Yacub Addy (April 15, 1931 – December 18, 2014) was a Ghanaian traditional drummer, composer, choreographer and educator who collaborated with many musicians in various genres, including

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

. He has been referred to as "the leading ambassador of Ghanaian music and culture". Starting in 1995, Addy taught percussion and West African drumming at

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History S ...

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...

. He also taught at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Va ...

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

. He was a recipient of a 2010

National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's ...

awarded by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

Early life

Addy was born in 1931 into the Ga ethnic group in the village of Avenor, outside of Accra, Ghana. His father was Jacob Kpani Addy ("Okonfo Akoto"), a ''wonche'' or

medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...

who integrated

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed ...

ic music into healing and other

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

s. His mother was Akua Hagan, a lead singer in her husband's medicine music. His maternal grandmother was also an Okonfo ("Okonfo Ablabah"). His father had 10 wives over the course of his life, and more than 50 children. His extended family included many drummers, singers, and dancers, including brothers

Obo Addy Obo Addy (January 15, 1936 – September 13, 2012) was a Ghanaian drummer and dancer who was one of the first native African musicians to bring the fusion of traditional folk music and Western pop music known as ''worldbeat'' to Europe and th ...

and

Mustapha Tettey Addy Mustapha Tettey Addy (born 1942 in Avenor, Accra, Ghana) is a Ghanaian master drummer In African drumming, the title of master drummer is given to a drummer who is well known by other masters for their high skill and knowledge. It is a title p ...

. As a teenager, Addy started to play the adowantsre drum, which is a supporting drum played with the hands, as part of his father's medicine music. His primary drumming teacher was his older brother Tetteh Koblah Addy ("Akwei Wejei"). At age 16, Addy became a Muslim, the first in his family. At that time he changed his forename from Jacob to Yacub, with his father's blessing.

Career

As a performer

In 1956, the year before Ghana gained independence from British colonial rule, Addy organized and led the first major staged performance of traditional Ghanaian music and dance. He was the founder of the group Ashiedu Ketrekre, which had two units: an adult group of 40 members with drummers, singers, and dancers and a children's group. The adult ensemble was the first traditional group to play at Ghanaian hotels as well as for funerals of political and cultural figures. The children's group was the first traditional group to play on Ghanaian television. The children's group also performed during a visit by then-

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

Pat Nixon Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (''née'' Ryan; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as Second Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 ...

. He formed the small group Oboade in 1968, consisting of himself, some of his brothers and a friend. Oboade was the first professional traditional Ghanaian ensemble to tour in the West, from 1972 to 1975. Their first European concerts were at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972 ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, where they were well received. Oboade was based in London from 1972 to 1975, and it was there that Addy met his future wife and manager, Amina, an African-American woman. The group toured throughout Europe and the United States during that time. Their U.S. concerts included shows in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

but many were held in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. After Oboade disbanded, the Addy family moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

in 1975, where he found work performing and teaching. In 1982 while he was living in the Washington, D.C. area, Addy formed the ensemble Odadaa!, composed primarily of Ga artists and which remained active for decades. The group's name translates as "Let the music begin!" They performed both traditional Ghanaian music and dance, arranged and choreographed by Addy, as well as collaborations with artists from other traditions such as

kora Kora may refer to: Places India * Kora, Bardhaman, West Bengal * Kora, Bharuch, Gujarat * Korha, Katihar, also known as Kora, in Bihar * Kora, Kendrapara, Odisha * Kora, Wardha, Maharastra * Kora, Tumakuru, Karnataka * Toyaguda, Adilabad, Telan ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

. Two of Addy's brothers performed with Odadaa! for many years. Odadaa! made their first appearance at the

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of vi ...

in 1984. Addy had wanted to visit the city ever since he heard Louis Armstrong talk about his hometown and its history during Armstrong's visits to Accra in the 1950s. Addy loved jazz and wanted to know more about the area called

Congo Square Congo Square (french: Place Congo) is an open space, now within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The square is famous for its i ...

and specifically the rhythms that Africans played there. On his 1984 trip to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louis Armstrong Park Louis Armstrong Park is a park located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. In the 1960s a controversial urban renewal project leveled a substantial portion of the Tremé neigh ...

. In 1993, Addy moved to the

Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

of New York. In 2005, Addy premiered his work "Kolo" with jazz vibraphonist

Stefon Harris Stefon DeLeon Harris (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz vibraphonist. Biography A native of Albany, New York, Harris intended to work for the New York Philharmonic until he heard the music of Charlie Parker. During the 1990s he recorded ...

. In 2010, Addy and Odadaa! were artists-in-residence at the Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center ("The Egg") in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

Collaborations with Wynton Marsalis

Addy first saw Marsalis perform on television in 1981 playing with a symphony orchestra and was impressed with the younger musician's "spirit and his dedication". Addy told his wife at the time that someday he would work with Marsalis. The two musicians met in 1993 at the

First inauguration of Bill Clinton The first inauguration of Bill Clinton as the 42nd president of the United States was held on Wednesday, January 20, 1993, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 52nd inauguration and marked the commencem ...

