Monday, April 14, 2008

Babatunde Olatunji

Babatunde Olatunji was another bright and loving spirit who contributed so much to CMS. He's also one whom I am sorry that I missed. I interviewed him on the phone, though, and it was clear to me that the man was infused with something joyous that others naturally wanted to be around to soak up.

It might seem odd, in a blog that's devoted to updates on the ongoing community of CMS, that this and the previous post are both dedicated to musicians who have gone on. Well, I was just so thrilled to have come across these videos, that I for the first time realized that this blog could also be a means for helping to keep the memory alive of those of the CMS community who have left the physical realm.

This first Olatunji video is a nice tribute to the man, made at his 75th birthday party. It's a fitting portrait of how much the man was loved, but also sad in that it was a time of decline, after which he soon left us, as noted at the end of the video. Kinda cool to see Joan Baez at the party, too.

The second is an in-studio performance that I believe was made for an instructional video. Please enjoy.



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