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RHYTHM GAMES DRUM CIRCLES:

With Mickey Hart:

With Mickey Hart and Arthur Hull:

With Rebecca Mauleon:

With D'CuCKOO and Arthur Hull:

With D'CuCKOO:

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Janelle Burdell's "powerful, precise, drumming" has been the drive behind Drum Circles with MICKEY HART, BABA OLANTUNJI , ARTHUR HALL, D'CuCKOO, and many others. As Adjunct Faculty at Duquesne University, Janelle has been asked to bring drumming to the college level music therapy program and has raised the bar with her work.

Janelle's work with Youth is unparralled and is catching the attention of educators across the country.

Janelle created "Drum Journey", in response to a request from the Neighborhood Academy and with the support of Stanton Farms was intergrated into a new counseling program at the Neighborhood Acadamy 8th and 9th graders in 2007. Tremendous results ensued as you can see in the documented results written by licensed therapist Debbie Benkovitz. (*see excerpt below)

Stanton Farms along with the Neighborhood Academy wanted to expand the program to 8-11 grades for 2008.  Currently more funding avenues are being sought.

"The counselors noticed significant changes in the students."

"For eigth graders, grades, effort and civility increased significantly during the third semester (7%, 31.3% and 19.4% respectively), and absences decreased by 31.25%.

With ninth graders, grades increased by .069%, effort by 10.3%, and civility by 12.5%.

Absences decreased by 53.1% and suspensions by 45.5%."

" There is another important factor in the success of the Drum Journey program that requires mention: the facilitator, Janelle Burdell.  As Marshall McLuhan, famous Canadian educator and scholar, said in 1964, gThe medium is the message.h  Janelle is the message in the Drum Journey program.  There are many drummers in the world, but Janelle possesses a unique blend of gifts that maximize the impact of the program.    Thomas Wallace mentioned, in his report about his boysfgroups, that Janelle was able to talk with the students about their music, including the rap music of Tupac, Biggie Smalls, and many rap artists, black and white.   Even though Janelle is white, she is educated about the history of drumming as well as the history of drumming within the African culture.   This knowledge enabled the students, who are primarily African American, to feel comfortable with Janelle, and build trusting relationships.   Deb Krochka mentioned Janellefs ability to tune into the immediate needs of the students, and meet them on their level during each session. 

This requires not only exceptional musical talent, but also a willingness to connect in order to build trust, encouraging students to share, which maximizes the potential benefits of Drum Journey. "

Having worked for many years in the studio with Mickey Hart, (Grateful Dead/Planet Drum) on projects both in the studio and on stage, Janelle joined Mickey performing and facilitating many Drum Circles that included Physicians at Marin Medical to Elementary classrooms as well as facilitating many women and youth Drum Circles on her own. Mickey invited Janelle to offer a field report of results from her pilot project with women to an international team of scientists involved in researching the medical benefits of drumming, trance, and rhythm.

Janelle continued facilitating drum circles with Mickey Hart such as Brookhaven Elementary School in Sebastopol , California . Janelle's own gHeart Techniqueh approach includes a follow up visit to gather results for her research. The Vice Principal stated, gIt is our goal each day to try and achieve what you did with so little effort. I was amazed to see how quickly you had everyone's participation. g

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Prior to working with Mickey Hart, Janelle was a member of D'CuCKOO, the multimedia electronic percussion ensemble, where she built as well as designed and played custom MIDI instruments.

While with D'CuCKOO, Janelle met the ZENDRUM--a unique MIDI Controller that enabled her voice in sound design to emerge. Janelle plays the LAPTOP Model ZENDRUM. This instrument is designed to fit a wheelchair and was gifted to her by the Zendrum Corporation for her unique use of the instrument in both performance and healing. Janelle's use of technology and drumming and healing creates a unique educator for the coming age.

Janelle and Bean of D'CuCKOO drummed with the late, BABATUNDE OLANTUNJI , at the now legendary REMO Press Conference , where Baba announced to the world his deepest desire gcto have a drum in every home.h, with REMO, Inc. offering their complete support. This was the seed needed for Janelle's true self to begin to emerge.

