The Talking Drums Looks Ahead
Themes For African Drums
Produced by Lee Schapiro
Recorded at Webster Hall, New York, May 22 and 28, 1958
Engineer: Ernest Oelrich
RCA Victor LSP-1864
1959
From the back cover: This is an album I wanted to make. . . . This is MY album.
I want to thank Nat Hentoff, my favorite jazz critic, and Lee Schapiro, whose cooperation made this record- ing possible. The musicians on the date were James Hawthorne Bey (General Lefty, I call him) with whom I had been playing at the African Room on New York's Third Avenue; Robert Whitney and Phillip Hepburn were the other drummers, and the great Lawrence Brown was on trombone.
SIDE ONE
Band 1 BALLAD FOR GIRAFFES I have always ad- mired giraffes. They have a grace all their own. Not the smooth grace of a panther, but the gangling grace of a stork. The tune is an imaginary coming-together of a group of giraffes for a sing song. They meet, chew a few choice leaves, and sing. I solo on bongos and on the African Bintin Obonu. This fabulous instrument, called the "Talking Drum," is very ancient and in common use in West Africa.
Band 2 WALTZING DRUMS This is what I think would happen if a group of drums called a ball, and all the drums, big and small, male and female, old and young came together and just played and danced!
Band 3 BLOOD BROTHERS This piece, which fea- tures General Lefty and me, was originally titled Beyette after the little daughter of the General. The title was changed on New Year's Day 1958 when the General and I performed a secret African ceremony which made us Blood Brothers. The rhythm is con- structed in a way to create a feeling of being separate but together, which is what a Blood Brother is. I open with a call in Arabic-"a salaam a lekum" (peace, brother)-to my Blood Brother. He responds and then solos. Dig his sermon. I take the next solo on the Talking Drum and then chant in Hausa. This is a form of Arabic used by Mohammedans all through West Africa. The song is praise to Allah for bringing Gen- eral Lefty and me together. Toward the end everyone joins in this happy occasion and a nice climax is achieved.
Band LOVE. THE MYSTERY OF I wrote this tune for a dance which was part of a show we had going at the African Room. It portrays a youth and a maid brought together for the first time by that mysterious force of love. The couple who performed this dance were John Lei, the ex-Katherine Dunham dancer, and pretty Jean Neal, the girl who inspired the song.
Lawrence's passage didn't help toward the solution of this age-old question of love at all.... he just added another fine layer of mystery to the whole thing. I wouldn't have had it another way.
Band 5 THE TALKING DRUM LOOKS AHEAD Here is that drum again. This time it is playing jazz and it is playing a melodic line just like any other melody. instrument. If it's played well, this amazing drum fits comfortably into the idiom just like that! I use a typi- cal traditional American blues form as a take-off. To me, jazz IS the blues and the blues IS jazz. What you hear here is one of the things Africa has to offer jazz. Matter of fact, this is JAZZ AS I SEE IT. I am dedi- cating the tune to my idol and friend, Thelonius Monk. The bassist was James Styles and the vibist, Earl Griffin. They sure laid it down, didn't they?
SIDE TWO
Bands 1 and 2 THE LADY MARIE DRUM SUITE The rhythm in this suite is adapted from a Watusi ceremonial rhythm, Uwa Begayga, but the melody is mine. The Watusi have reached the highest level of culture of all the peoples of Central Africa. Usually white-robed, tall and lithe, aristocratic in bearing and observing very ancient traditions, they live on the high mountains of the Ruanda-Urundi. Some of the most enthralling rhythms in Africa can be heard in Watusi territory.
The suite is humbly dedicated to a most gracious lady. I honestly and truly believe she is the reincar- nation of my mother who died in 1944, although, unlike my mother who was tiny in build, Marie is tall and majestic like a Watusi.
On Part 1, I play the introduction to the main theme on an African bamboo flute. I use two conga drums. Part 2 is similar to the first part, but here I play the regular jazz drums. I maintain the do-doom-do-doom rhythm on the bass drum all through. At one point I create a tempo within a tempo by letting my hands chase each other. This gives the illusion that the whole rhythmic structure is falling apart, but the steady bass drum beat-firmly, and almost stubbornly, kept up- knits the pattern rather nicely. At another point I go into a free-form, hitting everything in sight and en- joying myself all the time, which, by the way, is to me the MOST IMPORTANT THING when I play.
Band & MY STORY This is my personal life story set to drums. The lyrics say:
"My mother is dead;
I have not even a father;
Nevertheless, I will play my drums and dance always, For such is my solace."
All men have an inner voice which guides them in their lives. Some of us are cursed with a violent inner voice which urges us to do violent and coarse things. So of us are blessed with a gentle and fine one which holds us down and keeps us on an even keel. The trombone here represents my inner voice; it comforts me at the beginning and at the end of the song.
There are two melodies to this song. The one I sing is one of them. Whenever I sing this song, which is not very often, I travel many twisting and bitter paths deep inside of me, and my physical body goes through plenty. When the pain inside becomes too much, I break down. But at this moment, always and without fail, my inner voice comes through the fog with its message of comfort and cheer, and with it comes relief and all is well again.
As I said before, this is my album, but it is also yours. Please write me your views about it. I'll swing with that, ma'am/sir. Thanks a million. – Guy Warren, Accra, Ghana, West Africa
1959
From the back cover: This is an album I wanted to make. . . . This is MY album.
