World musicians celebrate summer

Amid the hustle and bustle of students moving out of dorms, finals week coming to an end and graduation weekend, students and community members alike found their way to the Serendipity Martini Bar Friday night and let loose all the stresses of the week with dancing and music.

Jiridón, a band embodying the vitality of Latin America and West Africa, performed two sets at the martini bar. The first set included Colombian and Venezuelan drums and chants, accompanied by the Marimba de Chonta from the Colombian rainforest.

The second set included West African drumming, chants and dance, with repertoires from the Ivory Coast and Guinea.

Andrea Kalasountas, having just completed her junior year, decided to attend the event in celebration of the end of the year and the start of summer.  Despite a feeling of numbness and disbelief at the fact that she is now a senior, Kalasountas said coming to see Jiridón perform was a good decision.

“It’s very fun, very lively,” Kalasoutnas said. “I’m enjoying it. I’m not much of a dancer, but I can definitely appreciate good dancing.”

Band member Andreína Maldonado, from Venezuela, sang, danced and played instruments at the performance. Wearing a traditional Venezuelan performance costume, Maldonado whipped around on the stage as Joshua Strodtman and Juan Sebastián Rojas beat madly on the drums.

Though Maldonado spent the night dancing and singing for the large audience at the Bar, she expressed her excitement for attending graduation Saturday. As a student majoring in anthropology, Maldonado said she couldn’t wait to enter the world outside of college.

“It feels liberating, and uncertain a little bit,” Maldonado said. “It feels that I have the tools to do what I want to do. It feels like I’m about to enter another world, but at the same time I’ve been living in that other world.”

Over the course of the evening, Maldonado taught several dances to the audience and the band encouraged single attendees to connect with each other. Strodtman smiled from his place behind the drums as people joined hands and twirled around the floor, glowing bright red under the red light bulbs.

“I grew up playing hip-hop music,” Strodtman said. “That’s what got me into African
drumming.”

Strodtman, wearing the traditional performance outfit for a West African drummer, described the drums he and the band played.

“The drum is called a djembe,” Strodtman said. “We are playing Topalon, music by Dr. Djo Bi.”

Djo Bi Irie Simon, popularly known as Dr. Djo Bi, is an Ivory Coast native and world-traveled master drummer. He moved to Bloomington in 2007, where a couple years later the band members came together under his teaching.

“We’re apprentices of our teacher,” Strodtman said. “We do what he says.”

Taking few breaks throughout the night, the band members played and sang each new song with enthusiasm and spirit, keeping the audience moving.

“I live with two of the band members, so of course I’m out here supporting them,” masters student Megan Radder said. “But also the music just rocks, so I enjoy it.”