| BIOGRAPHY OF
NANA |
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Nana Kweku Gregory Codrington was born in the year 1948 in New York City, and started playing African Drums in 1967. In 1973 he began a study of African ritual music, dance and song. In 1980 Washington D.C. was the birth place of Kweku Productions, a company dedicated to making musical instruments and their repair and of course music and dance. At that time he also began studying Djunjun and Djimbe drum music with Aziz Ahmet.
Between 1982 and 1990 he worked in the Houston, Texas community in Universities, Elementary schools, Libraries, Community Centers and Young Audiences. From 1990 to 1993 Kweku worked with Kumbuka African Drum and Dance group of New Orleans, LA.. Kweku moved to Dallas Texas in 1993 and began teaching drum making and playing. He has worked extensively in the Dallas school system. In 1996 Kweku traveled to Africa and was initiated i the Egungun society of Osogbo Nigeria, a society dedicated to ancestor reverence.
In Ghana, 2001, Nana Kweku completed extensive training and graduated as an Akan Priest and continues to study in Ghana.
At present he is the lead drummer for Yemoja African Dance and Drum Company of Dallas, Texas. Kweku conducts master classes for Young Audiences in which students learn traditional African Rhythms. Emphasis is on the technique of playing proper tones as well as the historical meaning and purpose of African music. Kweku also works with the office of Cultural Affairs of Dallas, Texas and with the Ayubu Kamau Sacred African Drum and Dance Society in Dallas, Texas.