Drums Of Passion - Olatunji

 

Shango (Chant To The God Of Thunder)

Drums Of Passion

Olatunji!

Columbia CS 8210

1960

PERSONNEL

Drummers: Baba Hawthorne Bey, Montigo Joe (Roger Sanders), Taiwo Duval

Singers: Ida Beebee Capps, Afuavi Derby, Akwasiba Derby, Helen Haynes, Dolores Oyinka Parker, Ruby Wuraola Pryor, Barbara Gordon, Helena Walker, Louise Young

From the back cover: Ajido is a small town in the vicinity of Badagry in Nigeria, West Africa. It is both a fishing and trading town. When the rains are over and the market women have returned from the monthly markets at Epe, Badagry, and Lagos, the nets lie idle in the sun to dry and the voices of women may be heard singing at the weaving frames. This is the season when the Zangbetos, the raffiaed masqueraders who are the guardians of public morals and safety, are out. The big drums and the little drums, made from hollowed trees and the skins of rams, resound through the nights in circles of townspeople, and the burning lamps of clay and palm oil.

This was the Ajido of Babatunde Olatunji's childhood days. Many a night, Babatunde went with Tanyin, his great-aunt, to hear the drummers proclaim the coming of a local poli ician, Alose, as they strutted along the streets of Ajido, singing:

Ago, O, mi ja ye / Hail! I am coming

Ponpongba, ponpongba / drum beats
Ago, O, mi ja ye! / Hail! I am coming

Ponpongba, ponpongba / drum beats
Ago Alose ja e / Hail! Alose comes

Arun ma yi Powhe / What dog dare cross the path of the lion! 

Bo no ago ma tho / Without announcing his intentions

Ago, O, mi ja ye! / Hail! I am coming!

It was in this way that drum rhythms became part of Babatunde. In many places he has traveled in Africa; how often he must have heard the continuous beats of gangan, dundun, omele, bembe, kiriboto, agidigbo, sakara, go je konnongo, gbedu, igba to name a few types of talking drums that are common in West Africa, and beyond, even today.

In this recording, Drums of Passion, Babatunde Olatunji has recaptured some of his early impressions in his drum beats and has given them new zest and power in order to preserve the remnants of "primitive" folk music before its gradual disappearance from a fast-changing culture and continent, where these things can be so easily lost or forgotten.

The drum, like many exotic articles, is charged with evocative power. The drum is not only a musical instrument, it is also a sacred object and even the tangible form of divinity. It is endowed with a mysterious power, a sort of life-force which, however, has been incomprehensible to many missionaries and early travelers, who ordered its suppression and influence by forbidding its use.

Today, the oldest of musical instruments, the drum, serves the anthropologist and sociologist as a very useful and valuable cultural artifact; and, surprisingly, provides the physiologist with an immense tool for probing the human nervous system. As one listens, the mind is swayed by a strong feeling; by emo- tions of gladness and joy, grief, fear and hope.

Through the folk-songs in this album, with the fluidity and complexity of African rhythms, several epochs of music history are telescoped. As one musicologist once remarked, "Whether or not we fancy the radical trends in ultra – modern music – its unusual rhythms, its atonal scales we owe to it one debt of gratitude: it enables us much better to appreciate the music of other ages and other lands." Babatunde has lit the floodlight upon the universally human significance of primitive mores and customs, of which drumming, singing, and dancing are significant parts.

The selection of songs and African rhythmic renditions in this album definitely belong to a repertoire of the long ago and present day Nigeria. Contemporary incidents, whether religious, social, political, or economic, have always inspired compositions full of allusions to the circumstances which gave birth to them. Olatunji has brought back to remembrance certain songs,and cult rhythms of traditional significance in his boyhood days and generations ago in West Africa, recorded with musical instruments indigenous to Africa.

Drums of Passion is a danceable album. From all indications, it is probably the first African album recorded in stereophonic sound in the United States.

AKIWOWO "Chant to the Trainman"

One of the train conductors, whose name. became a household word at the stations from Lagos to Idogo, from Ibadan to Kano, was that man called "Guard Akiwowo." When he was on duty on a freight train, his humorous cry, "Eyi lo poro! (Do you call this having an easy time?)" could be heard against the fading rhythmic beat of the train. In this piece, Olatunji has captured the power and the rhyth- mic beat of the freight train. One is reminded of the new-born nation of Nigeria along the path of social reconstruction.

OYA "Primitive Fire"

In the beginning of time man discovered that he could make fire by striking together two flints. He gathered dry leaves and kindled them. The flames rose slowly, mounting higher and higher into a huge, dancing, writhing body of burning energy spreading beyond the horizon. Slowly it began to burn out-slowly losing life- slowly – then out. This is the idea Mr. Olatunji has created and interpreted so eloquently on the drums. This number is dedicated to the idea of freedom. Next to Shango it is the most powerful drumming in the collection. No electronic devices are used and what you hear is the true percussion sound, expertly played by Mr. Olatunji and his assisting artists.

ODUN DE! ODUN DE! "Happy New Year!"

