About Dave
Dave Kobrenski is an artist, musician, and author of three books, including his most recent book, a narrative memoir titled Finding the Source.
Between 2001 and 2016, Dave traveled extensively in West Africa to study traditional music with master musicians, including Famoudou Konaté, Sayon Camara, Nansady Keita, and more. His apprenticeship with Lanciné Condé, a master of the Malinké flute tradition, lasted for fifteen years until Lanciné’s untimely death in 2021.
Dave plays the Fulani flute, kamale ngoni (a 10-string Mande harp), djembe, and balafon with his main music project, called Afroflute. Kobrenski has also performed throughout the Northeast with various projects, including pianist Jed Wilson, Donkilo Afro Jazz, Sayon Camara and Landaya, and occasionally collaborates with Barika from Burlington, VT.
As an artist, Dave conveys his love for culture and diversity in his vivid portrait drawings and rich watercolor paintings. His artwork can be seen in his first two books, Djoliba Crossing and Drawing on Culture.
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Books by Dave Kobrenski:
More of Dave’s Projects:
Afroflute
Fula flute, balafon, djembé, and ngoni come together in this joyful musical romp through the highlands of West Africa.
West Africa 2000–2011
Drawings and Paintings celebrating cultural diversity, based on my travels to Guinea, West Africa living with the Malinké people of the Niger River Valley.
Drawing on Culture
Drawing on Culture: West Africa is the first in my series of artworks that explore various cultures from around the world, based on travels in those places.
Music
Musical compositions, recordings, and performances. Projects such as: Afroflute, Donkilo! Afro Jazz, and Landaya Ensemble.
Wildlife Art
In the wild places on Earth, we find reminders of our own roots. In this series of art, I celebrate the sacred nature of the beings with whom we share this planet.
Figure Drawing
An ongoing journal of my studies of the human figure. Drawings and paintings in charcoal, pencil, conté, watercolor, gouache, and more.