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Band Members (scroll down) |
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Andre discovered the music of Zimbabwe in 1993 when she encountered a woman wearing a “Balafon” T-shirt. This led her to join the budding Boulder marimba band, “Chiwoniso,” and since that time Andre has performed with numerous Zimbabwean-style marimba and Afro-pop ensembles in the Boulder area. In addition to playing marimba, mbira, hosho, and percussion, Andre also plays steel drums and Guatemalan marimba with Isle of View. Andre teaches private piano and percussion, is an adjunct faculty member in the Performing Arts department at Naropa University and is Tobatana Marimba’s music director. She received her M.A. in anthropology from the University of Colorado and studied percussion performance with Gordon Stout at Ithaca College.
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 Emil Rinaldi Emil has been playing in Tobatana since it's start in 1996. His drumming career began in the public schools as a youngster and continued on through high school. He has been a member of school bands, orchestra, rock bands, marching band, drum & bugle corps and percussion ensemble. He rediscovered his musical interests as his son matured and needed mom and dad less and less! Emil is responsible for building and tuning Tobatana's marimbas. He is a "semi-retired" county judge who has successfully traded gavel for mallets! |
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 Kathy Tucker Kathy was born in a brick hospital at the end of a planned pregnancy to an auto-harpist and a medicine man from the McCarthy generation. She has dabbled in many fingered instruments and also performs using forearms and larynx.
She has convinced others to dance by her shouting. Twenty plus years ago, the “Salty Dog Rag” at a Dartmouth College freshman orientation dance introduced Kathy Tucker to the world of New England dancing and to contra dance. Immediately hooked, Kathy spent her college years contra dancing throughout many little New England towns and continued dancing when she returned to her native Colorado. She is a helper to those suffering from communication disorders such as tachyphemia or Russian. She has two offspring which emulate her while discovering new permutations. None of her college degrees can be named in fewer than five syllables.
Music has always been part
of Kathy’s life. Beginning with piano, she is currently taking violin
lessons and ten plus years ago was an original member of “Tobatana” a
marimba ensemble.
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 John Leventhal
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In 1981, I began playing the hammered dulcimer. The Celtic and New England music I loved and learned to play went hand-in-hand with my interest in the Contra dance. Back in the early 1990s I was part of a 4-person New England band called “Storm in the Tea.” Amongst us we had two callers, and typically split the calling and playing of each gig. We were drawn to what was at the time a rather untraditional style: instead of playing tune sets Celtic-style or fairly straight, we tried to modulate the energy through a set of tunes to create a definite mood. I moved to Denver in 1995, and have found this — the land of some of my youth back in the 1960s — to be home. Since my move here, I have been primarily a dance caller rather than a musician up until recently. This too is slowly changing, as I have begun playing with Southwind for contra dances several years ago. I "discovered" African-style marimba music at a folklife festival and sought out a teacher in Boulder. I've played with Tobatana since 1996.
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Jim Cremeens Jim has been playing drums and percussion since he was 9 years old. He began playing in clubs at the age of 14, sitting in with blues musicians from Chicago, and playing with his own progressive rock band. Later, Jim was part of the Champaign Illinois music scene that spawned Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Head East and others. Jim took a hiatus from drumming to attend university and begin his engineering career. Later, after much woodshedding, Jim picked up the sticks again, this time playing with a progressive jazz trio that was known for it’s complex original compositions. Jim also plays congas, marimbas, vibes, and assorted hand percussion.
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 Mary McHenry Mary McHenry began studying the music of West Africa in 1980 when her roommates from the ethnomusicology department at Tufts University were banging on every piece of furniture in sight. Soon the house was full of dancers, too, and she was drawn in to the rhythms for life! She has since studied and performed with Beatrice Lawluvi, Kobla Ladzekpo and their daughters Afi and Yeko; and John and Mona Amira. She has also benefited from the work of Godwin Agbele, Giddion Alowoye, Alfred Ladzekpo, David Locke, Ysaye Barnwell and Miriam Mekaba among others. Mary studied extensively in New York and landed at the Naropa Institute (now Naropa University) in 1985, where she taught World Music and Dance courses for 10 years, and was a founding member of Bakongo Drum and Dance Ensemble and the accompanying acapella vocal quartet, The Sirens of Song. Ever the choreographer and singer, she continues to weave the music and dance of Africa, Haiti and Cuba into her own ancestral traditions. She lives in Eldora, Colorado with her husband and son. |
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Dexter Payne has performed across the U.S.
including appearances on the NBC Today Show in connection with the KOOL Jazz
Festival. He worked for years with the Big Sky Mudflaps and with his
partner, the late Judy Roderick. He lived and performed in 11 countries in
Latin America over 2 1/2 years, including performances with Orlando Cachaito
Lopez (Buena Vista Social Club), Elio Reve, Noca da Portela and recording
with Beth Carvalho and Paulinho Tapajos. In 2004 and 2006 he was a finalist
in the Downbeat Readers Poll.
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Carly Meyers Carly started playing marimba and various other African instruments at the age of 6. She is now a junior at Denver School of the Arts where she studies jazz and classical trombone. Her love of African music has kept her involved in playing with Tobatana while she pursues her many other musical interests. She is currently playing the trombone in several jazz and big band ensembles as well as studying privately with top notch trombone teachers. Carly plans to continue her jazz studies through college and make it her career. |
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Andre
Mallinger
Ed
Hall
