Ep 1. Chief Baba Neil Clarke: Brooklyn Bugarabou

 

In episode 1, internationally renowned percussionist Neil Clarke offers African drumming as a healing practice.

In this presentation of his Brooklyn Bugarabou project, Neil Clarke abstracts, contemporizes, and unveils traditional West African drum resonances as sonic pathways to deeper breath and higher consciousness.

 

About the Artist

A master percussionist of legendary status, Chief Baba Neil Clarke was born in the spring of 1951 and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Involved with traditional African drumming and the percussive arts for more than half a century, he has performed regularly with and has long-term musical relationships with artists such as Randy Weston, Harry Belafonte, Dianne Reeves, Miriam Makeba, and many others. He continues to practice for audiences and communities both ritually and on stage. He has been cited and received numerous awards in recognition of his work. In 2016 he received both a "Jazz Impact Award" from the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium and a Chieftaincy title in Osogbo, Nigeria. In 2019 - 2020 Chief Clarke was a Scholar-in- Residence at the prestigious Schomburg Center in NYC.