Sikiru Adepoju | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 10 November 1950 |
| Origin | Nigeria |
| Genres | World music |
| Occupation(s) | Percussionist, recording artist |
| Instrument(s) | Talking drum |
| Website | sikiru |
Sikiru Adepoju (born 10 November 1950) is a Nigerian percussionist and recording artist, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles.
A master of the talking drum, Adepoju comes from a musical family from Eruwa in western Nigeria. He and his brothers Saminu and Lasisi were taught drumming very early by their father, Chief Ayanleke Adepoju, whose very name, Ayan, means "descended from drummers." While still in his teens, Sikiru toured with and recorded several albums with the Inter-Reformers Band, the band of one of the pioneers of Afro-beat, Nigerian Juju artist Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey.
In 1985, Adepoju came to America to play with O. J. Ekemode's Nigerian All-Stars, and three months later met Babatunde Olatunji.
He became an integral part of Olatunji's Drums of Passion, and through Olatunji met Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. [1] Since then he has frequently been a guest percussionist during Hart and Bill Kreutzmann's "Rhythm Devils" segments of Grateful Dead concerts, and played talking drum with Mickey Hart's group Bembe Orisha, which toured in 2001. [2] He has been a part of most of Mickey Hart's projects since they first met, including the albums (and associated tours) Mickey Hart's Mystery Box , At the Edge, and Supralingua , and was a Grammy Award contributor to Mickey Hart's Planet Drum and Global Drum Project albums. Sikiru is a member of the Mickey Hart Band, has recorded on their CD Mysterium Tremendum, and is featured on vocals on the song "Who Stole the Show?".
He has collaborated with Muruga Booker and Olatunji on the CD Cosmic Rhythm Vibrations (recently remastered and re-issued by Chesky Records as Circle of Drums). He plays with Muruga Booker and Badal Roy as part of the Global Village Ceremonial Band, and appeared with them at the Starwood Festival in 2003, which led to the creation of the SpiritDrum Festival (a tribute to [Babatunde Olatunji, which also featured Jim Donovan of Rusted Root, Perry Robinson, Richie "Shakin'" Nagan, Jeff Rosenbaum and Halim El-Dabh). He has recorded albums with artists as varied as Carlos Santana, Airto Moreira, Bola Abimbola, The String Cheese Incident, Stevie Wonder, [3] Zakir Hussain, Chief Ebenezer Obey, the Inter-Reformers Band, and the Nigerian All-Stars.
Adepoju also leads groups of his own, including The Honeymakers, Afrika Heartbeat, and Sikiru Adepoju & Heart Beat. Afrika Heartbeat debut their first CD, entitled Ijinle Ilu, in 2003. The band Sikiru Adepoju & Heart Beat debut on 22 July 2009 at the 29th Starwood Festival, featuring Douglas "Val" Serrant (steel drum and djembe), guitarist Peter Fujii, percussionist Deen Badarou, trap drummer Deszon X. Claiborne, and DJ Deegan Mack Adams. [4] At the same event he and Serrant joined a re-launch of the Rainforest Band as a tribute to Merl Saunders, the site of their last performance, featuring his son Tony Saunders, Michael Hinton, and other members of the Rainforest Band and other Saunders' projects. [5]
Adepoju's current project is entitled "Riddim Doctors". It features Sikiru Adepoju, Giovanni Hidalgo, Zakir Hussain, Ian "Inx" Herman, Femi Ojetunde, Peter Fujii, Sola Babatola. and Douglas "Val" Serrant.
Sikiru Adepoju won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2008 for his contribution to the title album of Mickey Hart's Global Drum Project at the 51st annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. [6] [7] [8]
Mickey Hart is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 1971, and again from October 1974 until their final show in July 1995. He and fellow Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann earned the nickname "the rhythm devils".
Michael Babatunde Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist, and recording artist.
Ustad Zakir Hussain is an Indian tabla player, composer, percussionist, music producer and film actor. He is the eldest son of tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha.
Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is a Latin jazz percussionist.
The Rhythm Devils is a band led by former Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.
The Rainforest Band was a jam band that spans several genres, including jazz, rock, world music, R&B, and funk. Founded in 1990, it produced four albums and performed for ten years.
Planet Drum is a world music album by Mickey Hart, a musician and musicologist who was a member of the rock band the Grateful Dead.
The Rhythm Devils Concert Experience is a 2008 two-disc DVD concert and documentary of the Rhythm Devils 2006 tour, featuring members of the Grateful Dead, Phish, The Other Ones, and Deep Banana Blackout. The name "Rhythm Devils" was originally a nickname for Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Hart and Kreutzmann formed the band in 2006 and used the name as the group's moniker.
Mysterium Tremendum is an album by the Mickey Hart Band, a musical group led by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. It was released by 360° Productions on April 10, 2012.
Global Drum Project is an album by Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo. It was released by Shout! Factory on October 2, 2007.
Supralingua is an album by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and his percussion ensemble Planet Drum. It was released on CD by Rykodisc Records on August 4, 1998.
Anthony Francis, known by his stage name Sanga of The Valley, is a Trinidadian drummer, Babatunde Olatunji' s student, member of the Village Drums of Freedom.
The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back is a retrospective album by Mickey Hart. It was released by Rykodisc Records on April 23, 2002, in two formats — CD, and DVD-Audio. It contains music excerpted from six of Hart's albums – Diga (1976), The Apocalypse Now Sessions (1980), At the Edge (1990), Planet Drum (1991), Mickey Hart's Mystery Box (1996), and Supralingua (1998). It also contains one previously unreleased track.
Mickey Hart's Mystery Box is an album by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. It was released on CD and cassette by Rykodisc Records on June 11, 1996. The album combines Hart's percussion-based world music with the vocal harmonies of the British singing sextet the Mint Juleps. Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics for all the songs.
At the Edge is a percussion-based world music album by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. It was released on CD and cassette by Rykodisc Records on September 18, 1990. It was Hart's first album with the multi-national percussion ensemble that would later be called Planet Drum.
Superorganism is an album by the Mickey Hart Band, a musical group led by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. It was released by 360° Productions on August 13, 2013.
RAMU is an album by drummer Mickey Hart. It combines traditional drums, electronic percussion, sampled sounds, and vocals. It was released on November 10, 2017.
In the Groove is an album by Planet Drum, a percussion-based world music ensemble led by Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo. It was released on August 5, 2022.
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