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Babatunde Olatunji
Percussion master Babatunde Olatunji on the cover of his groundbreaking 1959 release Drums of Passion.
Background information
Born	April 7, 1927
Origin	Ajido, Lagos State, Nigeria
Died	April 6, 2003
Genre(s)	World music
Instrument(s)	Drums
Website	www.olatunjimusic.com

Babatunde Olatunji (April 7, 1927 - April 6, 2003) was a Nigerian drummer.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Discography 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

Born in the village of Ajido, Nigeria, a member of the Yoruba people, Olatunji was introduced to traditional African music at an early age. He read in Reader's Digest magazine about the Rotary International Foundation's scholarship programme, and applied for it. He came to the United States of America on a Rotary scholarship in 1950 and was educated at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

After graduating from Morehouse, Olatunji went on to New York University to study public administration. There, he started a small percussion group to earn money on the side while he continued his studies. He won a following among jazz musicians, notably creating a strong relationship with John Coltrane and Columbia Records A&R man John Hammond who signed him to the Columbia label in 1957.

With Coltrane's help, he founded the Olatunji Center for African Culture in Harlem. This was the site of Coltrane's final performance.

In 1959 Olatunji released his first of six records on the Columbia label, called Drums of Passion. Carlos Santana had a major hit with his cover version of this first album's "Jingo-lo-ba". Olatunji favoured a big percussion sound, and his records typically featured more than 20 players, unusual for a percussion based ensemble. Drums of Passion became a major hit and remains in print; it introduced many Americans to world music. Drums of Passion also served as the band's name. Notable band members included; Clark Terry, Bill Lee, Horace Silver, Yusef Lateef and Charles Lloyd, among others.

Olatunji's subsequent recordings include Drums of Passion: The Invocation (1988), Drums of Passion: The Beat (1989) which included Airto Moreira and Carlos Santana, Love Drum Talk (1997), and Olatunji Live at Starwood (2003 - recorded at the 1997 Starwood Festival[1]) with guest Halim El-Dabh. Olatunji also recorded with Cannonball Adderley on his African Waltz album, Horace Silver, Quincy Jones, Pee Wee Ellis, Stevie Wonder, Randy Weston, and with Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln on the pivotal Freedom Now Suite aka We Insist, with Grateful Dead member Mickey Hart on his Grammy winning Planet Drum projects, and with Muruga Booker and Sikiru Adepoju on Circle of Drums (2005).

Olatunji composed music for the Broadway and Hollywood productions of Raisin in the Sun. He assisted Bill Lee with the music for his son Spike Lee's hit film She's Gotta Have It.

Olatunji was known for making a brief impassioned speech for social justice before performing in front of a live audience. His progressive political beliefs are outlined in "The Beat Of My Drum: An Autobiography," with a foreword by Joan Baez, (Temple University Press, 2005). He toured the American south with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. When he performed before the United Nations General Assembly, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev took off his shoes and danced. Later, he was one of the first outside performers to perform in Prague at Václav Havel's request. On July 21, 1979, he appeared at the Amandla Festival along with Bob Marley, Dick Gregory, Patti LaBelle and Eddie Palmieri, amongst others.

Olatunji also contributed to "Peace Is The World Smiling: A Peace Anthology For Families" on the Music For Little People label (1989).

Olatunji is mentioned in the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Free" as recorded on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

Olatunji was also a music educator, and invented a method of teaching and recording drum patterns. He co-wrote, "Musical Instruments of Africa: Their Nature, Use and Place in the Life of a Deeply Musical People" with Betty Warner-Dietz (John Day Company, 1965). He taught at the Esalen Institute in California starting in 1985 until his death from diabetes in 2003.

• Circle of Drums (2005 Chesky)
• Healing Session (2003 Narada)
• Olatunji Live at Starwood (2003) Recorded Live at the Starwood Festival 1997
• Drums of Passion [Expanded] (2002)
• Love Drum Talk (1997 Chesky)
• Drums of Passion and More (1994 Bear Family) Box Set
• Drums of Passion: Celebrate Freedom, Justice & Peace (1993)
• Drums of Passion: The Beat (1989 Rykodisc)
• Drums of Passion: The Invocation (1988 Rykodisc)
• Soul Makossa (1973 Paramount) (Single/EP)
• Dance to the Beat of My Drum
• Olatunji
• Flaming Drums (1962 Columbia Records CS8666)
• Zungo! (1961)
• Drums of Passion (1959)

Video/DVD

• Olatunji Live at Starwood [DVD] (2005 ACE) Recorded Live at the Starwood Festival 1997
• African Drumming [Instructional Video] (2004)
• Love Drum Talk [Video] (1998 CHE, TMS, Chesky)

Also Appears On

• 2000 Afeni Shakur Discusses "The Rose That Grew from Concrete, Vol. 1"
• 2000 Club Africa, Vol. 2: Hard African Funk, Afro-Jazz, & Original Afro-Beat
• 2000 The Rose That Grew from Concrete
• 1998 Mondo Beat: Masters of Percussion
• 1998 New Visions: World Rhythms
• 1998 Selections from Mondo Beat
• 1995 The Big Bang
• 1994 The Best of Both Worlds: Rykodisc/Hannibal World Music Sampler
• 1994 The Big Bang: In the Beginning Was a Drum
• 1991 Around the World for a Song (Rykodisc)
• 1991 Planet Drum - Mickey Hart (Rykodisc)
• 1990 At the Edge - Mickey Hart (Rykodisc)

• Reference to Starwood Festival appearance in poet Ray McNiece bio [2]

• Polyrhythm

• Babatunde Olatunji's official website
• Second official website
• Babatunde Olatunji at the African Music Encyclopedia
• Babatunde Olatunji's personal page
• Salon Feature on Olatunji
• Interview with Olatunji, October 2000