I checked out the instructional books by Nowick Gray and decided to
post a review.

The first book, "Roots Jam 1: Collected Rhythms for Hand Percussion"
(80 pages) does not contain mostly not rhythms but a series of single
rhythmic patterns. Even to a beginner, this would be most
disappointing. The sound samples are very short and demonstrate a lack
of technique, where there is no differentiation between tones and
slaps. There is no sense of the music in an ensemble setting. There is
also very little West African content. The author references songs
from CDs as the rhythm names. There is no sense of authenticity, nor
does the author explain anything about the rhythms he attempts to
represent there. While the author clearly explains gun-go-do-pa
notation, the notation is a strain to read. There is an index,
reference list and discography but these are small and hardly enough
to redeem the book.

The second book, "Roots Jam 2: West African and Afro-Latin Drum
Rhythms" (84 pages) seems like a rewrite of the Larry Morris Rhythm
Sourcebook, which is available for free online. Mostly the same
content, rewritten in box notation, using gu-du-do-pa convention.
Overall the book is an improvement from the first as it contains
multiple rhythmic patterns, and the notation is easier to read.
However, you would do better to save your pennies and download the
Larry Rhythm Sourcebook for free, which has much of the content
(http://www.drums.org/djembefaq/rhycat.htm). This book doesn't appear
to be anything but a compilation of free content on the net, with some
added commentary. The notation is often incorrect. There is the same
problem with the accompanying music as with the first book. However,
for the beginner, the author has included some discussion of
polyrhythmic concepts and some basic excercises to develop one's
rhythmic perception. Again the cultural background of the rhythms is
ignored except for a few cases, where the information is scant and not
always correct. The book demonstrates the generic hand drum technique
as taught by Olatunji and does not even attempt to show specific
djembe or conga technique.

The third book, "Roots Jam 3: Arrangements for West African Dance" (62
pages) is Norwick Gray's latest attempt. It is intended to be more
specific to West African drumming. However, most of the examples are
the author's own compositions. He does, however, provide notation for
16 West African rhythms. He even gives brief explanations on the
cultural background of a few of the rhythms represented, however they
are scant and the majority of rhythms are not explained. I have only
listened to two of the sound samples, but they are electronic
(generated by Percussion Studio using generic djembe and dunun sounds)
and not engaging at all, since they don't give any real ensemble feel,
much less the real swing of the rhythms. However, they do attempt to
demonstrate the parts of the music in relation to each other. The
solos are also audible towards the end of the samples. Students could
just as well purchase Percussion Studio and enter traditional or
improvisational solos for themselves. At least the electronic sounds
have some tone-slap differentiation, which was totally lacking in the
previous books. Again the Olatunji generic hand drum technique is
shown and no attempt is given to teach correct djembe technique. To be
fair I think that the author has benefitted a lot from his contact
with Famoudou Konate in Guinea, and has therefore included discussion
on some important rhythmic concepts relevant to this music such as
"echauffement", "offbeats" "binary feel" and "ternary feel". Also,
there is (finally) some discussion on playing in an ensemble setting
(in this case, a drum circle). As the title of the book suggests,
there are some tips on soloing and playing for a dance class (2 pages
worth). The notation itself is at times questionable, especially in
regards to the Dunungbe rhythm, where the dununba and sangban parts
are incorrectly represented. Some traditional solos are given for the
rhythms, however one could find it for free on the WAP pages. Indeed,
many more rhythms are represented there.

DR