Babatunde Olatunji | en

"Not since Mingus and Blakey has music bristled with a sense of message like this" -Downbeat magazine Raised in New York and Englewood, New Jersey, Babatunde is a jazz percussionist who migrated westward to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960's where he was further immersed in global rhythms, as a member of the visionary ensemble Bata Koto lead by fellow percussionist Bill Summers (of Herbie Hancock's The Headhunters and Los Hombres Calientes) 'Tunde', as he is known to intimates, has also drawn immeasurable experience working with such singular stylists as Pharoah Sanders, Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, McCoy...

Babatunde Olatunji (April 7, 1927 – April 6, 2003) was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist and recording artist. Olatunji was born in the village of Ajido, a small town near Badagry, Lagos State, in southwestern Nigeria. A member of the Yoruba people, Olatunji was introduced to traditional African music at an early age. He read in Reader's Digest magazine about the Rotary International Foundation's scholarship program, and applied for it. He came to the United States of America in 1950. Olatunji won a following among jazz musicians, notably creating a strong relationship with John Coltrane and Columbia Records A&R...

Babatunde Tony Ellis was born and spent his childhood in Kingston Jamaica at a time when Reggae music was just beginning to spread its message to the worldwide audience it has today. Tony's earliest musical influences came from the fertile creative environment that's woven into the often turbulent Kingston streets. As a young man Tony relocated to London, England where his musical influences began to expand rapidly. Even from this early stage his musical tastes were broad and eclectic. They expanded beyond Reggae artists to include many bands that were popular in England at the time such as The Shadows...