In 1981 drummer royal hartigan, bassist Wes Brown, and saxophonist David Bindman met at Wesleyan University. royal was a graduate student in world music, Wes was working as a freelance musician and raising a child, and David was an undergraduate. When Ghanaian Master Drummers Abraham Kobena Adzenyah and Freeman Kwadzo Donkor formed the group Talking Drums to play Ghanaian highlife and traditional West African music and dance, royal, Wes and David were among the Americans in this multi-cultural group, and helped create the original sound and material for Talking Drums heard on their album Some Day Catch Some Day Down (Shanachie, 1987), and on tour throughout the US. At the same time, along with trombonist Bill Lowe, the three formed the collective group Juba.
Today under royal’s leadership and the name BloodDrumSpirit, the group continues. Following their first quartet recording in 1993 (re-issued by Innova in 2001) their latest work “blooddrumspirit: the royal hartigan ensemble live in china” reflects the wide scope of royal’s and the group’s studies of indigenous musics of West Africa, Asia, and Native America documented in his books with CD/DVD, West African Rhythms for Drumset, (Warner Bros./Alfred, 1995), Dancin' On the Time (Tapspace, 2006), and West African Rhythms for Drumzset (Printtech, in press). Infusing the album are sounds and forms that originate from these cultures: Anlo Kete is a 22 minute suite based on songs and rhythms from the Eve people of the Volta region of Ghana, Gati Shadows Within is based on South Indian solkattu rhythmic vocables, and Flowing Stream is a traditional Chinese love song known throughout China. Other pieces employ 7, 11, and 15 pulse time cycles, such as Night in Tunisia, which features an adapted Afro-Cuban guaguanco in 7/8. New compositions by David Bindman and the group’s newest member, pianist Art Hirahara, explore many aspects of time, tonality, timbre, and form. Many of the pieces are longer than those found on most CDs, performed as they would be in concert. “Live in China” was recorded over two and a half days, mostly first takes with minimal editing.
The CD was recorded on the group’s third tour in China. This trip began with a performance that threatened to be rained out, but that took place as scheduled, all the players under large umbrellas with thousands of people enjoying the music in a downpour. From the Midi Festival and the Dashanzi International Arts Festival in Beijing to the Blue Door in Hong Kong, and clubs in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, the band received a wonderfully enthusiastic and open welcome.
The ensemble does residencies, workshops, ensemble rehearsals, lessons, and concerts throughout the world, at universities, festivals, and other performance and educational venues. In the spirit of royal's Fulbright residency in the Philippines last fall, we feel a responsibility to live with and share our music with people over a period of time, learning from others as well as giving. We perform concerts with this same goal of sharing directly with people.
For information on our work, collaborations, or bringing us to your space, contact us at blood_drum@yahoo.com.
Click below for a video preview of wes, art and royal performing royal's "Wadsworth Falls" in October 2004 at the Big Easy Cafe in Beijing, China.
