 Biography:
Oko Drammeh,
the prolific music promotor, has organised more musical concerts
and festivals of African musicians than anyone else on any continent.
He has been an outstanding contributor to the expansion and elevation
of African music. An ethnomusicologist, disk jockey and producer
Oko is famous for organising concerts worldwide, the largest being
the yearly African Music Festival that attracts over 10,000 festival
goers. Oko is largely credited for the spreading popularity of
African music around the world and has continued to encourage
African music and its artists via concerts, television programs,
festivals, symposiums, and radio
Oko was born in the tiny West Africa country called The Gambia.
During his early career he worked as a disk jockey for nightclubs,
radio stations, and social gatherings. Later, he was appointed
as the promotions manager and producer of a Gambian band named
Infang Bondi (formerly Super Eagles), through which he garnered
more knowledge about the Gambian music landscape. In 1981, he
relocated to the Netherlands to be reunited with his family. While
in Europe, he grasped that Ifang Bondi and African music on the
whole, was distinctive and could contest with music from other
areas of the world.
This is what encouraged him to organise the African Music festival
in 1983. Drammeh correctly foresaw that there would be a growing
interest in African music throughout the world and he wanted to
be at the forefront in providing it a stage that made African
music and its artists, more accessible to the world.
In the ensuing years the festival increased in popularity in Europe
by attracting more than 10,000 people annually and becoming one
of the world’s biggest African music events, showcasing musical
artists, dancers and drummers from throughout Africa. Most of
the major names in African music including Angelique Kidjo, Osibisa,
Franco, Lucky Dube, Miriam Makeba, Mory Kante, Papa Wemba and
a plethora of others, have performed on the festivals’ stages.
The festival became one of Holland's largest tourist venues, garnering
the support of the City of Delft and the Dutch Ministry of Culture.
As a result, Drammeh has received many awards from federal and
regional governments. The festival then extended to the city of
Amsterdam under the heading African Feeling Concert Series, which
showcased African artists who had made it into the American and
European music charts. The concerts were hosted at Paradiso Rock
Concert Hall, presenting Africa's greatest performers such as
Youssou Ndour, Jaliba Kuyateh, Salif Keita, and Manu Dibango
Because of its increased fame, the festival made its first opening
in Hollywood, California, U.S.A, in 1997 at the John Anson Ford
Theatre, and was received with great enthusiasm. Drammeh was given
a certificate of honour by the California Senate for organising
the African Music festival in the United States.
Encouraged by these successes Oko Drammeh brought the festival
to China at the Nanning Music Festival. Following its success
of the Nanning Music Festival, he was asked to organise a Convention
of Music and Arts in
Beijing with the objective of teaching Chinese people on organising
pop events, festivals and other cultural events.
During his time in China, Drammeh
toured the country and created local partnerships in 2009. That
same year, the Soto Koto Band was invited to Japan to launch the
city of Kyoto as the Earth's green city. Soto Koto also performed
in two concerts in the capital Tokyo.
In his private quest to find the roots of Afro-Cuban, Reggae and
Calypso music, Drammeh went on a cultural tour in the Caribbean
Islands of Dominica, Antigua, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba
the Bahamas and Martinique.
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 Contact
Address Details:
Oko Drammeh
Founder, African Music Festival
Producer, Soto Koto Music
Kenya +254 713 994 729
Senegal +221 774 569.338
Gambia +220 773.2786
Email: drammehoko@gmail.com
Skype Oko Drammeh
Twitter @OkoDrammeh
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On top of producing a handful of albums for the Soto Koto Band,
Drammeh has also produced documentary programs about African culture
and Music for the UK's BBC, has organized a considerable number
of symposiums, concerts, festivals, and other cultural exhibitions.
He has also written articles for the U.S Downbeat Magazine. Drammeh
also gave lectures in Austin, Texas and was presented with an
honorary doctorate degree of arts from the University of Texas.
In his ongoing journey to promote African music, Drammeh has contributed
greatly to the African performing arts sector, especially in his
place of birth, The Gambia. In 2000, he was elected as the public
relations officer of the Gambia Music Union and gained re-election
in 2010.
When the Union of Gambian Musicians (MUSIGAM) was established
in 2008, Drammeh was elected as their Public Relations Officer.
He played a critical part in the founding of the Gambia Copyright
Office where he served as its secretary until 2012. That same
year, Drammeh was elected as the Secretary General of the just
founded Royalty Collecting Society of The Gambia.
As at the end of 2017 he was serving on the board of directors
as the Public Relations Officer of the Arterial Network of The
Gambia. It is an Pan-African network of individual artists, organisations,
firms and festivals engaged in the cultural and creative arts
sector throughout the continent.
Drammeh is an artistic consultant at Le Centre Culturel Régional
Blaise Senghor in Dakar, Senegal. The venue is a performing arts
school specialised in teaching theatre, classical dance, film,
drama and comedy.
The Gambian Ministry of Youth and Sport, in recognition and appreciation
of his exceptional contribution and outstanding commitment and
involvement in Youth Development, decided to appoint Oko Drammeh
as The Gambia's Plenipotentiary Goodwill Ambassador.
He's convinced that there is big potential in the African arts
field and is resolutely committed to promoting the arts and working
artists. Due to his enthusiasm for African music and the great
efforts he has taken to put global focus on African music throughout
his career, Oko Drammeh has gained the esteemed position he holds
in the music industry around the world as a music promoter of
distinction.
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Music
Music Promoters
