SAAKUMU 

Carrying Forward the Legacy of Bernard Woma 

By Mark Stone 

(As seen in Percussive Arts Society's publication; Percussive Notes)

Bernard Woma (1966 – 2018) was a longtime member of the Percussive Arts Society who participated in numerous PASICs as a performer, clinician, and attendee. For two decades, he led the Saakumu Dance Troupe, one of Ghana’s leading music and dance groups. It was Bernard’s dream to bring Saakumu to present at a PASIC and this year, that dream will be realized as Saakumu presents a virtual performance from Ghana. 

I was most fortunate to be Bernard Woma’s first American student, and throughout our twenty-five years of close work together, he generously shared with me his Dagara music tradition. Bernard was one of the most influential performers to emerge from Ghana in the late 20th century. He was a Gyil Guba (master xylophone artist), and widely acknowledged to be the greatest Dagara musician of his generation. He was also internationally recognized as a composer, virtuoso performer, educator, and ambassador of West African music. During his lifetime, Bernard brought the Dagara gyil from rural West Africa to North America, Europe, and Asia, performing in many of the world’s most celebrated concert halls and educational institutions. As he traveled with the gyil across national borders and cultural frontiers, Bernard created tremendous excitement around the instrument and its connected dance and music traditions. 

The gyil (plural-gyile) is a traditional xylophone from northwest Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, and northeast Côte d'Ivoire. It is made of tuned wooden keys suspended on a wooden frame above gourd resonators. Spider egg-sack casings are stretched over holes cut in the gourds to give the instrument a distinctive buzzing sound, one believed to promote physical and spiritual healing. The gyil is at the core of Dagara culture and a gyil player is able to reproduce the Dagara language on the instrument’s wooden keys. As a ‘talking xylophone,’ the gyil speaks the history and proverbs of the Dagara people. Two gyile are traditionally played together with the kuɔr, a hand drum made by stretching a monitor lizard skin over the opening of a large gourd. In a traditional Dagara cultural context, this trio of instruments is played together at funerals, seasonal festivals, religious ceremonies, and recreational gatherings. 

Born in the remote village of Hiineteng in Ghana’s Upperwest Region, Bernard mastered the gyil and the traditional Dagara genres of bεwaa, bagr bine, logyil, and bine at an early age. In his twenties, Bernard was selected to represent the Dagara ethnic group as a member of the National Dance Company of Ghana, located at the National Theatre in the capital city of Accra. After joining the national company, he soon mastered traditional dance-drumming genres from throughout Ghana, and was eventually promoted to the position of lead drummer. In this position, he was responsible for leading performances of not only traditional Dagara music, but also traditions of the Dagomba, Asante, Ewe, and Ga ethnic groups. 

Inspired by his work with the National Dance Company, Bernard formed his own dance troupe, Saakumu, in the late 90’s. The word saakumu means “traditions,” and the group is dedicated to performing and teaching a range of spiritual, ceremonial, recreational, and contemporary African dance traditions. NYC-based composer David Rogers recalls attending an early Saakumu performance in Ghana in 1998. “It was a young group with tremendous energy, dancers as well as the musicians. Bernard was really proud of the group he had put together. It was great to see him investing in the next generation of Ghanaians and teaching the traditional arts.” 

In 2003, David, Bernard, and myself, along with friend and fellow musician Raul Rothblatt, formed Jumbie Records. As an artist-founded collective, Jumbie was created to both release recordings and serve as an artist management structure for our various projects, including Saakumu. One of the early goals of Jumbie was to arrange an American tour for the group. Our work together, presenting two African Xylophone Festivals in NYC along with attending yearly APAP conferences, laid the groundwork for Saakumu to come to the US. 

In 2008 Jumbie Records, in partnership with SUNY Fredonia, successfully organized Saakumu’s first US tour. It was truly a labor of love involving many of Bernard’s friends and students, who make up his extended American family. One of Bernard’s students, Griffin Brady, describes the first US tour. “As part of my master’s thesis project, I helped to bring fifteen members of the Saakumu Dance Troupe to America for the first time. I bought a short school bus off of EBay motors and we proceeded to travel to schools, universities, and festivals across the country, doing 99 shows in 49 days. The reputation of my mentor, Bernard Woma, preceded us almost everywhere we went.” These tours have continued annually for the past twelve years and are now organized by Griffin. In addition to their annual US tours, Saakumu also performs regularly at important government functions and festivals throughout Ghana and other West African countries. 

