"I can see love and
light coming from Jaqui, I could see it from the first time I met her
(in the '80's). She is a beautiful spirit and a very talented
drummer. As her first teacher, I am very proud of her
accomplishments. She has much love to give and gives it to many
through her teaching and her drumming ... this is in her
nature." - Babatunde Olatunji , (March 4, 2001)
"I consider Jaqui
MacMillan to be one of the more important
modern renaissance hand drummers of our time. She is a 'jack of
all trades' and well on her way to mastering many of them. Her
vast culturally specific knowledge, expansive rhythmical expertise, and
her masterful drum circle facilitation abilities are only surpassed by
a heart that is as big as her smile. She expresses her bliss with
the true passion of one who is fully invested in sharing her rythmical
spirit with others. It is obvious to me that, as an elder in
training, Jaqui MacMillan's legacy to our drumming community is just
beginning to be revealed." - Arthur E. Hull , Village Music Circles , (December 2004)
PRESS KIT INFO: Below are Jaqui's "short / paragraph bio" and "long / detailed bio"
Short bio:
Jaqui MacMillan found her passion for African drumming in the early 1980’s. She has since studied with many Masters, including Babatunde Olatunji, Mamady Keita, Sam Turner and at the
Long bio:
Jaqui MacMillan's
drumming quest began in the early 1980's, when she started playing sessions with D.C. area musicians. Since then, she has studied with many Masters including: Babatunde Olatunji, Mamady Keita, Shina DurosinmiEtti, Carlos Moore, Sam Turner, and at the Tam Tam Mandingue School, with Mahiri Fadjimba Keita. She is also a graduate of the 1999 Drum Facilitators Playshop and the 2001 Drum Facilitators Mentor Program in Hawaii with Arthur Hull. Her main focus is the djembe drum from West Africa, although she is also interested in and has studied congas and Afro-Cuban drumming. She suffuses her teaching and playing with great respect for the traditions and with the joy of drumming!
Jaqui won the Washington Area Music Association’s "World Music Instrumentalist Award" every year from 1995 through 2002 and the "World Music Female Vocalist Award" for 2001. She is a Mountain Rythym endorsee and facilitator and has facilitated drum circles for corporate team building events, national conferences, elementary and high schools, summer programs for children, hospitals, with "at risk" children, juvenile detention centers and centers for homeless and battered women. She is a founding and board member of the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild (DCFG), a non-profit organization based in Washington DC Jaqui has taught privately and given workshops around the country for over fifteen years through her program, "Drum For Joy!!!". She is also the co-founder and co-facilitator of the Village Tree , (a drum, dance and "building community through rhythm" event), held in Maryland.
Jaqui performed with the Washington Area Music Award (WAMMIE) winning group, Big Village, for eleven years and produced six recordings with the group. She has performed and recorded with numerous bands and has an extensive discography. Venues played include: the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., The Wetlands in New York City, The Starwood Festival in upstate New York, aboard the Greenpeace ship - The Rainbow Warrior and hundreds of other festivals, clubs and smaller venues in the Mid Atlantic region. She has shared the stage with the Neville Brothers while performing with renowned sax man, Ron Holloway, at the Artscape Festival (Baltimore, MD), and also with Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Giovanni Hidalgo and Baba Olatunji at the "Babatunde Olatunji Benefit Concert 2001" at the Paramount Theatre in New York. Over the years, her group, Big Village, opened for Shawn Colvin, Los Lobos, Rusted Root, Syd Straw, Vinx, Yothu Yindi, Wavy Gravy, Gheggy Tah, Betty and Tricky, among others. Her duet, with Amikaeyla Gaston, performed and recorded (on the Sounds True label), for the sound track of the audiobook, Making The Gods Work For You, with renowned astrologer, radio show hostess and author, Caroline Casey.
Her TV appearances include the Fox 5 morning news in DC, a feature story on WITN Channel 7 evening news in North Carolina, a telethon for Children's Hospital (channel 9, DC), and many Mid-Atlantic Cable shows. She was also featured in the November 2000 issue of DRUM! Magazine.
Currently, she is working on a book about women who drum and is creating a drum circle program for children, which includes her own line of drums and percussion instruments.
Jaqui believes that healing happens through the arts and music.
Jaqui's home page 
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