Sara Pettinella
Solos for RandyWeston
© 2016 blood drum spirit
Traditional Song
Sung by Kwabena Boateng
Donɖo Ntoasoa
© 2015 royal hartigan
Sara Pettinella
Director Editor
Born in Rome, Italy, Sara Pettinella studied art, design and photography in Italy and the United Kingdom. In 2002, she won the Interfaces Award (–Museum of the Photographic Image and Visual Arts, University of Rome) and she worked in theater and movie productions in Italy and Belgium from 1996 to 2003.
Since 2004, she has been active in the non-profit sector in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa working with refugees and other vulnerable groups through photography and design. In 2011, she relocated to New York City, US, where she showcased her work and received photography awards.
Since 2014, she has been working on documentary projects, with a special focus on music and performative arts in US and Japan.
royal hartigan
producer, composer, featured artist
At 3 years old, royal hartigan was tap-dancing in variety shows. He has gone on to forge a unique and influential voice, both as a drummer who draws on a wide range of influences, and scholar in world traditions and their adaptation to jazz. royal’s publications include West African Rhythms for Drumset; and Dancing on the Time. royal has played on numerous recordings, and is the recipient of Fulbright awards for study in the Philippines and Ghana.
David Bindman
Composer, Featured Artist
David Bindman has been part of the New York jazz avant-garde since the late 1980s. His work as both saxophonist and composer is heard on acclaimed recordings by the Brooklyn Sax Quartet, the group he co-led with Fred Ho, by his sextet, and many others. David creates works with artists across media, including a new collaboration with visual artist Malin Abrahamsson.
Art Hirahara
Featured Artist
is a virtuosic pianist active in New York and around the world. Coming out of the fertile Asian American creative music community in San Francisco, he has participated in tours sponsored by the State Department, and tours frequently in Japan with Akira Tana and others. Art’s trio has released three recordings.
Wes Brown
Featured Artist
Wes Brown has the distinction of having played with artists from three different centuries. Wes toured the world with legendary pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines, and has played with such iconoclasts as Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, and Anthony Davis. His versatile work on bass, keyboard, and African flute is documented on numerous recordings.
Kwabena Boateng
Featured Artist
A master dancer, dramatist, and musician who has toured the world, recorded, given master classes, and appeared in films about African culture. He studied at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana-Legon and was an artist and teacher with the Arts Council of Ghana. Kwabena was a founding member of the African jazz-highlife Talking Drums ensemble. An authority on African dance, language, culture, and drama, he is a professor of African dance, music, and culture at UMass Dartmouth. He is collaborating with royal hartigan on a book with DVD on Asante adinkra symbols, their meaning, and musical adaptation.
Abraham Kobena Adzenyah
Featured Artist
A master drummer, dancer, and authority on African music and culture who has toured the world, recorded, and performed with many legendary artists in African American traditions including Ed Blackwell, Anthony Braxton, Jayne Cortez, Hugh Masakela, Steve Gadd, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Max Roach, Nexus, World Drums, Dave Holland, and Rufus Reid. He studied at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana-Legon, and was a master drummer with the Ghana National Dance Ensemble.
He has also influenced and inspired students and professional musicians through his life with his Jazz-Highlife group Talking Drums, and as co-author (with royal hartigan and Freeman Donkor) of West African Rhythms for Drumset, a groundbreaking notation and adaptation to trap drums of traditional and contemporary African rhythms, and (with Dumisani Maraire and Judith Cook Tucker) of Let Your Voice Be Heard! Abraham has been awarded the Afro-Caribbean World Music Symposium Achievement Award and the Percussive Arts Society Award.
Kobena taught at Wesleyan University’s renowned world music program from 1969-2016. He is a father of African music in the U. S.