Saakumu’s virtual PASIC presentation will be hosted by PAS World Percussion Committee members Michael Vercelli and Kay Stonefelt. “Saakumu presents the skill and complexity of Dagara music in professional detail, reaching the highest artistic, educational, and cultural standards,” Michael explains. Saakumu’s presentation will feature the gyil and the group’s signature repertoire of bεwaa and bine. Bεwaa is a recreational Dagara genre that, as Bernard Woma wrote is his master’s thesis in 2012, “is always under constant change and people can compose bεwaa songs out of any situational circumstances to inform, educate, or rebuke individuals.” Bine, in contrast, as Bernard writes, “is the traditional music that is performed at funeral rituals. It is also performed as dance music in social occasions such as life-cycle celebrations, wedding ceremonies, and other seasonal festivities. The funeral repertoire of bine music is considered the most important musical genre.” Both of these music-dance forms, as performed by Saakumu, are joyful, expressive, and highly participatory. 

Bernard Woma’s legacy can be observed in the tremendous artistry of Saakumu as well as the continued high-level teaching found at the Bernard Woma Dagara Music Center (BWDMC), where the members of Saakumu serve as resident teaching artists. Founded in 2000, the BWDMC hosts university students and visiting scholars from around the world every year to study the gyil, Ghanaian drumming and dancing, language and song, and related cultural arts. 

Like so many artists around the world, the pandemic has caused both Saakumu and the BWDMC to temporarily lose all sources of income. Saakumu’s 2020 tour had to be cancelled and all schools have put their planned study abroad programs on hold. However, in the face of these challenges, the vital work of both Saakumu and the BWDMC continues. Bernard’s nephew, Michael Kwesi Woma, who is the operational director at the BWDMC, describes the current situation. “Covid has effected the staff a lot and things have had to temporarily close down during the isolation. However, we still find times to meet each month to rehearse and cheer one another up.” There is also a new junior music and dance group at the center, formed prior to the pandemic called Dagara Walier Saakumu. Michael is excited about this junior group, and describes them as “well-motivated and amazingly talented.” 

Bernard’s extended American family is also taking advantage of the “Covid pause” by beginning the process of incorporating the Bernard Woma Dagara Music Center USA 501(c)(3) to continue the exchange of American students to the Bernard Woma Dagara Music Center in Ghana and the Saakumu Dance Troupe to schools across America. “With all of this teamwork and togetherness,” says Michael Woma, “I am looking forward to the future of the BWDMC and Saakumu.” 

Bernard Woma passed away in April of 2018 at the height of his career. He was one of the hardest working individuals I have ever known. Despite the long battle with cancer that eventually took his life, there was no slowing down for Bernard. He continued to passionately perform and teach gyil music right up to the very end. Together, we had even begun planning a third concerto for gyil trio and symphony orchestra. Bernard had so much more to share with the world and his loss is immense. In our final conversation, I told Bernard that his spirit would be with us every time we played and shared his music. It is an incredible delight to present Bernard’s group Saakumu at this year’s PASIC, as we celebrate Bernard Woma’s legacy and his immense contribution to the percussion world. 

Mark Stone is a musician-educator from Michigan with a passion for using music to bring diverse communities together. As an Associate Professor of Music at Oakland University, Prof. Stone coordinates the world music, jazz, and percussion programs in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. He is also the Arts Area Leader for the OU/Pontiac Initiative and a member of the Pontiac Arts Commission. Mark is recognized internationally for his work in global percussion performance and education. He has performed with the foremost musicians of Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, India, Trinidad, Ecuador, and the United States. An accomplished composer and improviser, Mark writes regularly for his many projects. His highly original musical style results from innovative performance practice rooted in a deep knowledge of multiple world traditions. As an American Baha’i, he is dedicated to promoting equity, justice, and a world embracing vision of humanity. www.markstonepercussion.com