Signature Doumbek Artist
Jamal Mohamed Takes Toca to Tokyo

Jamal Mohamed is one of America’s premier doumbek artists and the co-designer of Toca’s Jamal Doumbek. Recently Jamal visited Tokyo to conduct a world-music workshop. "I was hosted by another Toca percussionist named Chu Okubo," says Jamal. "He's the one who came up with the idea for the new Klong Yao Drum with Toca. He teaches at the Tokyo School of Music Shibuya, which is where we held the workshop. It was mainly Chu’s students, and many of them were very familiar with djembes, but they hadn’t heard a lot of doumbek playing. So I went through some of the techniques and rhythms for them. We provided Toca doumbeks and small djembes for them to play. It was all very well received."

Later that evening Jamal joined Chu Okubo's all-percussion band for a memorable performance at a local nightclub. "I sat in with the band as well as doing some solos myself," says Jamal. "The club was packed, and the show was a lot more interactive than most of the performances I’ve done in the States.  I spent about a half hour after the show signing autographs, taking pictures with people, and talking about the doumbek. There’s lots of live drumming going on in Japan, and people seem really fascinated with ethnic percussion."

"I’m very pleased with the Toca Jamal Doumbek," says Jamal. "It's a great-looking and great-sounding drum. I’ve received nothing but good feedback from anyone who has played it. Best of all, Toca can make my signature doumbek available to players at a reasonable price. I’m really proud of that."

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