Jeffrey Siegel
Mar 2, 2022
Podcast 885: A Conversation with Bill Summers, Part One/ Podcast 886: A Conversation with Bill Summers, Part Two
Listen to Part One
Listen to Part Two
Years ago, the study of percussion led Bill Summers to a particular ceremony in Brooklyn, where he was introduced to the rich history of religious, spiritual drumming by vocalist Leon Thomas. The path led him to Cuba, where he studied with a venerated master, immersed in a spiritual drum fraternity (Anya) that took him all the way back. He innately recognized the origin, the source, the foundation of all rhythm.
Learning the history of Bata in this deep way has been a 50-year process for Summers. All through his illustrious career with Herbie Hancock, The Headhunters, Los Hombres Calientes, and countless top names in music from Sonny Rollins and Ella Fitzgerald to Quincy Jones and Patrice Rushen, he has, with his longtime friend Scott Roberts (a/k/a One Drop Scott), sought for a way to blend spiritual music with the sounds of the modern western world.
His latest project, Yellow Flowers, is from the group he calls Forward Back. Summers and Roberts create music with a purpose, to, as he says, take the world on a journey BACK into traditional instruments to move the culture FORWARD by unearthing the rhythmic relationship between Africa, the Caribbean, and America.