Having come to the U.S. from his native Nigeria to study medicine, percussionist
Babatunde Olatunji eventually became one of the first African music stars in the States. He also soon counted jazz heavyweights like
John Coltrane ("Tunji") and
Dizzy Gillespie among his admirers (
Gillespie had, a decade earlier, also courted many Cuban music stars via his trailblazing Latin jazz recordings). And, in spite of it being viewed by some as a symbol of African chic,
Drums of Passion is still a substantial record thanks to
Olatunji's complex and raw drumming. Along with a cadre of backup singers and two other percussionists,
Olatunji works through eight traditional drum and chorus cuts originally used to celebrate a variety of things in Nigeria: "Akiwowo" and "Shango" are chants to a train conductor and the God of Thunder, respectively, while "Baba Jinde" is a celebration of the dance of flirtation and "Odun De! Odun De!" serves as a New Year's greeting. The choruses do sound a bit overwrought and even too slick at times (partly due to the fact that most of the singers are not African), but thankfully the drumming is never less than engaging. The many curious world music fans who are likely to check this album out should also be sure to look into even better African drumming by native groups like
the Drummers of Burundi and the percussion outfits featured on various field recordings. [The 2002 CD reissue on Columbia/Legacy adds the track "Menu Di Ye Jewe (Who Is This?)," which was recorded at one of the 1959 sessions for the album, but was previously unissued in the U.S.] ~ Stephen Cook