By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter 
M'bala makes the drums talk
IF AFTER leaving the ever-present traffic of Constant Spring Road and going a good distance into Stony Hill then making one of those innocuous turns that seems like a gateway but is actually a side road, if you're lucky you will see a sign that says 'The Attic'.
Follow that arrow and there you will find M'bala.
If you're even luckier you will be invited into his "workshop/studio/everything-inna-one".
There you will find a veritable cornucopia of music making paraphernalia (the mere word instrument does not cover what M'bala plays). Included in this room are records whose number can only be summed up as 'nuff'. There are also several masks on the wall or on tables in several stages of completion, along with things that may appear, to the eyes of a mere mortal, as junk.
One should make no such assumption however, as many of these items will be used to make or are already instruments. In fact, his second talking drum is made from two tambourines, two pieces of board and a piece of bamboo.
The first thing you may notice in M'bala's studio/workshop is a giant xylophone. Now, if you are expecting one of those multi-coloured things they show you in music class, you had better revolutionise your expectations. M'bala makes his xylophones from trumpet or sweet wood and they look very rustic, or natural if you will, indeed.
There are actually four xylophones (with five pieces) in the workroom/studio. However, the giant xylophone is too large for him to transport so he only uses it when he is there. As I look around in awe, M'bala remarks that he had recently made a five-foot xylophone and taken it to the United States. However, it did not make the return trip as someone bought it.
The next thing you may notice is a set of three barrel covers and a frying pan set up as gongs - and that is exactly what they are. M'bala jokingly remarks that he used to tell persons that the barrels were barrel (pronounced with rolling 'r's) gongs and the frying pan was a pa gong, with the 'pa' from 'pat'. He then tells a little anecdote about some fellow musicians on a show he played who, after hearing the quality of the pa gong, asked where M'bala had got it. To this he simply replied: "Hey, is a frying pan." To fully understand the diversity of M'bala's performances you may need to see them in person. However, the fact that he plays in the Papiumba Big Band, which has only one other member, Papi - who plays the flute and saxophone - should give you a clue.
But even when M'bala is playing alone you will find him with a daunting number of instruments. Along with the gongs and xylophone he often takes a mixture of the following, depending on what is required: a hand piano (yes it is hand-held and it doesn't look quite like a standard piano); his tambourine; several drums (he has constructed a pedal so that he can play with his feet as well); rain sticks; a pocket, bamboo flute; and "some shaky-shaky things to tie round the foot and get a different vibe".
SISTREN THEATRE
COLLECTIVE
M'bala links the start of his career with the Sistren Theatre Collective, with whom he first played when he graduated from art school in the mid-70s. Since then he has also performed with Jean Small and Amina Blackwood Meeks, both of whom he has recently worked with.
M'bala's reasons for preferring to work with these women appears to be in the creative freedom, especially through improvisation, that they allow. He remarks: "I don't like everything written down note for note." Furthermore, M'bala much prefers to use only live music. He prefers when "is jus' me one roun' a corner," he remarks laughingly.
Another reason he likes working with both women is because of their willingness to experiment and come up with something new.
He makes reference to Amina Meeks' recent production, Small Days, where she re-worked a lot of Jamaican folk literature. He points out that you can't "just siddung and regurgitate. Culture must be a growing thing. It can't be a static sup'm".
TAPPING OUT
A RHYTHM
Just watching M'bala you can tell that the music is in his blood. While he doesn't come across as restless, he generates quite a bit of energy. Every now and then he plays a few beats on one instrument or another and, if he isn't close enough to one, he will use his body, tapping out a rhythm on his chest or thigh.
Just in case you were wondering, M'bala does what he does for the love of it. He points out: "It certainly isn't for the money of it." While he has not toured extensively, his repertoire is somewhat impressive. Additionally, in 1994 he was Jamaica's representative in the writers exchange programme 'Island Voices' and thus spent some time playing and learning in England.
M'bala is also involved in poetry and mask making. He has been entering the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's Literary Competition since the 1970s and has won many silver and bronze medals. He hopes to one day put on a performance in which he uses all the different artistic media in which he works.
M'bala also engages in a series of workshops for schools, teaching children how to make papier mache masks. He also makes and sells musical instruments.
However, he points out that he has never sold a flute. Although several persons have asked him to sell them flutes, he finds that he prefers to give them away. "The idea of giving," he says, "really giving and not expecting something in return, really appeals to me. It's a nice vibe."