This is Batatunde's own original composition representing the first bar of the hymns, "Ikore de," of the United African Methodist Church, an orthodox African separatist church in which Mr. Olatunji was a member of the choir in his teen-age years. The festival may mark the celebration of the harvesting of Yam, of the New Year, or the Easter, or Shango.

JIN-GO-LO-BA "Drums of Passion"

When there is a duet between the mother drum and the omele drum, what a match! The pattern sounds like this:

Mother-drum: Jin
Omele: golo
Mother-drum: Ba

In this piece, Olatunji attempts what may be called a symphonic drum drama. Each drum speaks a part.

KIYAKIKA "Why Do You Run Away?"

In this piece, the drummer asks of a friend: "My friend, what's the matter with you, that you are in such a big rush?" With the chang- ing tempo of life in Africa today, many are in a hurry to get somewhere. People are in a hurry to get rich quick; to travel by fast- moving vehicles; and to develop the country speedily. Friends no longer have time to stop, salute, and gossip as before. Instead they wave to one another at a distance, and say "gudubai" – goodby! The drum artist is surprised at these things, and is particularly disturbed at the thinning cord of friendship. So he resorts to the drum. Hear the beats simulating the hasty pace, as he sings "salo e; salo e; salo e..." But time does not heed the artist as it bears in new fads and foibles.

BABA JINDE "Flirtation Dance"

This is a number which does not need much explanation because of its title, Flirtation Dance. It is a play dance made famous by the first great teacher of African dance in this country, Asadata Dafora. In this dance a young man is faced with the difficult task of selecting the dancer who has responded best to the compelling rhythms. Aquasiba Derby is featured in the number with Olatunji.

OYIN MOMO ADO "Sweet as Honey"

This number reminds one of a common prac- tice throughout Africa of advertising a commodity through songs. Also, when the ancient Hebrews wanted to express their joy at the receipt of some good news, they praised the bringer of the news with these words. "How beautiful are the feet of him who bears good tidings!" Like other Africans, Yorubas express the same idea with a different idiom: "Onireki, o gboyin de, Oyin momo ado!" (the owner of the sugar, he brings news, sweet as honey). One of the indigenous instruments of Africa, known there by many interesting names and to the Western world as "the thumb piano," is featured in this song by Olatunji, with drums and voices blending in harmony.

SHANGO "Chant to the God of Thunder"

With thunder and lightning, Shango, the God of Thunder and the deified King of Old Oyo, revisits the earth, as his devotees chant his invocationary praise. Listen, as Babatunde invokes him:

"Shango, protect me! gatekeeper of the 

   passenger train. Today belongs to the passengers; 

   tomorrow belongs to the 

   gatekeeper.
Shango, you lap blood
Like the cat that laps palm oil
Costumed like the acrobatic masquerade, 

   labala,
With the cloth of death,
Shango, you are the death that drips, 

   drips, drips
Like indigo dye dripping from an adire 

   cloth."

Notes by AKIN AKIWOWO and BABATUNDE OLATUNJI

Akiwowo (Chant To The Trainman)

Oya (Primitive Fire)

Odun de! Odun de! (Happy New Year)

Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (Drums Of Passion)

Kiyakiya (Why Do You Run Away?)

Bada Jinde (Flirtation Dance)

Oyin Momo Ado (Sweet As HoneyBee)

Shango (Chant To The God Of Thunder)

Featuring Andre Previn

 

Featuring Andre Previn

Featuring Andre Previn

Sutton SSU 200 Stereophonic

Ain't Misbehavin'

That's Where The South Begins

I Got A Feeling I'm Falling

Honeysuckle Rose

Stealin' Apples

Malagueña

Aye, Aye

Habanera

Espana

El Relicario

Ray Eberle Plays Glenn Miller Favorites

 

It's A Blue World

Ray Eberle Plays Glenn Miller Favorites

Tops/Mayfair Stereo L9573 (translucent deep red vinyl)

From the back cover: That this is not the first tribute to Glenn Miller is a certainty. That this will not be the last tribute to this ever famous band leader is equally certain. But, as sure as anything can be is the fact that no tribute that is made to recall and honor the name and great talent of the late Glenn Miller can be more befitting and dynamic than this fabulous collection of Glenn Miller tunes brought to you in Hi-Fi by the Ray Eberle Orchestra.

For it was Ray Eberle, as Glenn Miller's featured vocalist, whose thrilling voice sang the lyrics to such million record sellers as "Serenade In Blue", Elmer's Tune", "Moonlight Cocktails", and "At Last". ("At Last" is here included and is again sung by Ray. He sounds better than ever in the magnificence of Hi-Fi).

No American band leader seems to have the succession of hits that Glenn Miller had. The "Miller Sound" seemed to take a tune and give it a wonderful excitement and originality that would at once endear it to the imagination and heart of musical America. That unique sound has not been forgotten, nor is it likely to be. It is a living memory of millions who were youngsters in the forties, as well as being alive to today's generation of newer dancers.

