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"I am not the musician. I just hold the instrument."
Will Ridenour is a musician from North Carolina, specializing in world percussion and the kora, a 21-stringed harp-lute from West Africa. Will has performed in 40 US states and 25 countries worldwide, and studied with master teachers in the US, Europe and West Africa. Currently, Will is seeking to perform traditional and original kora music throughout the southeastern US with the blessings of his teachers from across the ocean.
PROJECTS:
November 2009:
Friends Outside of Time: The Poetry of Rumi.
Four friends have come together to share the wonder and magnificence
of the ancient poetry of Rumi. He reaches across eight centuries, embraces
all peoples and touches our hearts. To experience his words is to discover
and celebrate our own inner life and the mystery of the world. 27 Poems.
Jelaluddin Rumi is considered one of the leading mystics and poets of all time.
Born in 1207, his family fled invading Mongols to eventually settle in Konya,
present-day Turkey. Born into a religious family Rumi became a Sufi scholar
and leader. He was profoundly affected later in life by meeting Shams-i-Tabriz,
a wild dervish, who became his mentor and intimate spiritual companion.
Rumi's poetry springs from this powerful friendship and the grief over Sham's untimely death four years after their meeting. In 1273 people from all religions attended Rumi's funeral as each saw him as a prophet of their own.
Reading Coleman Bark's translations of Rumi's poetry is:
Adrian Vyner-Brooks - born and raised in England, student of Sufism
and intermittent poet.
Accompanying Rumi's poetry is original music written by:
Betsy Bevan - composer, pianist, painter and meditator who
hears music whenever reading Rumi's poetry
Will Ridenour - percussionist, improviser, world traveler and
musician of the kora, a 21-stringed harp-lute from West Africa
Meredith Holladay - singer-songwriter, mother and counselor who revels
in the astonishing love found in Rumi's poetry.
Many thanks to Coleman Barks for granting permission for use of his inspiring translations, to Jaime Lagueruela for his generous time in engineering our sound,
and to Betsy Bevan for management of the entire project.
".birdsound, leaf moving, early evening star, fragrant damp, and the sweet sickle curve of moon. You and I in a round, unselved idling in the garden-beauty detail. Friends abiding this form, yet also in another outside of time, you and I." - C. Barks / Rumi.
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New in October, 2008:
Wind & Stars
Click on the image above to go to Betsy's website where you can listen to and purchase the CD through paypal.
Wind & Stars was produced with the intention of facilitating health and well-being in the world through a sense of beauty and the magical realm of wonder. This CD is a collaboration between Will Ridenour and pianist/composer Betsy Bevan, and brings together the kora with the piano to produce relaxing, floating, haunting songs. Both improvisatory and intricately arranged, this recording has captured something special.
Press for Wind & Stars:
"This CD is certainly light shining and rising for the good of all. Betsy and Will have created a masterpiece in a stunning and memorable way."-David Darling, composer, cellist
"Betsy and Will successfully bring together two unlikely instruments and use them to create beautiful, moving music, a sound you will not soon forget." -Karen McClamrock, Reiki Master and Crystal Healing Teacher
"Using soothing world music rhythms, traditions and melodies, both artists reflected on sound as a conduit for a sense of wellness and healing." -United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro, NC
RETAILED IN GREENSBORO NC at
Eclectic By Nature (408 State St) and Maya Art Gallery (340 Tate St) RETAILED IN CHAPEL HILL & CARRBORO AT Internationalist Books (405 W. Franklin St) and the NC Crafts Gallery (212 W. Main St.)
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2006 CD:
Will Ridenour: s/t
Featuring Jon Ridenour, Guitar.
7 songs, 41 minutes of original kora music including some acoustic guitar compositions, percussion, and a version of "Alla L'a Ke", a song vital to most traditional kora repertoires. Viola!
Click on the CD cover image above to be taken to CD BABY and to hear samples of all the songs. I'm still figuring out digital distro.
Baluba's African Market retails this CD in Greensboro.
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2005 CD:
Will Ridenour: Kora, 2005
A novice exploration into what I was doing at the time with the kora.
Thankfully, out of print. Two songs from this are on the s/t CD (above). Cover art by Linda Ekenberger, Stockholm.
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My Biography. .as it relates to the Kora: I come from Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, and my mission is not to become an African Kora Player. That is impossible. No matter how long a canoe lies in the river, it will never become a crocodile. My hope is to bring the beautiful instrument, the music, and the culture behind it to the ears and souls that seek it, for whatever reason, learning and growing along the way. The history and traditions of the Kora must be respected, yet the scope of it's future unhindered. There's a fine line there. So that's what I'm working with. What can a white boy bring to the table of this immeasurable art?
I first plucked a dusty ole Kora at some point in 1999. I began to teach myself and took a few lessons but had no real teacher. In 2003 I traveled to Senegal and Mali for 6 weeks to learn from the source, and that has been the best thing I have ever done as a musician. Everyone should go one day, if not to play, then to breathe, look, feel, think. rethink. Today I play traditional Kora music and compose original tunes with the blessings of my teachers, Djeli Madiya Diebate from Cassamance and Djeli Fily Sacko from Bamako (student of the worldly Toumani Diabate). I have performed at weddings (in the US and in Mali), libraries, many elementary, middle, and high schools and universities throughout NC, the NC Zoo, countless multi-cultural festivals, churches, castles, coffee shops, dance classes/performances, corporate functions, private parties, & clubs. On the drumkit I have performed in 42 US states and 25 countries worldwide.
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What's the Kora?The Kora is a 21-stringed bridge-harp from West-Africa originating, according to oral traditions, centuries ago with the Senegambian Mandinka of the Kabu Empire, which encompassed parts of present-day Guinea-Bissau, southern Senegal, and the Gambia. The strings are made of fishing line and they resonate through a large, halved calabash gourd stretched with a cow hide. Traditionally, the Kora is played by Mandinka Jalis and Mande Jelis, members of a special caste of society that work as musicians and oral historians. They are walking libraries of information, artisans of speech and sound.
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View Will Ridenour's EPK
If you are interested in booking me for a performace or lecture/demo, send an email to barnstormer215[at]yahoo.com. Thanks!
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Other ProjectsI play drumkit and percussion with a few other groups: Zegota (punk), Dawn Chorus (indie), Cakalak Thunder (radical samba batucada drum corps), The Somnambulist Brain (acoustic ambient with batá percussion).
Thanks to John Rash, Danny Bayer and others for the photos.
