Babatunde Olatunji was a Yoruba born in southwestern Nigeria. He began playing traditional African music at an early age, especially drums and percussive instruments. In 1950 he received a Rotary International Scholarship and went to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia to study. After graduating he went to New York University. He founded a percussion music… Read more »
Category: Music Festival
Common and John Legend, “Glory”
The rapper Common was initially approached to write a song for the movie “Selma” about that pivotal campaign during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. The movie depicts the marches from Selma to Montgomery calling for voting rights, a protest which led to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Common invited John… Read more »
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers is a band that began in in the U.S. South with fun, rocking music with crude and humorous titles and lyrics. By the mid-2000s, however, their focus began to get into some deep issues, including unpacking this history of racism in the South. As a white band they have been taking on the… Read more »
Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi
By Phillip Mudzidzi Oliver Mtukudzi (Tuku) was born 22 September in 1952 and died on the 23rd of January 2019 aged 66 and armed with 66 music albums carrying many songs whose main recital was on how people can coexist peacefully and progressively. He was affectionately known as “Tuku” by his fans and a cough… Read more »
Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
Michael Jackson was one of the most-widely known singers in the world. He began in a singing group as a child with his brothers, The Jackson 5. As he reach adulthood he launched a solo career that exploded into a global phenomenon. His dancing, including his famous “Moonwalk,” was groundbreaking and electrifying. Though he was… Read more »