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The big bang

Anyone can be a drummer at Club Meli-Melo
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By Darrell Jónsson
For The Prague Post
October 10th, 2007 issue

KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
A good night on the skins encompasses African, Brazilian and Cuban music.
Night of the Drum

When: Saturday, Oct. 15, 7:30–closing
Where: Meli-Melo (Žitná 41, Prague 1)
Admission: Free

If there is any club in Prague that has a world village atmosphere, it is Meli-Melo. On any given night at Meli-Melo’s busy bar, tables and dance floor, you can hear an international blend of lingua francas, ranging from Czech and Slovak to Lingala and Malinke.  
Emblematic of the nightspot’s openness are many evenings that end in spontaneous live drum sessions. There is also a regularly scheduled “Night of the Drum” that is becoming increasingly popular with Prague’s African music community, and offering local drummers a chance to upgrade their skills.
These evenings are often hosted by former New York City resident Juan Mortimer, who for the past four years has been splitting his time between recording session work in the southwest United States and teaching percussion in Prague. Mortimer’s background includes studying with two of the more formidable legends of 20th-century percussion — Babatunde Olatunji and Mongo Santamaria — and session work with a variety of Latino and rock artists, including Taj Mahal. Other nights are hosted by former TiDiTaDe percussionist and current Hypnotix singer Ephraim Goldman.
Such professional experience was evident at a recent Night of the Drum session. As soon as we crossed Žitná, we could hear a strong organic beat pouring from the basement club onto the sidewalk. Walking downstairs, we entered the dance floor where a mix of Czech locals and African regulars were happily jamming in front of a stage painted in earth-toned patterns of West African blue, brown and yellow. Mortimer was in the middle of the group, driving a groove with a tympani-like bottom. On top of the deep and varied timbres, cowbells would erupt sporadically, like melodic jungle glockenspiels.
At times, it was hard to tell where the musicians began and the audience left off. In the inner circle the experts were holding their rhythmic ground, but on the periphery audience members were taking turns on small drums and xylophones. The resulting festive atmosphere was more like an African rooftop after-dinner neighborhood jam session than a café-bar performance.
Between sets, Mortimer slipped out of his strapped-on samba drum and began setting up a South African bass marimba that he aptly described as being “as big as a horse.” While setting keys on a rack nearly as long as his arm, he described how Night of the Drum works.
“Early in the evening we have these all inclusive jams; everybody gets their turn. As the night goes on, we get into marimbas and quieter stuff, with more focused work by the masters who are sitting in. Often what we do is start with an African set, then we do a Cuban set with congas, bongos and timbales. Then we do a Brazilian set with the surdos, Agogo bells, caxixi, cuica and berimbau. Then we change instruments and do another set from some place in Africa, because saying ‘African’ is like saying 1,000 different types of music.”
In the future, Meli-Melo’s Congo-born owner Benjamin Mufukua hopes to expand the appeal of participatory events. In the planning stages are nights to focus on African string music, including kora, guitar, oud, harps and the family of instruments known as mbira. While it’s not uncommon for working musicians from Afro-Cuban bands such as Riddim Shot, Son Caliente and Loud Samba to show up and take the stage, Mufukua says his goal is to make the club “a place where everybody can express themselves and have a good time.”  

Darrell Jónsson can be reached at features@praguepost.com


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