Madeleine Yayodele Nelson, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Madeleine Yayodele Nelson

percussionist and composer

Date of Birth: 16-Sep-1948

Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Date of Death: 06-Sep-2018

Profession: musician, educator, percussionist

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Madeleine Yayodele Nelson ((1948-09-16)September 16, 1948 – (2018-09-06)September 6, 2018) was an American percussionist and composer.
She specialized in playing the West African shekere.
She also played the djembe drum, the mbira thumb piano and the calabash. She was the founder and director of Women of the Calabash, founded in 1978.
The calabash is a gourd that comes from a fruit from Africa.
Women of the Calabash gets its influences from Africa and the African Diaspora.
Women of the Calabash is an ensemble percussion group that draws inspiration from sub-Sahara Africa, the Caribbean and South and North America using their own interpretations.
She handcrafted shekeres, including for the Broadway show Fela!, in New York City and in London.