1 circle of creation/adzohu suite 16:36 © 2013 david bindman; traditional rhythms, spoken language, and ʋugbe (drum language) © the fɔn and eʋe peoples of west africa

adzohu is a dance drumming played during devotional activities for adzogbo, a war divinity of the fɔn and eʋe peoples of west africa. religious worship includes invocation, a yearning for spiritual communion, and transcendence, among the many activities and drumming styles in adzohu ritual. this suite is based on three of these sections. some of its themes relate to water and land beings.

david composed the piece for blood drum spirit as part of our ongoing project of integrating west african rhythms and songs - their distinct complex rhythmic architecture, vibrancy, motion, and feeling - into original jazz compositions and improvisations. the themes and harmonies in the composition draw on the rhythmic layers, pulses, and tones of adzohu, with time and rhythmic emphasis heard in multiple ways.

the sections of the traditional piece offer both predetermined frameworks and liberating spaces for improvisation. david’s composition has two song forms that correspond to the medium-tempo kaɖoɖo and faster ago sections of adzohu. the suite’s opening is related to the rhythms from kaɖoɖo (‘forming a circle’) whose bell pattern is extended over 8 dotted-quarter beats in a twenty-four-eight feel. the drum set, with the gaŋkogui bell timeline on cymbal and kagaŋ drum voice on high hat, a bass drum pulse, and snare-tom melody, outlines the saxophone theme and piano chords, while the bass line falls within the bell strokes.

an interlude related to atsia (‘style’) drumming leads to faster-paced rhythms from the ago (a term for ‘yearning’ or ‘summoning’) section, whose bell is also in an extended 8-beat time feel. saxophone, bass, and piano solos are played over specific adzohu rhythmic forms: saxophone is based on kaɖoɖo, bass on kaɖoɖo, atsia, and ago, and piano on ago. the saxophone and piano solos follow the slow and fast song-chord forms, respectively, until a return to the closing themes.

the bass solo is a dialogue, with wes responding to traditional kaɖoɖo, atsia, and ago atsimeʋu lead drum ʋugbe (‘drum language’) played on floor tom with a hand and stick technique. my verbalizations mirror atsimeʋu master drum stroke sounds, with some also reflecting the eʋe language. in the opening kaɖoɖo feel, adzohua gbɔna, yooooo! represents ‘the drums are coming, yooooo!’ (a battle cry). in ago three sayings are expressed. tsia do woe, atsia do woe, alifome, ‘how you live is a reflection of your upbringing/inner being’ and is followed by ga ʋa dzogbedzi ko ne mi la kpe,‘come to the battlefield and we will clash!’ the final statement has the repeated phrases mi ʋa du gba dzi, ‘everyone come to the drumming area’; eduwo keŋ mi ʋa ne mia kpɔwo, dugbadzi ‘everyone (the entire village) comes to see them’ (warriors, dancers, and musicians), gbedzi, gbedzi, gbedzi….. ‘our lives are their mission.’

the piece offers four players in conversation, relating to the call and response of the traditional music and dance. the dance itself is so intense that the thematic material seems to have emerged directly from it, as we experienced when we played it with the dagbe cultural centre drummers, dancers, and singers led by emmanuel kwaku agbeli.

our playing is dedicated to the late godwin kwasi agbeli and yaotse agbeli, godwin’s son emmanuel, the dagbe cultural centre musicians and dancers, and the people at kopeyia-aflao village, volta region, ghana.