, where they were to perform on the same stage and met in the dressing rooms. Addy told Marsalis that he liked him and said "with confidence" that someday they would work together. After that initial meeting, Marsalis attended performances of Odadaa! two years in a row at the World Music Institute in New York City. The two musicians did finally begin to work together in 2003, on a project titled ''Africa Jazz'', representing a collection of Addy's compositions and Marsalis' jazz pieces. The project was performed in 2003 by the

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is an American big band and jazz orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. The Orchestra is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a performing arts organization in New York City. History In 1988 the Orchestra was formed as ...

and Odadaa! at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. After the success of ''Africa Jazz'', Addy and Marsalis began collaborating on ''Congo Square'', a fusion of jazz and the musical traditions of the Ga people in Ghana. The piece was based on the history of

enslaved Africans The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

in New Orleans and the Square which from the 1700s through the mid-1800s was the only legal public gathering place where black people were allowed to dance and perform music, on Sunday afternoons. The mingling in Congo Square of those African rhythms with European brass traditions led to the birth of jazz. At the beginning of their collaboration, Addy asked Marsalis his years-old question about the music the slaves played in Congo Square. Marsalis replied that no one knew with certainty, but he was sure that together "they could capture that spirit", which became the basis of the work. It was announced by Marsalis only four days before Hurricane Katrina hit the city that the premiere of the newly commissioned work would be outdoors in Congo Square on April 23, 2006, the final day of that year's

French Quarter Festival French Quarter Festival is a free, annual music festival held in early April, located in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1983 with the first festival held in 1984, the festival features primarily New Orleans m ...

, marking the culmination of a weeklong residency by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The plan was to repeat the performance on a seven-city tour of the U.S. South and East Coast, ending in New York City on May 6. Following the devastation of New Orleans by flooding, Marsalis and Addy committed to going forward with the premiere as scheduled as a "gift to the spiritual revival of the Crescent City". The New York City performances were recorded and released on CD in 2007. Marsalis, Addy and their ensembles toured again with ''Congo Square'' in summer 2007, with performances across the U.S. and Canada. The musical suite was filmed at the 2007

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fes ...

and released on DVD. On January 19, 2009, Addy's Odadaa! and Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performed together at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

in Washington, D.C. as part of a celebration of the

First inauguration of Barack Obama The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The 56th inauguration, which set a record attendance ...

and the birthday of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, titled as ''Let Freedom Swing''. They performed the piece "Ajeseke" from ''Congo Square''.

As an educator

Over the years as leader of various ensembles, Addy trained numerous Ghanaian musicians. During the 1960s, when he was assisting his brother as a teacher at the Lincoln School, the American high school in Accra, Addy developed his Five Hand Drumming Techniques as a method to train non-Ghanaian students. He first put his system into use in the 1970s when he was teaching in the Pacific Northwest. His technique has been copied by many other instructors. After moving to the United States, Addy offered numerous workshops in various cities. He also taught at several institutions, including the Washington State Cultural Enrichment Program, the

Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools is the largest public school district in the state of Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Park and Tukwila. As of 2018, 113 schools are operated b ...

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

in Washington, D.C.,

, and at

Death

Addy died of a heart attack on December 18, 2014, at age 83. He was following behind an ambulance that was taking his wife to the hospital after she suffered an

anaphylactic Anaphylaxis is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of use of emergency medication on site. It typically causes more than one of the follow ...

reaction. He experienced

cardiopulmonary arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

while driving and died in the same emergency room at

Albany Medical Center Albany Medical Center (AMC) is the name of the umbrella organization over the Albany Medical Center Hospital and Albany Medical College in Albany, New York. Though the name Albany Medical Center referring to the two institutions on their shared c ...

where his wife was being treated. Amina was released from the hospital on December 20 and Yacub was buried the following day in the Islamic tradition. Addy was survived by his wife and nine children. At the time of his death, he had nine living siblings in Africa and two in Virginia. The Addys lived in

Latham, New York Latham is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Albany County, New York, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 9 in the town of Colonie, a dense suburb north of Albany. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,736. Latham was ...

Discography

* 1974: ''Music of Ghana: Kpanlogo Party'' with Oboade * 1982: ''Blema Bii: Children of the Ancients'' Yacub Addy with Obo Addy * 1999: ''Children of the Ancients'' with Odadaa! *2007: ''Congo Square'' with Odadaa!, Wynton Marsalis, and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

Filmography

* 1985: ''Dance Like a River: Odadaa! Drumming and Dancing in the U.S.'' * 1997: ''Odadaa! Drumming and Dances of Ghana'' * 2008: ''Congo Square: Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Yacub Addy and Odadaa'' * 2010: ''Let Freedom Swing: Conversations on Jazz and Democracy'', includes three songs by Addy and Marsalis from ''Congo Square'' * 2011: "Wynton at 50" from ''Live at Lincoln Center'' (

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

), a celebration of Marsalis' 50th birthday includes Addy and Odadaa! among the special guests

Awards and honors

* 2000: Regional Arts Award, Albany-Schenectady League of Arts *2010:

, National Endowment for the Arts

References

External links

* * *
Addy discusses the origin of the song "Hedzole Baba" from ''Congo Square'' with the National Endowment for the Arts

Performance of the song "Kolomashi" from the NEA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Addy, Yacub 1931 births 2014 deaths Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian drummers Master drummers Musicians from Accra Musicians from Albany, New York Ghanaian Muslims Skidmore College faculty Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty National Heritage Fellowship winners