Olatunji: Drums of Passion

Label: Columbia Legacy

Back in the white-bread 1950s, world music was considered too raw to place before the record buying public in unadulterated form. Add some strings, some white people, call it exotica, and then maybe the bastardized bugger would be considered fit for consumer consumption. Drums of Passion was the album that changed that. When it appeared in 1959 – yup, 50 years ago – it was the first LP of traditional African music recorded in the U.S. Nigerian master percussionist Babatunde Olatunji’s collection of authentic West African drumming and chants caught on, though, to the extent that it even spawned a 1966 sequel, More Drums of Passion, included in this two-CD set. Influencing jazz musicians, rock musicians (eventually), and other open-minded listeners with its complex polyrhythms and earthy vocals, it became an important artifact in many people’s global musical education. Fifty years down the road, its joyous energy still resounds undimmed. (Steve)