- Contact | Our Story | Why drum | Accountants Story | Mission and Vision | Our Team | Links |
California Team
- Corporate Bands Emerge as Executives Turn to Music for Team-Building, Stress Relief and Fun...more
- SABCnews.com - sport/olympics...more
- Drum Cafe Kicks off the Beijing Olympics 8 August 2008...more
- ...more
- Drum Cafe Dazzles as part of the Beijing Opening Ceremonies...more
- Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday party to celebrity audience....more
- The Sales Rally was a tremendous success! Feedback was fantastic. I personally received numerous comments that this is what a Sales Rally should be ... Fun, Enthusiastic, and Motivating!...more
- TD Banknorth - Your performance really moved so many of our managers. I’ve been getting accolades on your and the Drum Cafe’s behalf all day!...more
- I am taking a moment to write and express our heartfelt thanks. As you know, the concept of ‘Drum Café’ was a bit of a ‘tough sell’ to my executive team and it took over a year to get them to agree....more
Our Clients
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
Latest Blogs
Natalie Spiro, Director
Natalie helps bring the Drum Café to San Diego California on the heels of a tremendously successful career in Training, Marketing and Sales. With a Masters Degree in Industrial Psychology (registered Industrial Psychologist in South Africa) and an MBA in Corporate Strategy and Marketing, Natalie has worked for top global firms in Financial Services and Hospitality Industries.
Then she discovered the Drum Café in Johannesburg. Headed by Warren Lieberman and his inspired group of professionals, The Drum Café was born when Warren stumbled on a fact, already well-known to the African people, that is, the magic that drumming has the power to unleash. Their ambitious goa lbecame their desire to package the unifying, team-building properties of drumming, and share it with their colleagues in the corporate world. Natalie was instantly ignited by the excitingly energizing pulse of the African beat and immediately recognized the potential of this powerful team-building tool for Corporate America.
The beating of her heart mirrored the rhythm of the drums' beat and lead her keen eye to the extraordinary properties of such an amazing barrier-breaker tool.
Who could dream a better opportunity to bring together a diverse group of people, and in no time, through the magic of an interactive drumming session, melt down their differences and turn them into an excited cohesive group of people, resonating to one beat, one rhythm, one voice?
Using her dynamic personality and communicative enthusiasm, Natalie, a gifted facilitator, will transport her audience members into an unforgettable and powerfully entertaining performance they will be talking about long after the silencing of the drums.
Melinda Rodriguez
Melinda has been passionately drumming and facilitating drumming events for more than 7 years during her study of West African, Native American and Middle Eastern percussion. She is a Professional Drum Circle Facilitator and has trained with world-renowned industry Masters such as Arthur Hull and Mamady Keita at the Tam Tam Mandingue, school of West African Drumming. She facilitates exceedingly popular drum classes and drum circles in Orange County and has become known as the “Drum Diva” in her community.
With her feminine flair and empowering style, her drumming events have been described as “the most exciting drumming events around.” Last Year Melinda released her first CD – The Ultimate Shamanic Journey which is a meditation tool using the healing beat of the drum. She has recently launched her new company "Diva Drums," which offers beautiful hand painted drums designed by women, for women. Additionally, Melinda is a Professional Life-Awareness Coach & Certified Spiritual Counselor through the American Board of Hypnotherapy, certified by Dr. Doreen Virtue. She is also Founder & Director of the International Awareness Academy & facilitates an acclaimed Certification course in Coaching & Counseling at Cal State Fullerton.
Emeka M Simmons
This Florida native began his dance career in 1999 on the campus of UCLA. The UCLA African Arts Ensemble's west African dance troupe JOOBA, was the genesis of a his dance performance career. He fell in love with performing and African dance and drumming arts. In doing so, he began ajourney that followed the west and central Africans across the Atlantic to the new world; first stop, Cuba. Omo Ashe, an Afro-Cuban performance Ensemble brought Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latin culture to the center of his artistic focus from 1999-2001. In 2001 he was asked to join N'zingha Camara's west African dance company Le Ballet Kouman Kele, which he is still a principal dancer for. Continuing the journey further into African diasporic arts brought Emeka to Capoeira de Angola where he studied and performed with Pastina's Garden of Capoeira de Angola from 2000-2002.
Finding Afro-Brazilian culture fascinating, he studied and performed with two Brazilian dance companies Viver Brazil in 2003 and Ballet Folklorico do Brazil in 2004. Emeka now is a principal dancer with Contra Tiempo and is the founder and director of L'Espirit d'Afrique a Pan-African performance art ensemble.
Aboubacar Kouyate
Aboubacar Kouyate is a master djembe drummer who currently performs and teaches throughout the United States. He also plays and teaches gongoma, kirin, doundoun and sangba.
