← Back to Artists
The Art of Gyil
PAS Hall of Famer Valerie Naranjo began studying the gyil in 1981 and has taken 25 journeys to Ghana to study and perform. She was the first woman to play gyil publicly in Ghana (1988) and received first prize at the 1996 Ghanaian Kobine Festival. She has recorded and performed with gyil masters Kakraba Lobi, Bernard Woma, and Benard Ba-ere Yotire. Valerie has been playing percussion on NBC’s Saturday Night Live for 30 years. She has recorded and performed with The Lion King, the Philip Glass Ensemble, the Paul Winter Consort, Zakir Hussain, and Glen Velez, and has performed solo gyil on six continents. She has received the DRUM! magazine “Mallet Performer” and “World Music” reader’s choice awards several times. Born to Ute and Navajo parents, Valerie heads the African percussion, dance, and song program at NYU and is part of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Study. She has produced WAMMS for chromatic marimba and concerti for gyil with orchestra and wind ensemble. She will be joined by Barry Olsen.

The Art of Gyil

World
Clinic / PerformanceLive

Founding Gyil maestro of Ghana's National Dance Company Kakraba Lobi often stated, “This (gyil) music is for everybody!” Indeed, the gyil has found a prominent place in percussion music worldwide! This clinic/performance outlines four major styles of Lobi/Birifor gyil music that are played on one gyil and one drum (either the gourd drum Kuor, or the barrel shaped drum Gangaa) — Darkpo (Men’s Music), Por Korbor (Women’s Music), Joro (recreational/praise music), and Guun (music to honor an artist). The complex music for this clinic/performance has never been done by anyone at a PASIC, and is performed to honor and celebrate the West African men and women who have given this art to the world. "The Art of Gyil" will demonstrate these styles of music, then will cite examples of popular styles which have been heavily influenced by these musics. These include Blues, Baião (from Brazil), Gospel, R&B, and Minimalism.

About the audio: recorded live without overdubs: 1) Pirey (traditional greeting) & Guun "Baião.” 2) Joro. 3) Gwingla Pirey & Guun "Gospel."

The video, solo, live, and without overdubs, is of a traditional Darkpo Song Cycle.