Griffin Brady
Ambassador
Professional Percussionist Music Educator & Touring Performer Executive Director, Bernard Woma Dagara Music Center USA Founder, Slyboots School of Music, Art & Dance
Oswego native GRIFFIN BRADY has a Master of Arts degree from Goddard College, with a focus in Ethnomusicology and Music Pedagogy. His Master’s thesis and adjoining musical method books were inspired by his work as a touring musician and educator with groups such as the SAAKUMU Dance Troupe of Ghana, West Africa. Upon founding the Slyboots School of Music, Art & Dance in Buffalo, NY in 2006, Griffin has been teaching and performing at over 800 universities, colleges, high schools, elementary schools, and clubs across the United States promoting the Slyboots mission: positive social change through cultural arts education and performance—and bringing the world together, on the sly.
In addition to his touring efforts, Griffin also works as a teaching artist in WNY schools, has been a featured speaker at various panel discussions and events including the TedX Buffalo conference, and he also organizes and implements a study abroad program that has brought WNY students to Africa nearly every summer since 2010. Griffin is also widely known for the community events that he produces, including weekly drum and dance classes and the annual multi-day music, art and dance festival SLYFEST, as well as his audio production work in association with Ripe Audio at Nights Of Fire, Bidwell Park, Larkin Square, and Buffalo Ironworks.
As well as performing and directing the resident ensembles at the Slyboots School, The Slyboots Circus, and The Slyboots Drumming Ensemble, Griffin has performed, recorded, and sat in with a wide range of artists, including Bernard Woma and the Saakumu Dance Troupe, Mohamed Diaby and Manding Foli Kan Don, Cyro Baptista, Brian Marsalis, Billy Martin and the UB Percussion Ensemble, Northern Choral Society featuring the Malawi Youth Choir, DJ Logic, Bernard Purdie, Critt’s Juke Joint, Surprise Me Mr. Davis with Marco Benevento, The Slip and Nathan Moore, Lotus, DYNOHUNTER, Soul Roach, One World Tribe, The Manhattan Project, Toubab Krewe, The Mike Dillon Band, Saranaide, Arthur Lipner, The MK Groove Trio, Sophistafunk, Babik, 12/8 Pathband, Family Funktion & the Sitar Jams, Buffalo Afrobeat Orchestra, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Sophistafunk, Funktional Flow, The Jony James Blues Band, Brownman, Folkfaces, RiShon Odell Northington, Type Relevant, Effective Resolution, Larry LZ Dillon, Andrew Moore, Mike Sisto, Tiger Chung Lee, Cinnamon Aluminum, Caveman, Ramforinkus, The Joseph Glarner Jazz Band, Dennis Cicak, Subsoil, House on a Spring, Dali’s Ghost, Slip Madigan, Universe Shark, Adam Bronstein’s Freehand Band, The Buddhahood, Randle and the Late Night Scandals, Little Mountain Band, Working Man’s Dead, Dead Alliance Buffalo, Black and Blues Band, Lake View Effect, New Clear Fusion, Preach Freedom’s One Love Marley Project, Brian DeAngelo Ensemble, Michael King Project, John McConnell, The Garafolo Brothers, FJE, Big Sauce Trio, Made in America, Blue Saturn, PA Line, Donny Frauenhofer Ensemble, Frauenhofer/Fantini Funk Night, Space Junk, Sonder, Buffalo Gamelan Club, Doug Yeoman’s Clapton Band, Bryan Williams, Witty Tarbox, Freighttrain, Rusted Root/Uprooted, Hot Club of Buffalo, Magic Beans, Ragbirds, Haley Jane and the Primates, and more. In 2022, Griffin became the Executive Director of the newly created Bernard Woma Dagara Music Center USA 501(c)3. His work has been featured in Percussive Arts Society publication Percussive Notes as recently as October 2020, and will be afeatured alongside SAAKUMU Dance Troupe as a performer at PASIC in November of 2020.
PRO MUSIC CREDENTIALS
Master of Arts Degree in Ethnomusicology and Music Pedagogy from Goddard College
Founder, teacher, and performer at the Slyboots School of Music, Art & Dance
Executive Director of the Bernard Woma Dagara Music Center
Professional Touring and Session Performer since 2002
SLYFEST creator, organizer, producer, and performer (2005–2017)
Tour manager, bus driver, chief logistician and American ambassador with SAAKUMU Dance Troupe since 2008
Teaching artist at Young Audiences of WNY, Artpark and Aurora Waldorf School
Marching band drum-line instructor at Pioneer High School
Sound Engineer at Ripe Audio, Buffalo Ironworks, Larkin Square, Bidwell Park and Nietzsches
Featured articles published in Making Music and Percussive Notes
Featured speaker at TedX Conference
Commencement Speaker at Goddard College (2011)
Griffin James Brady
MA Goddard College 2010
Founder -- Teacher -- Performer
Slyboots School of Music, Art & Dance
(315)771-1414
