Management Team
Julie Moore, founding President and Executive Director
In addition to serving as executive director of the Cradle of Jazz Project, including management of their 2014 US Tour, Julie serves as adjunct professor at Furman University (teaching World Music for music majors), and is an active member of the Mande Studies Association and the African Studies Association. As a nationally certified cello teacher in the Suzuki method, Julie runs a successful music studio in Taylors SC, serving as the secretary of the South Carolina Suzuki Music Association, and chair of its Upstate chapter. In all of these roles, she is a faithful advocate for the integration of Malian artists and scholars into U.S. universities. Her home is often a guest-house for West African artists, including the former lead percussionist of Percussions de Guinee Bolokada Conde, former lead dancer in Ballet Merveilles Kadiatou Kante. Julie’s original research in the Mande influence in the colonial U.S. and French Louisiana has been taught in many universities.
Elke Bachmann, Global Health Director
Elke Bachmann, CNM, MSN is our Global Health Director. Elke’s focus is providing sustainable and optimal health management options for our partnering West African artisans. Additionally, she will be organizing student health maintenance programs and studying public health systems and their status in our African students’ communities. Her goal is to lend her time and expertise to efforts at decentralizing health care provision in West Africa through the training of community health workers, thereby improving access to health services and screening for our students’ families and neighbors. Ms. Bachmann has been providing counseling, nursing, primary, and acute care to women and children for 25 years. She is a midwife, certified by the American College of Nurse Midwives in 2002. She received her Master of Science in Nursing from the Frontier School, whose rich history of bringing health care to remote places continues to inspire her. Currently, she is a member of the faculty practice at the Yale University School of Nursing where she facilitates the education of beginning clinicians.
David Fairall, Director of Support Services
Dave is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in Radio, Television and Film. He is nationally certified by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. David has served a long and distinguished career including 15-year service as the Director of Human Resources with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. The district has 53,000 students in 80 schools, with about 8,000 regular employees. Dave has served on various state-level committees, including The NC Department of Public Instruction’s No Child Left Behind Licensure Compliance Committee, the State Board of Education’s Teacher Quality Committee, and the steering committee to oversee HRIS systems services to public school systems in NC.
Dave is also a student of West African drumming, studying with Tam Tam Mandingue – Winston-Salem continuously since the school’s first beginner workshop in 2000. As a certified Associate TTMWS Instructor, he has taught adult evening classes for the school. He has also performed in and helped facilitate workshops with a wide range of clients, including local schools and businesses.
Dave produces all COJP recordings.
Brian Lane, Technical Director
Brian earned degrees in Accounting and Business Management, and has had a wide variety of work experience in sales, (education, retail, fine art and medical management), internet marketing, technical & travel writing, 3D software development, real estate investment and more.
Brian lends technical, writing and marketing guidance, as well as basic conversational French support to help realize the goals of the Cradle of Jazz Project.
He has participated in the Rotary Group Study Exchange program and understands and believes in the importance and impact that the COJP can have on cultural awareness, advancement and integration through musical and academic achievement, in pursuit of the ‘musical restitution’ ideal.
Brian currently works as a technical writer and 3D Visualization Developer for the full scope simulation and training company, GSE Systems. He additionally provides Search Engine Optimization guidance and support to the international organization.
Brian was first exposed to West African drumming in 1996 and has actively pursued, learned and played the music ever since. He has studied the djembe and dundun with a wide variety of African and American masters, through intermittent classes and lecture demos, as well as through advanced, biweekly training classes. He has played for dance classes at Duke University, Ninth Street Dance, the Durham Arts Council and the Hayti Heritage Center, as well as participating in River Rhythms’ Community West African Drumming Choir and most recently the local performing group, Rhythmicity.
Andrew Moore, Vice-President
Andrew is a carpenter at Furman University, with highly specialized skills in construction with native, natural materials, utilizing hand tools. His skills in building electricity-free with natural materials are quite necessary in West African eco-technology, and uniquely positions him to partner with West African architects and serve as our lead agent in the construction of the Center for West African Oral Traditions. His home environment in the foothills of South Carolina provides the perfect red-clay environment to experiment with natural brick-making methods, crucial in West African construction. Andrew received the first place award from the American Concrete Institute’s national Concrete Construction Competition in 2009.
Andrew is a lead percussionist in the Malinke tradition, well-loved for his residencies and lectures in Mande music, history and culture at schools and workshops throughout the Carolinas. Andrew was the Guest Director of the Furman Percussion Ensemble and recital for the fall 2012 semester, serving as the first artist to bring Mande music to the Furman music department.
Karen Casey, Secretary
Karen provides assistance with logistics, administrative duties and coordination of various projects for Cradle of Jazz Project, and is an integral part of COJP’s education team. She and her husband Arlen, an audio engineer host many African artists and teachers in their home in Durham, NC. They had the pleasure of joining Kokanko and Assigue on the New Orleans leg of the 2014 tour and hosting & recording a sold out home show for Kokanko.
A love of all kinds of music and a desire to play percussion inspired Karen to buy her first djembe and begin delving into West African music more than 15 years ago. She has had the opportunity to study with many West African and local teachers and is a member of the performance ensemble Rhythmicity. She lives in Durham with her husband, works as a nationally recognized speech language pathologist specializing in helping young children use assistive technology and has a thriving fused glass business.