Babatunde Lea (born Michael Wayne Lea; February 18, 1948) is an American percussionist who plays Afro-Cuban jazz and worldbeat. He took his name from Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji.
Biography Michael Lea was raised in Englewood, New Jersey, while regularly commuting to 116th and Amsterdam in New York, where the rest of his family lived after moving from his birthplace, Danville, Virginia. His aunt was one of the first women to play in a marching band. He began drumming at the age of 11, when he, without drumming experience helped a drumline get a rhythm right. That same year, his cousin took him to see Babatunde Olatunji and his "Drums of Passion", and Olatunji's influence was so great that Michael took on his first name. At 16, he first participated in a professional recording session with Ed Townsend. In 1968, he moved to San Francisco, where he joined Bata Koto, led by Bill Summers. He joined a band called Juju, which relocated to Richmond, Virginia in the early 1970s.
In 1977, he moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area. Among the artists with whom he played were Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Randy Weston, Van Morrison, Oscar Brown, Jr. and Mark Murphy. In 1993, Virginia and Babatunde Lea founded the Educultural Foundation, a California 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization based in Vallejo, California.
Returning east, he met up with Leon Thomas (who used to sing at the church Lea attended as a youngster, the First Baptist Church of Englewood) and became drummer in his band. This led to working with Pharoah Sanders. Lea would ultimately pay tribute to Thomas on his 2009 album, Umbo Weti, which appeared on the Motéma Music label that he founded with Jana Herzen in 2003. His first album as leader, Levels of Consciousness was released in 1979. He recorded with a band called Phenomena, which grew out of the Loft Jazz Association. He did not release another, Level of Intent, until 1996, putting it on his own label, Diaspora Records. He mortgaged his home to get the album released, but it was not widely distributed until Motéma reissued it in 2003.
In 2010, Babatunde and Virginia moved to Pennsylvania to teach at Gettysburg College.
Says Lea of his work, "I strive to make my compositions functional, which is an African take on the arts. The purpose I try to imbue my music with is that our growth as human beings should strive toward an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, egalitarian, democratic universal society and I don't care how many lifetimes it takes to get there! I consider myself an activist as well as a musician and consider myself an 'agent of change.'"
His work has been noted for its mixture of styles and influences.
Discography Albums AlbumYearLabelLevels Of Consciousness1979TheresaLevel Of Intent1995DiasporaMarch Of The Jazz Guerillas2000UbiquitySoul Pools2002MotémaSuite Unseen: Summoner Of The Ghost2005MotémaUmbo Weti: A Tribute To Leon Thomas2009Motéma
Credits Elaine Lucia AlbumYearLabelSings Jazz and Other Things2001RawDavid Leshare Watson AlbumYearLabelLive at Lo Spuntino2002Music in the LinesLoves Swinging Soft & Ballads2003Music in the LinesDJ Jackie Christie AlbumYearLabelMade 4 U2004MotémaValerie Joi AlbumYearLabelRise Above2004TruJoi MusicSinging the Sacred Yes2006Gemini SunBujo Kevin Jones AlbumYearLabelTenth World2005MotémaWayne Wallace AlbumYearLabelDedication2006Patois RecordsIdris Ackamoor AlbumYearLabelMusic of Idris Ackamoor 1971–20042005—2000EM RecordsEric Swinderman AlbumYearLabelIn Pursuit of the Sound2006Self-releasedPanos Kappos AlbumYearLabelHarmony2007Voyager RecordsMark Murphy AlbumYearLabelWild and Free2017Highnote
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