Drums Of Zion.

Ras Cat I, Tishamba-X, Ras Mike, Bobby Reds & King Asha are the members of Drums of Zion. They excell at the art of Nyabinghi drumming. The CD was recorded live at the Tropical Scoops Carribbean Restaurant in Palm Bay Florida in 2004. Producer: Tony Gits of Roadside Productions.

Nyabinghi drumming is not exclusive to the Nyabinghi order, and is common to all Rastafarians. Its rhythms are the basis of Reggae music, through the influential ska band, the Skatalites. It is said that their drummer revolutionized Jamican music by combined the various Nyabinghi parts on a drum kit, which combined with jazz to create an entirely new form of music, known as ska. Nyabinghi rhythms were largely a creation of Count Ossie, who incorporated influences from traditional Jamaican Kumina drumming (especially the form of the drums themselves) with songs and rhythms learned from the recordings of Nigerian musician Babatunde Olatunji. Binghi chanting typically includes recitation of the Psalms, but may also include variations of well-known Christian hymns. Though Count Ossie is clearly the most influential Binghi drummer, practically inventing the genre in its present state, the recordings of Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus, as well as the Rastafari Elders, have contributed to the popularity of the music. Though Nyabinghi music operates as a form of Rasta religious music outside of Reggae, musicians such as Bob Marley and even non-Rastas such Prince Buster and Jimmy Cliff (both Muslim) used the idiom in some songs. Recently, dancehall sensation Sizzla and American roots-Reggae artists such as Groundation and Jah Levi have used Nyabinghi drums extensively in their recordings. Though sometimes claimed to be a direct continuation of an African cultural form.

Nyabinghi

Nyabinghi drumming is best seen as the voice of a people rediscovering their African roots. Combining Jamaican traditions with newly acquired African ones, Count Ossie and others synthesized his country's African traditions and reinvigorated them with the influences of Nigerian master-drummer Babatunde Olatunji, as a comparison of Count Ossie's Tales of Mozambique and Olatunji's earlier Drums of Passion will reveal. Indeed, it is that combination of inherited traditions and conscious rediscovery of lost African traditions that makes Nyabinghi drumming-- and Rastafari-- so powerful.

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Nyabinghi music played at Rastafarian groundations, which includes drumming of at least three hand drums, chanting, dancing, spiritual use of the Holy Herb, and praise to Jah Rastafari, is considered the most important and inspirational meeting of Rastafari. Nyabinghi drumming rhythms are accompanied by chants and singing, often strongly inspired by the Psalms. These rhythms could be said to be the true roots of Rasta reggae, having originated from African burru drummings.

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