The Wesleyan Connection

Some Day Catch Some Day Down and Sunset Park Polyphony, two CDs released recently and produced by Wesleyan alumni, showcase the cross-pollination of world music and jazz at Wesleyan across decades, and specific collaborations of Wesleyan graduates and faculty for more than 30 years. The albums also reflect Abraham Adzenyah’s long contribution to the Wesleyan community as a teacher of West African music, and his deep influence on generations of Wesleyan students who now make up a large number of alumni.

Some Day Catch Some Day Down by Talking Drums (innova Recordings) was originally released in 1987 as an LP and was reissued along with mp3 bonus tracks in 2011. Most of the members of Talking Drums were Wesleyan faculty, alumni, or graduate students. Formed by Abraham Adzenyah and co-led by the late Wesleyan African dance teacher Freeman Kwadzo Donkor, Talking Drums traveled throughout New England and across the United States, performing original works that brought together African pop, traditional West African drumming/dance, and jazz. The CD captures the infectious dance grooves, traditional drumming, and jazz—veering into the avant-garde—that defined the group’s distinct sound, based on compositions by its members.

Among the musicians appearing on the album and/or the mp3 bonus tracks are: Abraham Adzenyah MA ’79, Maxwell Amoh MA ’84, David Bindman ’85, MA ’87, Wes Brown ’74, Peter Chipello ’81, Freeman Kwadzo Donkor, royal hartigan MA ’83, PhD ’86, Rob Lancefield ’82, MA ’93, PhD ’05, and Ben Manley ’83. Lancefield, who is manager of museum information services at Davison Art Center, produced the original LP and the current reissue.

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Sunset Park Polyphony by the David Bindman Ensemble was released March 1 and is a narrative collection of saxophonist Bindman’s compositions performed by a six-member ensemble including Bindman, Wes Brown, and royal hartigan. Exploring rich layers of rhythmic and harmonic complexity and adapting elements from world music traditions, including West African rhythms and Indian modes and time cycles, the work is an outgrowth of studies at Wesleyan and of an enduring collaboration that began there three decades ago. Bindman, Brown, and hartigan perform with hartigan’s Blood Drum Spirit (Live in China CD, innova) in concerts and workshops around the world.

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Tags: alumni, CD, music