Drumming with tears: Yacub Addy, master drummer from Ghana

The late Yacub Addy was a master drummer of the Ga people in Ghana. He began traveling and performing in the West in 1972 and lived for many years in upstate New York, starting in the early 1980s. I met him there at the house of my friend, Eddie Adenola Knowles, a percussionist who'd worked with him quite a bit. In 2010 he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. This is an excerpt from an interview conducted by Josephine Reed for the NEA:

NEA: Yacub, what was that first performance in Congo Square like?

Addy: It's hard to talk about. Even when I arrived at the airport in New Orleans, I got shivers, and I made prayers for all those who had died in the storm. When I arrived at the park the day of the premiere, I was thinking about all the slaves and free people who had played there so many years ago and passed away. And I thought about all those who had died in the recent storm. I walked over to the statue of Louis Armstrong with a couple of the guys in Odadaa!. We made prayers there. Congo Square was a center for African religion, as well as music and dance, so I asked the jinn to let us do our concert there that day. It was a very hot day, but I was chilly. I asked the guys if they heard something. They said they didn't hear anything. But I heard something like whispers. I went to our trailer dressing room. I didn't feel like myself and I was very cold. Before I went on the stage, I went back to the statue by myself and prayed again. When I came on the stage, the voices became louder, telling me to drum. When I started drumming, they went away. The crowd was so responsive. The music was still developing, but the spirit of all the artists was so strong that day. It is love that made Congo Square work. If Wynton and I did not love each other, the music would never have worked.

Amina Addy: Later, on tour in North Carolina, Yacub was overcome with feelings on stage during the first half. It started during "Timin Timin". Tears were streaming down his face and he was playing like he never played before. Only Wynton, Imani, our vocalist, and I, saw what was happening. Imani and I walked him to his dressing room for intermission. I helped him change his outfit for the second half and gradually he came back to us. Many artists have had experiences like that.

I've added this to my collection, Emotion & Magic in Musical Performance.