Ray Eberle, his voice and his orchestra recreate the sound of Glenn Miller by getting to the heart of some of the greatest Miller tunes. As played and sung here they sound better than ever, thanks to the use of superb Hi-Fi recording equipment.

ABOUT RAY EBERLE

Ray Eberle, the handsome, personable young man, was born in the thriving community of Hoosick Falls, New York on January 19. His "big" break came at 18 when he was hired to fill the featured vocalist spot with the late, great Glenn Miller, who was organizing an orchestra. During the prewar years when he was a mainstay of the Miller Band, Ray consistently won vocalist polls and was regarded by trade observers as the top band singer. His voice was heard coast-to-coast on the Chesterfield program thrice weekly and while a featured member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Eberle was seen in two 20th Century Fox musicals, "Sun Valley Serenade" and Orchestra Wives".

He put in six years as Glenn Miller's featured vocalist and toured the nation with the band. His name became a byword in music to the millions who flocked to see and hear the Miller band wherever it appeared. Among the many showcases where Eberle's name and fame were spread were: Paramount Theatre, New York; Oriental and Chicago Theatres in Chicago; Statler Hotel in New York; Palladium in Hollywood and all other top locations and theatres where the top name orchestras regularly appear.

Going on his own just before the war broke out, Ray seemed headed for the top. He made eight feature films and six short subjects for Universal and was star of his own CBS radio show from California. However, the call to the service stopped short his budding career as a solo star. Coming back again after a service hitch, Eberle started again doing a single. Engagements in the East and Mid-west proved he had lost none of his polish or popularity. He has been featured twice a week on WPIX-TV and is a great favorite wherever he appears.

In The Mood

Fools Rush In

String Of Pearls

Moonlight Serenade

Skylark

Tuxedo Junction

Blue Champagne 

Little Brown Jug

It's A Blue World

Sunrise Serenade

Deep Purple

At Last

Paris At Midnight - Skitch Henderson

 

If You Love Me

Paris At Midnight

Skitch Henderson, His Piano and Orchestra

Decca Records DL 8339

1960

From the back cover: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is an hour that is filled with an aura of promise. All that is lovely, gay, and beautiful seems to be awaiting immortality – to be set on canvas, written to music, or capsuled with a sonnet.

This is the hour when dark cellars of the "bas fonds" on the Left Bank are magically transformed into dimly-lit dens of pleasure. At Le Petit Balcon, an apache and his gigolette are engaged in a frenzied dance. From the Vieux Colombier and Le Club St. - Germain-des-Prés blaring trumpets and syncopated rhythms lure lovers of le jazz hot. The Place Pigalle boasts nightclub acts guaranteed not to be seen else – where: the Naturiste, Chez Eve and Romance present continuous spectacles glorifying the female.

This is the hour when aspiring artists seek the colorful Paris night-life that inspired Toulouse-Lautrec. In the Montmartre district they cluster around sidewalk tables at the Café Flor sipping cognac and coke. The white domes of the Sacre Coeur serve as an incongruous background for Le Mabillon Café and other restaurants on the Place du Tertre which are packed with arty young Parisians intent on the unconventional.

This is the hour when theatre-goers gush forth from the Opéra, the Comédie- Française, and the Odéon, and scurry to their favorite midnight haunts: to Maxim's for a sumptuous supper, to the Lido on the Champs Elysées for a brassy cabaret show, to the Shéhérazade for gypsy fiddlers, or to the Nouvelle Eve for champagne.

This is the hour when the gourmet's dreams are fulfilled. In Paris kitchens are shrines, chefs are national heroes, and menus are sheer poetry. Food is prepared lovingly, served ceremoniously, and eaten reverently. At such world-famous restaurants as the Café de Paris, the Ritz, George V, or the Crillon, eating is an art – and mating the right wine with the right course is a matter for serious discussion. From Apéritif to brandy, each dish is a never-ending delight: escargots (snails) stuffed and baked with parsley-and-garlic butter; noisette d'agneau truffé (lamb and truffles); quenelles de brochet (a breaded river fish topped with a mushroom and cream sauce); banana soufflé; crêpes with flaming liqueurs; the wines-Chablis, Burgundy, Bordeaux; and the cheeses-Brie, Camembert, Gruyère. Paris is accurately named the Capital of Great Eating.

This is the hour when Paris, the grande dame of cities, is her most provocative and exciting. As beautiful as any masterpiece in the Louvre, as ageless as the Notre Dame, as majestic as the Arc de Triomphe, as turbulent as the sinuous River Seine ... this is Paris at Midnight.

Parlez Moi D'Amour

La Vie En Rose

Pigalle

The Last Time I Saw Paris

My Lost Melody (Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin)

Valentine

I Wish You Love (Que Rest-t-il de nos Amours?)

Padam... Padam... (How It Echoes The Beat Of My Heart)

If You Love Me (Hymne A L'Amour)

April In Paris

Under Paris Skies (Sous Le Ciel de Paris)

Comme Ci, Comme Ca

Mimi

Domino

Autumn Leaves (Les Petite Valse)

Un Grand Amour (A Great Love)