This morning, as I was disaster-ing my way through some transitions in a difficult gyil song, my teacher Jerome said, “I think you know it, but the brains and the hands aren’t together.” This disjunct could perhaps sum up 25 years of frustration in my European classical clarinet training. Where do we carry our music? What does it mean to know it? Where does it come from? …

Adinkra symbols are everywhere in Ghana. The symbols are reflective of values originating in the Asante cultural group, and have expanded throughout Ghanaian culture. They are traditionally used in embroidery, cloth stamping, and other folk arts, and are often employed for their symbolic effect across various life activities. Several common symbols are Gye Nyame (“Except God,” implying the omnipotence of God), Sankofa (“Return and Take,” symbolizing a return to roots, and often adopted by African Americans), and Ntesie/Matemasie (“I have heard it and hid it in my head,” a symbol of knowledge and wisdom). …