Mr. Kenyatta by Lee Morgan - How Billy Higgins played it - Drum Transcription & Performance

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Description

In this episode of the “Real Book Drumming” series, we focus on the first 68 bars of Billy Higgins' drumming in “Mr. Kenyatta” – a piece that is not only musically compelling, but also carries political significance. The composition by Lee Morgan appeared on the album Search for the New Land, recorded in 1964 but not released until 1966. Alongside Morgan on trumpet, the jazz greats Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Grant Green (guitar), Reggie Workman (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums) also played on the track.

Mr. Kenyatta is dedicated to Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, who led Kenya to independence. The piece is characterized by its energetic, driving character, not least due to the interplay between Hancock's piano theme and Higgins' expressive drumming. Mr. Kenyatta is rhythmically direct, with a drive that clearly defines the piece. The feel of Mr. Kenyatta moves between binary and ternary in the A section, which is also referred to as in-between and cannot really be represented in standard musical notation. The B section is clearly recognizable as a classic swing.

At that time, Higgins was one of the busiest jazz drummers of his generation. Over the course of his career, he played on over 500 albums and worked with Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and many others. His style combines the melodic approach of Max Roach with the energy of Art Blakey, but remains more restrained in relation to the overall picture of the music.

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Song Info:

Band/Artist: Lee Morgan
Album: Search for the New Land
Songwriter: Lee Morgan
Release date: August 1966
Label: Bue Note


Image rights in thumbnail (Photo Credits):

Page URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Higgins.jpg
File URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Billy_Higgins.jpg
Attribution: Brianmcmillen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons