Baba Robert Crowder This is Me

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1. 1. Robert Crowder :: PFP

   www.folkloreproject.org/folkar - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/25/2008   Last Visited: 6/25/2008

   Robert Crowder (Baba Ibekunle Bey)
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   Born in West Virginia in 1930, Robert Crowder and his family moved back and forth between his home state and Philadelphia until they finally settled here in the late 1930s.Many of today's dancers and drummers trace their own roots through Mr. Crowder, who began drumming as a child in North Philadelphia using wooden cheese boxes and found objects.He had learned to drum, but he kept wanting to explore his music further.Local parades featuring African American rhythms excited him, but he was searching for something else - and he began to find what he was looking for when he saw drummers Jean la Destiné, Chano Pozo (at the Academy of Music with Dizzy Gillespie), and Desi Arnaz.
   
   Inspired by skilled percussionists, Mr. Crowder found (and made) opportunities to learn from drummers conversant with the styles of the African diaspora.He played informally with visiting artists, began to study with percussionist John Hines, and also learned from drummers who were accompanying "interpretive dance" (the name for African dance at the time) at Judimar School of Dance, from Sydney King's Dance Studio and John Hines's own school, and from dance classes and schools associated with André Drew, Eleanor Harris, and Libby Spencer.Mr. Crowder's perspective expanded as he drummed for all types of dancing, and he was an important part of the Philadelphia African hand drumming tradition.
   
   From the 1940s to the 1960s, Mr. Crowder learned Haitian, Brazilian, and African drum traditions from artists who were born in or had immersed themselves in those traditions, but when Ghanaian artist and drummer Saka Acquaye came to town to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Mr. Crowder says, "It clarified and helped me become more alert to what I was about.From the 1940s to the 1960s, Mr. Crowder learned Haitian, Brazilian, and African drum traditions from artists who were born in or had immersed themselves in those traditions, but when Ghanaian artist and drummer Saka Acquaye came to town to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Mr. Crowder says, "It clarified and helped me become more alert to what I was about.
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   Mr. Crowder is the founder and director of Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble.
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   Mr. Crowder and Kulu Mele dance ensemble have participated in Folklore Project artist residency programs and in "Philly Dance Africa."

2. 2. Kulu Mele: African American Dance Ensemble

   www.kulumele.org/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/1/2008   Last Visited: 4/1/2008

   Baba Robert Crowder, founder and director/drummer of Kulu Mele.

3. 3. Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble :: PFP

   www.folkloreproject.org/folkar - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/25/2008   Last Visited: 6/25/2008

   Kulu Mele includes the following artists: Baba Robert Crowder (founder), Dorothy Wilkie (artistic director), John Wilkie (music director), Zoia Cisneros (dancer), Kenneth Fauntleroy (drummer), Omar Salahu-din Harrison (drummer), Gregory "Ishmale" Jackson (drummer), Ama Schley (dancer) , Payin Schley (dancer), and Angela Watson (dancer).
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   Founder Baba Crowder: Pew Fellowship in the Arts; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship, PCA Master Traditional Artist.
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   Baba Crowder (Founder and Director/Drummer) began drumming as a child in North Philadelphia in the late 1930s.Africa attracted him even then, and he sought out every opportunity to hear great drummers like Jean Leon Destine (Haiti), Chano Pozo and Desi Arnaz (Cuba), and Ladji Camara (Guinea).He began to to see commonalties between African music from different places, and began "searching for our lost heritage."He found ways to school himself, and began to study with percussionist John Hines after Hines had just finished a tour in Cuba with Katherine Dunham.In the 1940s-1960s, Crowder learned Haitian, Brazilian, and African drum traditions from native artists, including Ghanaian drummer Saka Acquaye, who was highly influential. (Crowder recorded an album with Acquaye in the 1960s that has recently been re-released by Nonesuch) In these years, Crowder also lived near and worked with many fine jazz musicians, including McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane.In the 1940s-1960s, Crowder learned Haitian, Brazilian, and African drum traditions from native artists, including Ghanaian drummer Saka Acquaye, who was highly influential. (Crowder recorded an album with Acquaye in the 1960s that has recently been re-released by Nonesuch) In these years, Crowder also lived near and worked with many fine jazz musicians, including McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane.In the 1940s-1960s, Crowder learned Haitian, Brazilian, and African drum traditions from native artists, including Ghanaian drummer Saka Acquaye, who was highly influential. (Crowder recorded an album with Acquaye in the 1960s that has recently been re-released by Nonesuch) In these years, Crowder also lived near and worked with many fine jazz musicians, including McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane.
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   One of the first African American drummers in Philadelphia to study bata drumming, Crowder has long been in the vanguard of an African cultural renaissance in Philadelphia.Several generations of African American dancers and drummers, both in Philadelphia and New York, now trace their roots through him.He has received the region's most prestigious award for artists, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and awards from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
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   His teachers include Ken "Skip" Burton, Greg "Peache" Jarmon, Baba Robert Crowder, John Wilkie, and African native masters such as Malle Fainke and Kissima Diabate.
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   Jackson has studied with Baba Robert Crowder, John Wilkie, Greg "Peache" Jarman, Mussa and the National Benin Folklorical Ensemble (Benin), and M'Bemba Bangoura (Guinea).