Nana Yaw Opoku Mensah was once a flutist in the courts of the Asantehenes Nana Prempeh I & Nana Prempeh II and possibly Nana Opoku Ware II early in his reign. He was 102 in this video and I was told that he was still in good health in 2006. Nana didn’t know his birthdate but he told me that he was born a few months before the Yaa Asantewaa War of 1900.
He is playing the ‘odurugya’ which is the traditional cane flute of the Akan. The song he’s playing i believe is one in the tradition called ‘Sikabewuepere’(money’s death pangs’ which was popularized during the 1920’s economic boom in Asante & the Gold Coast Colony.
The flute is often used in songs of lamenting or grief. This piece is more of a recitation than a song really, for the odurugya is a ‘talking’ instrument, which means that the Akan of antiquity developed a system of encoding their language into the range of sounds/tones the odurugya makes. One must be immeresed in the ‘deep structures’ of Akan society in order to learn the method of ‘decoding’ the flute language.
Mixed with this video is footage from the funeral of the Bantamahene Baffour Awuah V, an event that was both solemn and celebratory.
Duration : 0:6:44
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1. Favorite holiday destination?
2. Any family traditions?
3. Favorite ornament of decoration?
4. What are you doing for the holidays?
5.Are you a late or early christmas shopper?
6. Who usually cooks holiday dinners?
7. Have you ever gone christmas caroling?
8. Do you live where it snows?
9. One thing that makes you happiest at christmas?
10. What do you want most for christmas?
Duration : 0:12:1
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traditions are an important part of student life at The University of Kansas. From the Rock Chalk Chant to the walk down the Hill at commencement, we encourage you to participate in the great traditions that symbolize KU.
For more on KU’s traditions, visit:
http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/index.shtml
Duration : 0:5:32
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Technorati Tags: campanile, chalk, chant, Hill, Jayhawks, Kansas, KU, Lawrence, Mount, of, Oread, ROCK, tradition, traditions, University, walk
Hey everybody , In this video you guys get to see a small mexican traditional wedding, Louie Mixx from Musica Union http://www.musicaunion.com rocks it out !! With out forgetting the old traditions: like at Minute 2:28 that symbolizes that every man that gets married is a dead man so they carry the Groom like if he was dead … Also at Minute 3:26 That symbolizes that in the relationship the women is the one that will tell the men what to do and them men will do the chores around the house while the women beat their men with a belt lol … Maybe Our traditions are funny and or crazy to some of you guys but for us its just fun at the Bodas !
Duration : 0:6:23
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Technorati Tags: Angeles, Bodas, Dj, Gig, Log, los, MC, mexicanas, Mobile, Musica, tradicionales, traditional, Union, Wedding, weddings, yt:quality=high
The Kwanzaa principle of umoja focuses on unity of community, nation and race. Learn about the principles of Kwanzaa in this free holiday celebration video from an authority on African-American culture.
Expert: Masequa Myers
Bio: Masequa Myers is the founder and CEO of Masequa Myers & Associates, a full service production and consultation company specializing in the arts and multimedia.
Filmmaker: Pemon Rami
Duration : 0:1:33
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Technorati Tags: african, american, christmas, culture, Expert, free, holiday, how, kwanzaa, to, Village
culture recording session – This Train (70’s)
Duration : 0:2:29
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Hank Williams Jr. – Family tradition
Duration : 0:3:57
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Here in 1968 we see Dizzy leading his big band and playing a magnificent trumpet solo. There are also solos by pianist Mike Longo and tenor saxophonist Paul Jeffrey.
Dizzy, his band and the arrangements certainly make this into a totally original and fresh sound.
“Dizzy” Gillespie (1917 — 1993) He was an African-American, Bahá’í jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer. Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz.
In addition to featuring in these epochal moments in jazz, he was instrumental in founding Afro-Cuban jazz, the modern jazz version of the “Spanish Tinge”. Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and gifted improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. In addition to his instrumental skills, Dizzy’s beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn and pouched cheeks, and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop, which was originally regarded as threatening and frightening music by many listeners raised on older styles of jazz. He had an enormous impact on virtually every subsequent trumpeter, both by the example of his playing and as a mentor to younger musicians.
He also used a trumpet whose bell was bent at a 45 degree angle rather than a traditional straight trumpet. This was originally the result of accidental damage, but the constriction caused by the bending altered the tone of the instrument, and Gillespie liked the effect.
Duration : 0:5:43
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Technorati Tags: bebop, dizzy, gillespie, jazz
customs and 
Historical St. George’s