Clinton St. Quarterly—Fall/Winter 1988 wall the group P h o t o s b y B ru c e D u g d a le have been Islam and since there are no seats left. A young man named Andy Frankel explains that he has studied with these musicians for two years in Nigeria. He says that the dancer is from a long line of dancers. The mask is part of a powerful ritual of magic, while the acrobatics incorporates some elements of the European circus tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of the African history is recounted by poetry. The troupe's leader, Lamidi Ayankunle, claims a percussive ancestry dating back at least 20 generations. His predecessor, a drummer named Ayan, has become known as a god. Ayankunle lives in a large compound with 15 adult males, many of them drummers, who tour a range of neighboring towns. They function as praise singers for traWhat we are hearing is sacred music of the Yoruba people, one of the largest tribes in Nigeria, whose songs for Shango and Yemaya have become familiar to people who listen to the bata drum music of Cuba and Brazil as well as Africa. One of the drummers does a roll and a dancer appears. He is wearing a white mask which is traditional in the sacred dances of the Yorubas. He dances in incredible tw ists and turns and suddenly performs an acrobatic flip. He waits for the proper beat. The crowd is amazed, thrilled. People are holding their breath as he flips three, four times in a row. all in with the drums. People are sitting along the B umB e rD ruM bo Addy fills the stage playing f j music of Ghana with two large drums, a ‘talking drum,” bell, shekere, and voices. Each part adds a new layer until we hear the full textured sound of a West African drum ensemble: vocal harmonies, interlocking rhythms, and a three-part drum interaction that allows for extended improvisations. Obo lives in Portland and frequently performs with horns and guitars. But in this setting he has chosen his traditional ensemble. During the first tune each member gets up and does a solo dance. Born and raised in Ghana. Obo is the son of a priest and medicine man. He ditional festivals, which partially suppressed by Christianity. The third drummer in has played drums since the age of six. “ I t ’s amazing to get together with people from different countries, to see what is outside your own environment,” he tells the audience. “ I haven’t been around some of these musicians before. It brings the world together—music is really a universal language." This brings fo rth warm applause. Obo introduces another piece, this time with the talking drum. People in the audience are on the edge of their seats. Many of the rhythms are based on spiritual music while others are for social functions: gatherings for newborn babies, birthday parties, special festivals. “ Even the music I play with American horns comes from the spiritual thing. If I take a traditional song and transfer it onto bass or trap, it's still the traditional rhythm. The bata drums play the spiritual rhythms. But I use all of them—social and spiritual. My background tells me to use what I The word was out: there would be no time wasted at Bumberdrum. John Kertzer, the program's unobtrusive emcee, put it simply: “ This is an historic occasion. Where else in the world could you hear all of these musicians at once?” SamulNori, the Korean group, opens the program. A small gong-like drum introduces the firs t song, fo llowed by a large hourglass-shaped drum and then a barrel drum. Quickly two other drums join, forming an intense full-bodied, driving sound. This music originated from traditional farmer's band music for planting and harvest festivals and grew to include shaman rituals connected with seasonal ceremonies. The drummers dance as they play, taking large steps in and out of a square. The female singer's voice rings out above the drums, building in energy. During a special dance, the performers' headdresses are decorated with long swirls of ribbon which tw irl in the air in brilliant symmetrical patterns. Next up is Tito Puente whose name has become synonymous with tim bales (drums) and Afro-Cuban music itself. He plays alternating rhythms with each stick as if two people are there—playing rhumbas, mambos, and somehow weaving a samba in there while the rhythms all lead to one another. You feel many people and cu ltures converging together as he keeps a melodic thread moving; these are all dance rhythms, African rhythms which have survived and evolved in the new world. Puente’s rhumba guaguamco is distinct, almost like a voice taking a solo. There is a theory that rhumbas derive from rest dances used as “ breathers" during sacred dance music, such as the music of the bata drums. Puente’s guaguamco has the tone of a rhythm to be played intact, not tampered with, and is still flamboyant. We are finding it more and more d ifficu lt to stay in our seats. We want to dance, and yet here we are in the sturdy cushions of the Opera House. Puente's rhythms are a natural transition into the Oyelami Troupe from Nigeria. There are three drummers, two of them playing bata drums which are double-headed, hourglass-shaped drums. The rhythms sound like other West African drumming we have heard, although this is more filled in, as if the patterns have been completed. There are no “ missing beats." plays a small set of three drums with high pitches. What we are hearing is a drum orchestra. The concept of percussionists as “ back-up” musicians has to be some butcher's version. Early on, emcee Kertzer mentioned that the idea for Bumberdrum was Norm Langill’s, the Bumbershoot Festival Director. SamulNori told him about various drum festivals they had been to, most a bit more “ new age" oriented. “ Rather than as an anthropological approach we wanted a little more body and soul in it ," said Langill. The Nigerian troupe rounds out their set with some secular and social dances. We feel we have arrived. two. sync e n o u g h in t h e i r o w n r i g h t t o d r a w a n d h o ld a la rg e a u d ie n c e b y th e m s e lv e s . B u m b e r d r u m : a n in t e r n a t io n a l d r u m f e s t i v a l , w a s p a r t o f S e a t t l e ’ s B u m b e r s h o o t A r t s F e s t iv a l in S e a t t le o v e r L a b o r D a y w e e k e n d . T h e l i s t o f p e r f o r m e r s w a s a w e s o m e . W o r ld c la s s p e r f o r m e r s w e r e p r e s e n t f r o m a ll c o r n e r s o f t h e g lo b e— K o re a , C u b a , N ig e r ia , G h a n a , In d ia , a n d t h e U n i te d S t a t e s — e a c h s t r o n g
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