N: How long have you been playing the drums?
T: I started studying drums in 6th grade, but my playing started a few years before that...I was literally playing on desk-tops and pots and pans. There was always a lot of music in my house when I grew up. My parents heard and danced to the music of most of the big bands of their time. So that kind of strong rhythm and swinging sound was what I first heard. I was attracted to the sound and the feel of it all, and I guess my parents noticed. Every Christmas the one gift that I came to anticipate was some kind of toy drumset. It was just a funky toy, but it was cool with me. So by the time I was in 6th grade I hounded my parents for drum lessons, and that’s how and when I really started.
N: The first time I ever got to see you play was at a Baba Olatunji benefit with Micky Hart and many others. What was it like playing for Baba?
T: That was Steve Leicach and I on that gig for Baba. We had a great time. Man, what an honor to play at a benefit for Baba Olatunji. This man has played for over fifty years, always bringing people together wherever he went. That’s a high calling. It was just so gratifying to do our small part to raise some money to help him out with expenses relating to his health issues...It was a real tribute to his longevity and his vision. At the end of the program we all played together.
N: “The drum is a voice and the voice is a drum.” What does this mean to you?
T: When I first wrote that song I was just saying that when we play the drum it’s an extension of our voice. But there was a deeper thing going on in what I said that has taken me some time to get. It’s like, “we have to play our drums more like they are our voices, and we have to raise our voices more like we play our drums. Mean what you say, and act in accordance with that.” Bring the full force of your brilliance and strength to bear in pursuit of your vision. This America is only what we make it. We are each a force for change or stasis. Act out the change you want. Play your part in the world like you play your part in the music. Bring what you’ve got and know that it makes a difference, great and small.
N: One of my favorite musicians in the world is Massamba Diop. What’s it like recording and performing
with him?
T: Massamba is one sweet and amazing cat. Right from the start, he was always about the power of the drum to take us higher. Once he joined up with Baaba Maal [over twenty years ago] he got the chance to prove and refine this power in concerts around the world.
So playing with Massamba was an affirmation for me of why I do what I do, and how it’s important to play the music as I think and feel it needs to be played. Had I not been doing that, I wouldn’t have met him, and Baaba. And to find another musician literally half way around the world from me, but with a similar vision, well this was just another one of life’s endless miracles. We find ourselves often saying “lepp ma nanay,” which means all things are possible.
Massamba brings an energy and joy into the music that only he can do. He loves representing his people, his nation. I have never seen someone anywhere, at any time who didn’t just dive into what he had to offer. That’s really saying something. If music is a healing force, and it is, then Massamba’s medicine is his ability to light up a room with that kind of healing force. Which of course is why I gave him the nickname of “Tama Doctor.”
N: Tell us about the Senegal- America Project.
T: The Senegal-America Project really started with my friendship with Massamba Diop, the tama drummer for Baaba Maal. I met him when I opened up for Baaba Maal’s band. Massamba and Baaba invited me to work and study with them in Senegal. So three months later when I arrived in Senegal, Baaba hooked me up with a place to stay, and Massamba started teaching me about the tama drum. Baaba saw [our] growing friendship, and saw that I was getting very good on the tama, and included me on several of his concerts during that time. So at the end of that trip I invited Massamba to work with me in America. We’ve now done 16 tours in our 10 years of working together.
The American part of the project started with just me and Massamba doing festival gigs, concerts and workshops in schools. It expanded into collaborations with many other performers and artists. He has also worked with American playwrights, dancers, film-makers, and by now has worked with me at literally hundreds of schools and more festivals than I can count.
But it didn’t stop there. We’ve done recordings together, and through Massamba’s connections I’ve met other Senegalese musicians. There has been a lot of interest from schools in the educational potential of our project. In addition to performing our music, we do hands-on workshops [about the] music, dance, and culture of Senegal, and then make connections to those traditions here in America. We discuss and demonstrate the common ground between Senegal and America, and also address the issue of race as it pertains to our two nations and the world around us.
In December and January we took a group of 17 Americans that included teachers, musicians, artists, a story-teller, a social scientist, and a film maker to Senegal. Everyone went with a project of their own to pursue.
My own project was to create a collaborative recording that brought together traditional and innovative players from both countries. That recording is currently being mixed in hopes of finding a label interested in licensing and distributing this remarkable music. And this is just the beginning.
N: Any new recordings in the works?
T: Yes, I have two things in the works right now. The first is a “live in the studio” take with my ensemble. It’s just so difficult to get the concert vibe recorded at the concert site, so we decided to bring the concert to the studio. We played our favorite set live a couple of times over two days, and then I just mixed it with a couple of overdubs. I really dig it.
The other new thing is “The Senegal-America Project.” It includes several members of Baaba Maal’s band, along with other singers and drummers from Senegal. We filmed the entire thing, so I am hoping to be able to put it out with a DVD.
In both cases I can only go as fast as my limited funds allow. If there are folks out there who want to support these projects, I’d love to hear from you. I love this new music, and can’t wait to get it out there in the world.
N: You have a lot to say through your spoken word done to music. What messages are you trying to convey?
T: In my world, music is supposed to build strength and courage. It can open our hearts and minds and remind us of what’s wrong in our world and how to begin to set that right. Or what is precious and should be kept that way. It’s a social force, and whether you dance to it, listen to it, or play it, we are all part of it. There have been times in my life when music helped me find my way; helped me regain focus, or find the courage to start or stop something. I guess one day I just realized it was time to include some of my spoken word creations in the music. Sometimes I was talking about being grateful for what I have, sometimes I was talking about the troubles we face that seem so insurmountable. When the music is right, we feel so connected to ourselves, our world, and to each other. I thought that if I use that open feeling to share my experiences, that saying and offering those words would teach me something about myself. At the same time, those who heard my words might recognize some part of themselves in what I was saying. It’s a kind of storytelling that humans have always done, and I was looking to use that force inside the instrumental storytelling that is already inherent in the music. |
