Chief Bey

Chief Bey
Born
James Hawthorne Bey

(1913-04-17)April 17, 1913
Yemassee, South Carolina
DiedApril 8, 2004(2004-04-08) (aged 90)
Brooklyn, New York
OccupationsBaritone opera singer; jazz and African drummer
Notable workChief Bey & Ife Olofi, Taboo Chief Bey and his Royal Household 1959, Congo Percussion 1960, Hamiet Bluiett Dangerous Suite
Websitewww.africandanceaz.org

James Hawthorne (April 17, 1913 – April 8, 2004), also known as James Hawthorne Bey and Chief Bey, was an American jazz percussionist and vocalist, a visual artist and folklorist of African traditions. He was also ordained in Nigeria as a Shango Priest.

Early life and education

Born James Hawthorne in Yemassee, South Carolina, on April 17, 1913,[citation needed] Bey moved with his family to Brooklyn and then to Harlem, where he began playing drums and singing in church choirs.

He also served in both the Army and Navy and during World War II. He attended cosmetology school.

Career

In the 1950s, Chief Bey performed in an international tour of Porgy and Bess along with his wife Louise Hawthorne, starring Leontyne Price and Cab Calloway. He also began a busy recording career, performing with flautist Herbie Mann's At the Village Gate (1961), Art Blakey's The African Beat (1962), Ahmed Abdul-Malik's Sounds of Africa (New Jazz, 1961), as well as albums by Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba, Miriam Greaves and Pharoah Sanders, among others.

He took his stage name after joining the Moorish Science Temple of America, a Muslim sect whose practitioners often add the suffix "Bey" to their names. Then he taught the shékéré, a West African gourd percussion instrument, at the Griot Institute at Intermediate School 246 in Brooklyn. He performed on Baba Olatunji albums as a vocalist and played African drums and Percussion, Agbé/large Shékéré, Agogo/Bells. As a drum maker, he invented the No Whole Tension Technique of roping skin onto drums.

He worked with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Nina Simone, Geoffrey Holder, Randy Weston, Reggie Workman, Sonny Morgan, Mongo Santamaria, Eddie Palmieri, and John Coltrane. He was a singer in the original musical Porgy & Bess, along with his wife, soprano opera singer Louise Hawthorne. Chief Bey was principal drummer for Baba Olatunji, Bernice Johnson, the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He was also principal musician for the Broadway musical Timbuktu, and drummer for Trailblazer, Pearl Primus, and Katherine Dunham.

In later life, he taught the shekere at the Griot Institute at Intermediate School 246 in Brooklyn.

Personal life and death

He married Louise Hawthorne, soprano opera singer and they had three children.[citation needed]

James Hawthorne died of stomach cancer on April 8, 2004 in his Brooklyn home, at the age of 90.

His common-law wife Barbara Kenyatta was a priestess of Yémaya in the Yoruba religion. She collapsed and died four days later.[citation needed]

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Hamiet Bluiett

With Babatunde Olatunji

With others

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Chief Bey, 91 Jazz Drummer". The New York Times. April 13, 2004. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Carlson, Russell. "Percussionist Chief Bey Dies". JazzTimes.
  3. ↑ "Chief Bey, 91, Jazz Drummer". The New York Times. Associated Press. April 13, 2004. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 30, 2020.