Our story

We hadn't known each other before and we attended the workshop separately with the aim to improve our drumming. However, we all realised on the spot that this was an entirely new and higher level of drumming and music. The workshop was led by Broňa Pavlíček, leader of the band Tubabu, and the second teacher was Igor Holka from the ensemble Afro Campana.

Broňa and Igor showed us how to really play djembe and bass drums (unknown to us back then) and thus we were able to see and experience a purebred djembe and dundun band. We met again after the workshop, and as we all three were living in Bratislava at that time, we saw potential to play together regularly.

Andy succeeded in finding our first practice room (DK Zrkadlový háj) where we laboriously had to bring and carry away all instruments every time. Then, through Andy, other two key future members came to join the band: Matúš and Sisa.

What to do with an established band?

The five of us then started to meet regularly at DK Zrkadlový háj and called our band JAMADAN. We practised rhythms brought from the workshop Veveří, bought first provisional dunduns and held rehearsals two times a week. Andy was the music director and manager then and we played our first concerts in 2005.

How did it come out?

As time went by, we were adding new instruments and started focusing as well on our concert appearance, more complex arrangements and stage show.

When the right time came, we started teaching drum classes as well. We expanded our portfolio by entertaining activities with drums too - team buildings or events for children.

We even experienced more experimental eras, like cooperating with the saxophonist Berco Vitázek, we enriched our rhythms by harmonies and songs of Zbyňo Džadoň, our then-member, and we even indulged ourselves in crazy stuff like running around drums, playing in welding gear, using comic bubbles, rapping, drumming on cans of Pringles, playing on the roof of our car,etc.

Then came the milestone of celebrating the first 10 years of our band in the club Batelier with our first teacher Broňa Pavlíček performing as our guest with his project Tubabu Duo. It didn't take long and we got to celebrate the 15th anniversary with the help of a super group from Senegal Tam Tam D'Afrique Junior.

We continuously seek inspiration at different workshops. Daniel, for example, spent 5 weeks in 2016 in Guinea Conakry, West Africa with the djembe master Bolokada Condé. To this day, Jamadan practices 2 times a week, just like during our early years in 2004. (Read more about the journey on our blog article.)

And what's next? We want to continue, entertain people, learn and teach new rhythms, have fun and be artistically free and independent. We are like a family, just like any other band with longevity like this. We are friends for life and two of us, Daniel and Sisa, even got married in 2017.

Teachers

We never forget where we come from and what our roots are. We play professional concerts and are expert teachers of the African language on drums. However, we will forever pay respect and show gratitude to our teachers and masters who passed their best knowledge to us and paved the way for us.  

Broňa Pavlíček, leader of the band Tubabu deserves a special position. We actually met as a future band at his workshop and Broňa´s rhythms and influence can be felt in our entire repertoire. Broňa has a legendary and unimitable style of phrasing and we have been attending his annual week-lasting workshops without a single break since 2004.

At the same time, let us mention Igor holka. Igor is based in Nitra as a percussionist and leader of the band Campana Batucada and he has defined the term “drum show” as an event category in the Slovak environment. Igor passed his knowledge to us as the very first Slovak and continues to support us to this day.

And then there are African teachers - foundations of the African drumming language were taught to us by Thierry Ebam based in Bratislava, and then most notably Bolokada Condé, whom Daniel visited directly in Africa, furthermore, Assane Fall, a percussionist from Senegal who taught us how to play sabar drums. We took part in workshops of masters like Mansa Camio, Mamady Keita, Drissa Koné, Thomas Guei, Ibrahima Condé, Mohamed Masta Bangoura, Mohamed Bangouraké Bangoura, Koungbana Condé, Tonton Sylla, Dartagnan Camara, Dussou Touré, Babel Thian, Amadou Fola and many others.