I want to thank Nat Hentoff, my favorite jazz critic, and Lee Schapiro, whose cooperation made this record- ing possible. The musicians on the date were James Hawthorne Bey (General Lefty, I call him) with whom I had been playing at the African Room on New York's Third Avenue; Robert Whitney and Phillip Hepburn were the other drummers, and the great Lawrence Brown was on trombone.
SIDE ONE
Band 1 BALLAD FOR GIRAFFES I have always ad- mired giraffes. They have a grace all their own. Not the smooth grace of a panther, but the gangling grace of a stork. The tune is an imaginary coming-together of a group of giraffes for a sing song. They meet, chew a few choice leaves, and sing. I solo on bongos and on the African Bintin Obonu. This fabulous instrument, called the "Talking Drum," is very ancient and in common use in West Africa.
Band 2 WALTZING DRUMS This is what I think would happen if a group of drums called a ball, and all the drums, big and small, male and female, old and young came together and just played and danced!
Band 3 BLOOD BROTHERS This piece, which fea- tures General Lefty and me, was originally titled Beyette after the little daughter of the General. The title was changed on New Year's Day 1958 when the General and I performed a secret African ceremony which made us Blood Brothers. The rhythm is con- structed in a way to create a feeling of being separate but together, which is what a Blood Brother is. I open with a call in Arabic-"a salaam a lekum" (peace, brother)-to my Blood Brother. He responds and then solos. Dig his sermon. I take the next solo on the Talking Drum and then chant in Hausa. This is a form of Arabic used by Mohammedans all through West Africa. The song is praise to Allah for bringing Gen- eral Lefty and me together. Toward the end everyone joins in this happy occasion and a nice climax is achieved.
Band LOVE. THE MYSTERY OF I wrote this tune for a dance which was part of a show we had going at the African Room. It portrays a youth and a maid brought together for the first time by that mysterious force of love. The couple who performed this dance were John Lei, the ex-Katherine Dunham dancer, and pretty Jean Neal, the girl who inspired the song.
Lawrence's passage didn't help toward the solution of this age-old question of love at all.... he just added another fine layer of mystery to the whole thing. I wouldn't have had it another way.
Band 5 THE TALKING DRUM LOOKS AHEAD Here is that drum again. This time it is playing jazz and it is playing a melodic line just like any other melody. instrument. If it's played well, this amazing drum fits comfortably into the idiom just like that! I use a typi- cal traditional American blues form as a take-off. To me, jazz IS the blues and the blues IS jazz. What you hear here is one of the things Africa has to offer jazz. Matter of fact, this is JAZZ AS I SEE IT. I am dedi- cating the tune to my idol and friend, Thelonius Monk. The bassist was James Styles and the vibist, Earl Griffin. They sure laid it down, didn't they?
SIDE TWO
Bands 1 and 2 THE LADY MARIE DRUM SUITE The rhythm in this suite is adapted from a Watusi ceremonial rhythm, Uwa Begayga, but the melody is mine. The Watusi have reached the highest level of culture of all the peoples of Central Africa. Usually white-robed, tall and lithe, aristocratic in bearing and observing very ancient traditions, they live on the high mountains of the Ruanda-Urundi. Some of the most enthralling rhythms in Africa can be heard in Watusi territory.
The suite is humbly dedicated to a most gracious lady. I honestly and truly believe she is the reincar- nation of my mother who died in 1944, although, unlike my mother who was tiny in build, Marie is tall and majestic like a Watusi.
On Part 1, I play the introduction to the main theme on an African bamboo flute. I use two conga drums. Part 2 is similar to the first part, but here I play the regular jazz drums. I maintain the do-doom-do-doom rhythm on the bass drum all through. At one point I create a tempo within a tempo by letting my hands chase each other. This gives the illusion that the whole rhythmic structure is falling apart, but the steady bass drum beat-firmly, and almost stubbornly, kept up- knits the pattern rather nicely. At another point I go into a free-form, hitting everything in sight and en- joying myself all the time, which, by the way, is to me the MOST IMPORTANT THING when I play.
Band & MY STORY This is my personal life story set to drums. The lyrics say:
"My mother is dead;
I have not even a father;
Nevertheless, I will play my drums and dance always, For such is my solace."
All men have an inner voice which guides them in their lives. Some of us are cursed with a violent inner voice which urges us to do violent and coarse things. So of us are blessed with a gentle and fine one which holds us down and keeps us on an even keel. The trombone here represents my inner voice; it comforts me at the beginning and at the end of the song.
There are two melodies to this song. The one I sing is one of them. Whenever I sing this song, which is not very often, I travel many twisting and bitter paths deep inside of me, and my physical body goes through plenty. When the pain inside becomes too much, I break down. But at this moment, always and without fail, my inner voice comes through the fog with its message of comfort and cheer, and with it comes relief and all is well again.
As I said before, this is my album, but it is also yours. Please write me your views about it. I'll swing with that, ma'am/sir. Thanks a million. – Guy Warren, Accra, Ghana, West Africa
Ballad For Giraffes
Walzing Drums
Blood Brothers
Love, The Mystery Of
The Talking Drum Looks Ahead
The Lady Marie Drum Suite
My Story
That is quite unique! I like the sound of that drum! Cool Exotica cover, too!
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