The Axis Percussion Trio
I've been lucky enough to have learnt a lot of my craft alongside Dave Boston and Simon Bowhill in The Axis Percussion Trio. We came together to learn and practice the percussion traditions of Cuba. We've studied in Cuba and do what we can to educate and inform people about the rich and diverse tradtions of drumming that come from Cuba. We are currently focused on playing together in Lo Ke Ba.
Recording
One of the best and most fun ways we've found to learn and develop what we do is through recording. The most significant recording we've been involved in to date is 'Delirio' by Lo Ke Ba. This was a bringing together of all of the playing we'd done together to form the rhythmic back bone of an album of original Salsa tunes written by myself in collaboration with Matt Baker and Adriana Lord and with help from a lot of other people on the way.
We've also been fortunate enough to be invited to record Batá drums with The London Lucumi Choir on their albums Moyuba Baba Moyuba Yeye and Fire and Water: ( Fuego Y Agua-Ina Ati Omi )...
If you like this music and would like to support the artists who make it, please consider buying a track or two or even the full album. It costs a lot in time, energy and money to make these recording so if you enjoy them it'd be lovely if you could pay to download one or two and then you'll have them forever, even if the internet breaks!
Travelling to Cuba to learn from the masters
The most fun and illuminating experience of all has been travelling to Cuba to learn Cuban drumming at the source. We've been welcomed into people's homes and lives and been taught open heartedly by some of the finest percussionists you could ever meet. As the Axis we have developed a long standing relationship with Rumbero and Master Percussionist, Santiago 'Chaguito' Garzon Rill. We have spent a lot of time learning the nuances of Chaguito's specific styles of rumba and approaches to conga drumming and have come to understand and love a very specific, creative approach to playing the drums and music in general... it's not just skill but love and joy that makes the music taste good!
Cuba
Cuba
The Axis with Chaguito and NATAL
Chaguito Y Sus Timberos: WEYA
Abakuá
Singing and Dancing for The Orishas
A collaboration with Daniela De Armas
The Axis Trio teamed up with Daniela De Armas from The London Lucumi Choir and The New Art Exchange in Nottingham to form an Orisha singing group accompanied by ourselves on Batá drums. This was such a success that it evolved into a series of dance and singing workshops with some of the best practitioners or Orisha dance in The UK.
Singing and Dancing For The Orishas
Singing and Dancing For The Orishas
Singing For The Orishas Short
Orisha Time Lapse
Singing for The Orishas Time Lapse 2
Batá Around Britain
Having studied Batá drumming with Frank Garzón Reyes (pictured above) in Havana we set out to find a meaningful and interesting context in which to present these in the UK. We wanted to play these rhythms ,that serve to salute and invoke Cuban Orishas, in a context that would say something about the Orishas but also tell the story of how we see them relating to us and the landscape and places we come from.
Batá Around Britain
Batá Around Britain
Elunbanche
Eleggua