Aboubacar Kouyate was born in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa in 1969 into a family of Griots, traditional musicians and oral historians. The Kouyate family traces their lineage back many generations from Griots to the most famous of the kings of the Malian and Songhay Empires, caretakers of tradition.
Aboubacar began his dejembe training in Guinea with master djembe fola Yadi Camaara. Aboubacar went on to serve as a musical director and master drummer of The Farita Company and The Sabar Company in Conakry, and in 1996 became a master lead drummer with les Ballets Merveilles de Guinea, one of the foremost drum and dance troupes in the country. He traveled and performed extensively with Merveilles throughout Africa and Europe.
In 1998, Aboubacar, along with other members of Merveilles, was asked to perform in New York City, sponsored by The Ethnic Folk Center. By the end of the year, he decided to make the United States and New York his new home. Aboubacar has performed at Lincoln Center, Central Park Center Stage, the annual Mayoral picnic at Randall’s Island, Harlem Center for the Arts, Symphony Space and Radio City Music Hall, as well as dozens of universities, colleges and cultural arts festivals nationwide. In 2000, Aboubacar was under contract at the Animal Kingdom Theme Park in Orlando, FL, where he performed regularly. He has since performed with Fereba African Rhythm and Tap of NY, Bamidele Drummers and Dancers of Amherst, and the Spirit Company of Chicago. He also drummed regularly for Alvin Ailey and for African dance classes at Columbia University. He has taught and served as lead drummer at dance and drum conferences throughout the country and was on staff as an African drum teacher at Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility in NYC. Aboubacar helped establish Drum Café in New York City in 2002.
In 2005, he relocated to Los Angeles where he currently performs regularly with Drum Café California and Drum Café West, is on staff as a drummer in the Department of World Arts and Culture at UCLA, and teaches a number of private classes. He also has done session work for movie scores and is a member of Local 47.
Matthew "Matt" Fitzgerald
An Orange County, CA native, Matt has been playing music now for over 15 years. He was a principle member of the award winning Mission Viejo High School Drumline and later attended California State University, Long Beach, where received his Bachelor's Degree in Music (2004), with anemphasis in percussion. It was at Long Beach where Matt had the privilege of studying world music and dance under the guidance of Dr. Michael Carney, Brad Dutz, Mark Lamson, Kevin O'Sullivan, Anthony Douglass, and Yeko Ladzepko-Cole. During his studies, Matt twice traveled to Salvador, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, Brasil to study with the masters of Brasilian drumming, Olodum, Ile Aiye, Bale Foklorico da Bahia and Grande Rio Escola de Samba. Since graduating, he continues to travel the globe, teach private lessons/master classes and has recently opened up his own audio recording company, Pharmakos Sound, Inc. Matt enjoys all forms of drumming for, "Drumming is a way in which we can come together and speak to one another, even if we don't share a common language. With drums in our hands, we become one voice…not many."
Andrew Acquista
Andrew Acquista is a percussionist active in the Los Angeles area. He is fluent in African, Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and American styles. He has studied with Dramane Kone, Michael Spiro, Mark Lamson, C.K. Ladzekpo, Dr. Eugene Novotney, Dr. Michael Carney, Lansana Kouyate, Brad Dutz, and Ray Holmon. Andrew went to school for his Bachelor degree in music at Humboldt State University and continued studying for his Master's degree at CSU Long Beach. He performs live in LA with various artists and gigs all over the country with the Drum Cafe.Giavanni
Giavanni holds masters degrees in Public Health and Policy Analysis in addition to a B.S. in Biology. It was during her undergraduate tenure at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University that Giavanni began performing after being introduced to West African Drum and Dance. An infectious and exiting performer, Giavanni’s passion and love for West
African drumming are palpable when she moves on the stage. Her enthusiasm for the art form has motivated her to continue formal study of West African Drum and Dance. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Performance and Culture in the World Arts and Culture department at UCLA. Committed to under resourced communities, Giavanni’s research, combining her background in public health with her fervor for the arts, will focus on the utilization of the arts as a conduit for AIDS education and prevention.
In addition to dancing and drumming, Giavanni has provided grant writing, budget administration, logistics detail, promotions, public relations, and language translation/interpretation services to the artist community since 2000. Most recently, Giavanni has been asked to coordinate West African Drum and Dance Camps in Senegal and Japan. In past years she has successfully written for grants for performing arts groups to participate in international festivals in Brazil and Cuba, promoted various traditional West African groups on the Black College Circuit and in and around Los Angeles.
Giavanni strives to Make the Arts Accessible to All!
Anna Christmas
Anna is delighted to be playing and dancing and playing drums with the Drum Cafe team. She has been drumming and dancing for 20 years and has studied with Nzingha Camara, Koca Sale Dioubate, Kemoko Sano and other masters of many forms of dance and music . She is also a member of Kouman Kele, Africabok and L'Esprit d'Afrique dance companies.