Babatunde Olatunji

In 1960, long before world music was a marketable genre, Babatunde Olatunji released one of the most influential albums of its kind, the stark and dramatic set of Nigerian percussion tracks DRUMS OF PASSION, which has since stayed in print and sold millions of copies. This immediate hit buoyed him through a spate of fame and acclaim, playing with a band (also called Drums of Passion) that included at various junctures Horace Silver and Yusef Lateef. Olatunji played and recorded with a variety of artists, and then concentrated on a teaching career at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, Kent State University, and the Esalen Institute. He successfully resumed a recording career, after a 20-year gap, in '86, and worked with Mickey Hart in his Planet Drum multimedia project. The great drummer died in '03.