D'CuCKOO's Interactive Shows often showcased the talents of a then emerging Arthur Hull . His brilliance reached the center of Janelle's heart that night as she merged minds with Arthur to catapult everybody into a frenzy of spirit! Something bigger than each individual emerged and it was powerful. Spirit. People playing their drinking glasses, striking them with their keys while some beat their chests and danced from the chandeliers as 650 people created a tornado of spirit at Great American Music that night! The seed begins to sprout.
Janelle studied Arthur's every move at each event they did becoming a student of this master's gift.
Seeing how she could possibly offer something different to this new field of entertainment and research, the Sebastopol Women's Monthly Drum Circle was born.

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In 1998, Ms. Burdell, facilitated a women's drum circle for eight months. Expecting twenty or thirty individuals to attend the first session, Janelle was surprised by nearly a hundred women (of all ages) who participated. Before long, the event was picked as the gBest Beth in the local newspaper.

The town of Sebastopol also asked Janelle for help in dealing with teens loitering. She met with the youth in a designated park and drummed with them for hours turning the heads of adult co-sponsors as the youth cooperated, smiling, participating fully, asking when they could drum with Janelle again.

With symptoms of our society being deeply troubled as feelings of hopelessness pervade, Janelle and Rhythm Games becomes postured to become a leader in the world of healing.

Janelle's gHeart Techniqueh helps people learn to use drumming and rhythm to create powerful change in the daily lives giving people, especially young mothers, ways to deal more effectively with the challenges and frustrations of today's society.

Janelle, along with Rhythm Games, is also poised to help with the many psychological and physical ailments of today. Rhythm Games provides the type of programming lacking for young people with fun, positive, value-building experiences that generate cooperation, enthusiasm, self-esteem, and creativity, serving as a tangible antidote to the problems of today. As Janelle's has stated time and time again, gDrumming and Drum Circles create a productive environment in which our youth can use all of their raw, unharnessed energy to create value rather than destroy ith.

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Janelle's unique facilitation approach includes introducing and educating everyone about rhythm and how it operates in our lives forming the foundation of gtrue environmentalismh; gvalue creation educationh, as she explores and uses rhythms to show the inter-connectedness of all on planet earth; and gtrue humanismh , as she cultivates genuine heartfelt experiences in all who participate. This understanding led Janelle to join the struggle to protect the ancient redwoods by spawning the idea for a gDrum-Inh rally in celebration of Julia Butterfly Hill's 6 month occupation of Luna with Mickey Hart.

Included in Janelle's gHeart Techniqueh approach, Janelle's long range vision encompasses establishing hundreds of Rhythm Games Partnerships and Centers with Therapists creating the first network with real gjob placementh across America (and eventually Europe ).

A charismatic teacher, raised from jazz roots in Pittsburgh , PA --Janelle has been asked to speak and perform master classes at Universities around the country on her extensive experience in ACOUSTIC and ELECTRONIC DRUMS and PERCUSSION, WORLD MUSIC, IMPROVISATION, and INTERACTIVE ARTS. These schools include University of Pittsburgh's (Eco-Art CLass/Art Dept.), Carnegie Mellon University (Entertainment Technology Center, Computer Science, Music and Drama Schools), Duquesne University (Music School for Performance and Music Therapy), Sonoma State University (Music, Drama, and History Departments) and Soka University of America (Liberal Arts), and C.A.P.A.H.S. for the performing Arts show Janelle on the vanguard again as a leader of Interdisciplinary Education.

Janelle Burdell along with Rhythm Games joined the Institute for the Musical Arts again this summer for their Rock n Rock Girls Camp where she will begin integrating a healing program with the addition of Drum Circles. Janelle's affiliation with the Institute for the Musical Arts has been ongstanding.

Included in her experience is over 15 years of teaching privately, as well as five years as the percussion instructor for the Woodland Hills School District . Year end 1999, Janelle created RHYTHM GAMES, a non profit project that uses drumming and the drum circle to empower, with a focus on women and youth, while developing skills in conflict resolution This marked a change of direction, creating the next step for this powerful artist. With this vehicle, Janelle prepares to "light a brushfire of drumming across America ".

Drummer, percussionist, teacher, and facilitator--Janelle Burdell is a major force in the new global rhythmaculture.

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Rhythm Games © 1994-2005


D'CuCKOO (EM Magazine)


ZENDRUM with Janelle


Rhythm Games


Women's Drum Circles (2004)