AGALU

Agalu – an ensemble with roots in Oshogbo, Nigeria that keeps alive traditional Yoruba stories, rituals and mythology through drumming, storytelling and dance – will be performing FREE at De Vargas Park during Santa Fe’s Fiesta celebration.

Led by Akeem Ayanniyi, a ninth-generation practitioner of the Yoruba talking drum, Agalu features the traditional talking drum, ashiko, djembe and bata drums. The “Ayan” prefix of Ayanniyi indicates that he descends from a family lineage that can be traced back 700 years to the Yoruba deity of drumming, Ayan Agalu. Akeem is from the western Nigerian town of Erin Oshun near the historic art center of Oshogbo. He has been performing since the age of five and has, as a performer and teacher, toured much of Africa as well as Germany, Brazil, Sweden and the United States. Akeem settled in Santa Fe, NM in 1993 and founded Agalu in 1998. Agalu has performed at dozens of international venues including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC; the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Afrikadey! in Calgary, Canada; Santa Fe’s Thirsty Ear Festival; and the New Mexico Jazz & International Music Festival.