| In Memoriam Babatunde Olatunji African drumming master Babatunde Olatunji died Sunday, April 6, 2003 at Salinas Memorial Hospital in Salinas, California. Born in Ajido, Nigeria, Olatunji grew up in an atmosphere in which drumming was part of the community's daily life. In 1950 he won a Rotary International Foundation scholarship to attend Moorehouse College in Atlanta. After his graduation in 1954, he moved to New York City to do graduate work at New York University. He also started a drumming and dance group and soon became a popular performer at a variety of New York venues. He also toured the United States with Martin Luther King Jr., drumming at civil rights rallies. In 1959 he recorded an album for Columbia Records titled "Drums of Passion," which quickly became a best-seller, reaching number 13 on the Billboard charts. Olatunji was one of the featured performers at John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration in 1961, and he also made appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show that same year and on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in 1963. In 1964 Olatunji performed at the African Pavilion at the New York World's Fair, and he used the money he earned from that to open the Olatunji Center for African Culture in Harlem. Until the center closed in 1988, Olatunji and his volunteer staff hosted workshops and offered music and dance lessons to promote African culture. In 1991, Olatunji and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart formed the group Planet Drum, and their self-titled debut album won a Grammy award. In 1997 Olatunji's album "Love Drum Talk" earned a Grammy nomination. In November 2001, Olatunji was inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame. At the awards banquet, he accepted the honor with a poem: I am one with my father and the universe. |
