Ade Knowles
percussion

Dr. Eddie Ade Knowles is an accomplished musician with over 40 years of performance, residency, workshop, and recording credits, as a percussionist. Ade’s artistic focus is on African, Afro-Cuban, and New World Percussion, and he has performed and/or, recorded with many well known artists, including Gil Scott-Heron and Kim & Reggie Harris. Ade was also the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Griot Dance Company and The New African Music Collective.

Dr. Knowles received the prestigious honor of Artist in Residence, for three consecutive years, from The New York State Foundation for The Arts. Ade’s list of accomplishments as a musician and citizen committed to making a difference in the community, are lengthy. His unending devotion to the Capital Region was noted, in 1995, by Metroland Magazine, the Capital District’s regional arts publication, when they acknowledged him as a “Local Hero.”

Presently, Ade is the Artistic Director of Ensemble Congeros, a group of Rensselaer alums and current students dedicated to the study of African, Afro-Cuban, and New World percussion. The Ensemble was founded in 2004, as an outgrowth of the interest and passion of Rensselaer’s students who excelled in Dr. Knowles’ course, “Introduction to Afro-Cuban Percussion.”On March 30, 2012, Ade celebrated the release of their first DVD entitled, “Ensemble Congeros: Chasing the Rhythms.” It is a lovely testimony of the Ensemble’s unmistakable talent, dedication to each other, and the making of music.