Drums of Passion

Babatunde Olatunji - Drums of Passion

Drums of Passion
Our Price: $11.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $5.44 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

Music CD Cover

Artist: Babatunde Olatunji
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2002-07-30
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
  1. Akiwowo
  2. Oya
  3. Odun De! Odun De!
  4. Gin-Go-Lo-Ba
  5. Kiyakiya
  6. Baba Jinde
  7. Oyin Momo Ado
  8. Shango
  9. Menu Di Ye Jewe

Free Music Notes for Drums of Passion

Free Music Review: An exotica masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars

This is one of the most entertaining recordings ever made. Now, in a historical sense, it probably is an important document for the dissemination of knowledge of world music. And it is also true that Babatunde Olatunji went on to have a quite distinguished and prolific career after making this recording, and that his later recordings may be more authentic in an academic sense.

There is another way of approaching this record, though. Though "world music" the way *we* understand it was somewhat hard to find in the USA in 1959, "exotica" was not. Exotica was a sort of lounge pop jazz that mixed Afro-Cuban rhythms with "Polynesian" style melodies to create tropical atmosphere and mood music for the tiki-bar era. It's a genre associated with Esquivel, Yma Sumac, Arthur Lyman, Martin Denny, Les Baxter, and many more artists from the period. Some of these exotica performances are still campy and entertaining, but the string and pedal steel guitar arrangements can become cloying and embarrassing after a while.

Placed in this context, this record stands head and shoulders above its contemporaries. Afro-Cuban rhythms, of course, come from Nigeria and West Africa. Babatunde Olatunji was well prepared to meet that demand. For the contemporary listener, this recording is obviously better because Olatunji strips out all of the sappy strings and corny arrangements that make 1950s exotica so cringe-worthy.

And leaving aside issues of ever-elusive "authenticity", Babatunde Olatunji was a first class showman and entertainer, and that's the side that makes this recording one of his best known and best liked. Again, with the very basic presentation of his large drum ensemble, his virile and overstated presentation turns up the energy. This is not music to evoke images of lounging in a hammock while hula girls sway. This is for dancing around the sacrificial fire with the witch doctor from a Tarzan movie.

Yes, it sits on the point where exotica ends and world music begins. It's a fine entertainment. The epic track "Shango" is easily worth the price of admission; download it if you get nothing else. It is also one of the best car albums for city driving ever made. Break out the tiki torches and the rum punch, and have a blast.

International Music CDs

Music Genres
Top music charts in A collection of albums (Part 3)
Giant Steps ImageJohn Coltrane - Giant Steps
Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $7.01
Price in other shops: $11.98
Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster ImageColeman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster
Release date: 1997-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops: $14.98
At the Blackhawk, Vol. 2 ImageShelly Manne & His Men - At the Blackhawk, Vol. 2
Release date: 1991-07-01; Music CD
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops: $11.98
At the Blackhawk, Vol. 1 ImageShelly Manne & His Men - At the Blackhawk, Vol. 1
Release date: 1991-07-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: $11.98
Mel Torm? Swings Shubert Alley ImageMel Torme - Mel Torm? Swings Shubert Alley
Release date: 2003-06-02; Music CD
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops: $38.99
A Date with Elvis ImageElvis Presley - A Date with Elvis
Release date: 1997-06-28; Music CD
Best price: $9.39
Price in other shops: $16.49
The Fox ImageHarold Land - The Fox
Release date: 1991-07-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.55
Price in other shops: $11.98
My Eyes Have Seen ImageOdetta - My Eyes Have Seen
Release date: 1994-06-25; Music CD
Best price: $42.69
At the Gate of Horn ImageMemphis Slim - At the Gate of Horn
Release date: 2006-01-30; Music CD
Best price: $30.79
Price in other shops: $31.98
Beauty and the Beat! ImageGeorge Shearing, Peggy Lee - Beauty and the Beat!
Release date: 2003-05-20; Music CD
Best price: $7.62
Price in other shops: $11.98
Top Rated Albums
Djembe: African Percussions ImageDjembe: African Percussions
Release date: 1999-05-04; Music CD
Best price: $12.15
Price in other shops: $15.98
African Tribal Music & Dances ImageFestival Music, Princes of Dahomey - African Tribal Music & Dances
Release date: 1993-07-20; Music CD
Best price: $5.57
African Drumming ImageAfrican Drumming
Release date: 2005-03-07; DVD
Best price: $14.87
Price in other shops: $24.95
Love Drum Talk ImageBabatundi Olatunji - Love Drum Talk
Release date: 1997-09-23; Music CD
Best price: $11.27
Price in other shops: $18.98
Planet Drum ImageMickey Hart - Planet Drum
Release date: 2008-03-18; Music CD
Best price: $7.70
Price in other shops: $11.98
Drums of Passion: The Beat ImageBabatunde Olatunji - Drums of Passion: The Beat
Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $11.46
Price in other shops: $11.98
Drums of Passion: The Invocation ImageBabatunde Olatunji - Drums of Passion: The Invocation
Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops: $16.98
Air Mail Music: African Drums ImageMadou Djembe - Air Mail Music: African Drums
Release date: 2003-01-07; Music CD
Best price: $6.18
Price in other shops: $9.98
Circle of Drums ImageBabatundi Olatunji - Circle of Drums
Release date: 2005-05-24; Music CD
Best price: $13.16
Price in other shops: $18.98
Healing Session ImageBabatunde Olatunji - Healing Session
Release date: 2003-10-07; Music CD
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops: $17.98
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles