music like the Bambuti. Using what some call a septatonic scale.The Bambuti create circular rhythms that everyone participates in and creates. In the 1970s,their lands were designated a Zoological and Forest Reserve and a national park to protect the gorillas. They attempted to evict the Bambuti, in the name of conservation.Today the park is full of people mining ore coltan and the gorillas, baboons, porcupine, wild boar and monkeys are being "systematically killed.'' "Life was healthy and good but we have become beggars, thieves and prowlers,'' said one Bambuit chief. Recently there has been a policy enacted to transport the Bambuti out and into Village-type reservations.The government is trying to assist the Bambuti and improve their living conditions which are inconsistent with those of the rest of the nation.

It is difficult to convince the Bambuti to change their nomadic ways, because the Bambuti community has live in harmonious symbiosis with its environment for several thousands of years. The majority have abandoned the government's experiment to settle and have returned to the forest.

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