Anthony Francis (born April 22, 1957), known by his stage name Sanga of The Valley, is a Trinidadian drummer, Babatunde Olatunji' s student, member of the Village Drums of Freedom.

Biography

Anthony Francis was born in Trinidad. He started playing African drums at an early age. In the beginning of 1970s Francis moved to New York City, where he met Babatunde Olatunji and became Baba's student and one of his lead

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

players. Anthony Francis spent 25 years with Olatunji and his band Drums of Passion. He worked with artists such as

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

, Nina Simone, The Grateful Dead, the Neville Brothers and Stanley Jordan. Since 1989, he started working with Raven Recording and

Gabrielle Roth Gabrielle Roth (February 4, 1941 – October 22, 2012) was an American dancer and musician in the world music and trance dance genres, with a special interest in shamanism. She created the 5Rhythms approach to movement in the late 1970s; t ...

. In 1993, Francis together with Babatunde Olatunji took part in the first in the history djembe educational video called African Drumming. In 2003, Anthony Francis and Village Drums of Freedom released an album ''Historic travel: cultural rhythms''. In 2004 after Olatunji’s death, Francis led the tribute performance in

A Great Night in Harlem A Great Night in Harlem Benefit Concert is an annual series of concerts organized by the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, since 2001 to raise money for the Jazz Foundation's Musician Emergency Fund. Foundin ...

Benefit Concert in Apollo Theatre. He is a member of the Rastafari Movement.

Awards

As a member of Olatunji's Drums of Passion and a part of Mickey Hart's Planet Drum projects (album Planet Drum) Sanga of The Valley won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best World Music Album of 1991, the first year for which the award was given."The Grammy Winners", New York Times, February 27, 1992
/ref>

Discography

* ''Dance to the Beat of My Drum'' (1986, Bellaphon) * ''Drums of Passion: The Invocation'' (1988, Rykodisc) * ''Drums of Passion: The Beat'' (1989, Rykodisc) * ''Drums of Passion: Celebrate Freedom, Justice & Peace'' (1993, Olatunji Music) * ''Drums of Passion and More'' (1994, Bear Family) Box Set * ''Babatunde Olatunji, Healing Rhythms, Songs and Chants'' (1995, Olatunji Music) * ''Love Drum Talk'' (1997, Chesky) * ''Drums of Passion'' xpanded(2002) * ''Olatunji Live at Starwood'' (2003) Recorded Live at the

Starwood Festival The Starwood Festival is a seven-day Neo-Pagan, New Age, multi-cultural and world music festival, taking place every July in the United States of America. The Starwood Festival is a camping event which holds workshops on a variety of subjects. Th ...

1997 * ''Healing Session'' (2003, Narada) * ''Circle of Drums'' (2005, Chesky) * ''Historic Travel: cultural rhythms'' (2003, Village Drums of Freedom)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanga 1957 births Calypsonians Djembe players Living people Master drummers Performers of Rastafarian music Trinidad and Tobago drummers Male drummers Free improvising musicians

Biography

Awards

See also

Discography

References