SANDY BLOCKER

A percussionist and educator who has studied and performed many different drumming traditions from around the world. He has traveled to West and North Africa to study jembe, dunun, balafon, frame drum, and hunters (donso) music. He has performed with great percussionists such as Ladji Camara, Glen Velez, Michael Spiro, Madou Dembele, Alessandra Belloni, Soner Cicek, and Abdoul Doumbia. He has accompanied Sufi Zikirs, belly dancing, Modern, Ballet, and traditional dance classes and performances. Throat singing, conga, bata, jaw harp, and mandocello are in his repertoire. He has performed and facilitated workshops at universities and in public school systems throughout the Southeast. Along with Eric Charry, he founded the Summer Jembe and Dance Institute. For ten years, he owned and operated Talking Drums Inc., a world percussion shop. His work as a craftsman on jembes and other world percussion instruments is widely known, including refurbishing a jembe for the Smithsonian Museum. A former adjunct professor in the School of Music and an accompanist in the Dance Department for nineteen years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He currently accompanies dance classes at Elon University. His performances range from New York City’s Lincoln Center to weddings in Bamako, Mali, Sufi Zikirs, to backyard parties.