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Big Black

Big Black - congas, percussion

The master musician, percussionist and hand drummer, known as Big Black, was born Daniel Ray in Georgia in 1934, and grew up as a child in the Carolinas. Big Black first heard drum and percussion rhythms while listening to a radio broadcast from Cuba and was mesmerized by the sounds of congas and bongos. He started playing percussion in Miami in the 50's and performed with various salsa and calypso bands until he moved to New York in the 60's. He got connected with various Bebop artists and bands there and soon was a regular percussionist for Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard and Randy Weston. He was dubbed "The king of Congas" and is highly regarded institute of the African culture in Harlem.

He began tapping out his own rhythms with his hands and feet, while lying on his back on the front porch or tapping on the kitchen table, creating musical passages this way, for nine years, until at last he acquired his first drum. Relocating to Miami in the ‘50’s and working at odd jobs, until he could purchase his first set of bongos, he was self taught, but was inspired by his older brother, and other musicians during the Calypso era. He moved on to the congas and created a style of his own, compatible with all genres of music, in particular jazz.

The Calypso era, found Big Black working with Lord Fish Ray, and Johnny” Slick” Engraham, his true mentors. He often performed with Calypso Eddy and Sam Rolle receiving national recognition, “Calypsomania” had captured the nation, according to Time Magazine, as the popular medium.

The Sixties Cultural Revolution would be a godsend for Big Black as he was positioned at the right place in time to take full advantage of the musical renaissance of the period.

His musical talents and connections led to a recording contract with UNI/MCA, with whom he released “Message to our Ancestors,” (’67) “Elements of Now,” (’68) “Lion Walk,” (’68) and “Big Black and the Blues in 1972. These musical statements introduced collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Weston, Hugh Masekela and Freddie Hubbard with Art Blakey on the collectors, essential recording, “Night of the Cookers.”

Big Blacks’ recording and acting careers soared afterwards, to even greater heights. The next two decades would prove to be truly eventful, on the theatrical level as well, as a musician in international films such as, Dizzy Gillespies’ Havana Bop, and When We Were Kings, at the Zaire Music Festival, prior to the Muhammad Ali Fight in 1974. It was Big Black on congas in Ali’s corner that night to open the fight’s festivities. It was a historic night for all of us who witnessed it.

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Album Review

Doug MacDonald: Mid Century Modern

Read "Mid Century Modern" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Veteran guitarist Doug MacDonald, bassist Larry Holloway and drummer Tim Pleasant, have been performing in and around the Palm Springs, CA community since 2016. The Coachella Valley Trio began their journey with a steady gig at AJ's On The Green, in Cathedral City. Developing into a cohesive group with an impeccable sound, it was only natural that they would decide to capture their music on Mid Century Modern. For this debut, the band expands with the addition of ...

1
Album Review

The Coachella Valley Trio: Mid Century Modern

Read "Mid Century Modern" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Guitarist Doug MacDonald had been gigging around the Palm Springs, CA, area with bassist Larry Holloway and drummer Tim Pleasant as the Coachella Valley Trio for three years when the three amigos entered a studio in 2019 to record their first album as a working group. The result is Mid Century Modern, a burnished and buoyant session in which the trio is enlarged on six of its eleven tracks by percussionist Big Black on djembe. The music ...

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274

Education

Daniel Ray - "Big Black" Comes Back: Jazz Giant Teaches Drumming Classes

Daniel Ray - "Big Black" Comes Back: Jazz Giant Teaches Drumming Classes

Source: All About Jazz

Drummer Daniel Ray left Beaufort at age 16 to pursue his dream of playing music, and in many ways he has returned as a man on a mission. “I came back after 54 years, and the same thing that I left is still here," said Ray, who goes by the nickname Big Black, adding sadly that three girls in his neighborhood, one of them only 12, have had babies. “I see a lot of the things happening then still happening ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Mid Century Modern

Self Produced
2021

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Ethnic Fusion

Mutable Music
2004

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