From the Hill and Beyond #6 by Malik Seneferu

Performance: West African Music with Keenan D. Webster

Saturday, 2/15/2025
11:00 - 11:45
Golden Gate Valley Meeting Room
Golden Gate Valley

1801 Green Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
United States

415-355-5666

Listen to traditional instruments of the Mandinka and the Mande-speaking people of West Africa. Local musician Keenan Webster will teach and demonstrate the kora (West African Mandinka harp), the Kamele Ngoni (West African Mande harp), the Balaphone (Mandinka xylophone) and some other percussions. Learn how these traditions gave birth to the banjo and influence blues, jazz and popular music of today. For children and their families.

Keenan D. Webster was born in Nashville, Tennessee. His love for the music deepened in his youth hearing the blues, spirituals, gospels and folk music of the South. Some of his elders are keepers of the spirituals and slave hymns that had been passed down from generations. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, California as a teenager, he was fascinated with African, Afro-Cuban, reggae and other music from the African diaspora. He was further inspired to learn about his roots, music, culture and spirituality with the Gullah, Mandika, Mende and Yorube people of West Africa. He started with drums of West Africa and Afro-Cuban roots. Then came Jazz and Blues playing the saxophone and flute and later switched to Native American flute. He has a deep appreciation for world music and has familiarized himself with classical music from India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Webster has been on a mission to use music for world peace, healing, to fight against racism and to bring all people together.

Performance

Events featuring theater, music, art and dance.

More Than a Month: Black Interest

Connect to engaging discussions and performances related to the Black community.

More Than a Month recognizes important events in Black history, honors community and national leaders and fosters steps towards collective change. Programming features authors, poets and craft classes. 

This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.

Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.