Date: August 12th 2010

Dear Motherland Friend,

Another exciting Mandingo Night is upon us!

This SATURDAY, AUGUST 14th right here at Motherland Music, 2921 La Cienega, Culver City, CA 90232 from 1:30 to 10:00 p.m. our annual outdoor/indoor barbecue party/celebration of drumming and World Music happens.

This year will feature some of the best activities we recall from last year (Chef John doing his grill and smoke magic, amazing drumming, free community drum circle, dancing and more dancing) and so much more:

For the first time we will have a Student Drumming Contest sponsored by the Motherland Music Institute of African Music Studies (MMIAMS) with three top winners receiving special recognition certificates (and the top two receiving MM Gift Certificates), plus the First Place winner will have his or her name engraved on the new Motherland Award trophy as its first 1st Place Winner.

This trophy will serve as a source of pride and "bragging rights" for the entire year until it's time to defend against the next year's lineup of contestants. First Place will also receive a $100 and Second Place will receive a $25 Motherland Music Gift Certificate good on any products we sell (repair and other services excluded). The trophy in the process of being completed and may or may not be displayed at Mandingo Night, but you can rest assured that it will be prominently displayed in Motherland Music for all to see. We hope that this contest & trophy become L.A. traditions as well.

RULES POSTED ONLINE
The Official Rules and Guidelines of the first Institute of African Music Studies (MMIAMS) 2010 Student Drumming Contest are now posted on our web site here.

So...

• Come ye, for the Pot Luck and bring a dish to share if you can,
• Come ye, for the drumming which is guaranteed to be phenomenal,
• Come ye, for the impromptu (and possibly rehearsed) dancing,
• Come hang out with us and your other rhythm-based music friends,
• Come check out what's new in the store as inventory is updated often,
• Come to the party and meet an interesting person who showed up here,
• Come witness Afro-American history: our first Student Drumming Contest,
• Come eat hearty barbecue and BYOB (consume responsibly and do not drink and drive!),
• Come tell us what's new in your busy life and we'll share about ours.
• Be part of the Motherland Music extended family and join us Saturday.

AN INCREDIBLY DIVERSE LINEUP
An Incredibly Diverse Lineup of Stars here on Stage for You.

Mandingo Night 2010 will feature a remarkable variety of gifted performers doing their musical things on stage. This year we will stretch our boundaries to embrace:

• Hip-hop (urban rapper Two-Eleven will appear and spread his own brand of verbal love and make the ladies swoon), the
• Classic rock (with—just confirmed) Em's Eternal Youth All-Stars! will spice up the mix and rock/pop steady for you, the
• Delicious Afro-Colombian music of southern California favorite Christoph and his group Son Merekumbe will 'steer it up,' the
• Okinawan folk (also just confirmed) of our own Ryoji Inatsugi will be IN his on-stage-EFFECT!) with some international stylie, mon, the
• Groovy sabar & tama drumming & singing of our own Pape Diouf's Senegalese group Belle Fêtte featuring Baye Balla and Thiane Diouf
• You & Yourselves (bring the family) joining in with Us & Ourselves in our MM African Drumming Community Free Drum Circle, the
• Intensely African and Afro-American music and dance of our own Kahlil and Kara Cummins and their group Balandugu Kan, the
• Artistry of our own Gary Craigwell and friends mashing it up Afro-Cuban style, and of course our own
• Malik Sow and Mareme Faye's incredible Fouta Toro traditional drum & dance ensemble with their powerful take on African dance/drumming.

In a phrase, "Don't Miss It!"

For a taste of last year's Mandingo Night festivities, check out this YouTube video compiled by MM's designated photographer Jeffrey Shaw.

We're expecting multiple videographers and possibly even a news crew or two to shoot video, so dress to impress (or not, as you prefer!), cook up that favorite dish to share on the Pot Luck Table(s), snag a couple of brewskis if you enjoy them and come one, come all to the Culver City party of the season. Hey, if you want to remain anonymous, maybe you should break out that African outfit like some of us plan to do.

Hear ye, hear ye, another interesting year has passed at Motherland Music. Let's celebrate the harvest season together, friends!

See you Saturday,

Dan and staff