Photo by Roman Edirisinghe
Jahmés Finlayson
Jahmés Finlayson
When One Drum, the legendary world music ensemble, plays Brady Street Festival on Saturday, July 29, it will be without leading light and shaman Jahmés Finlayson. Finlayson died July 10, after sustaining injuries when he was shot in the early morning hours of June 27 near 1st and Burleigh.
“Jahmés dwelled in the place of spirits. He could cast a spell with his kalimba and his eyes and his smile,” fellow bandmate Jeff Green said via email.
One Drum, the ensemble that Finlayson (on African drums and kalimba) created in the late 1990s, became a unique group with a handful of core members and a large extended family of musicians who interchanged and collaborated.
Photo by Saralé Lizdas
Jahmés Finlayson on ashiko
Jahmés Finlayson on ashiko
In 2001, after a One Drum show in Viroqua, Kristin Urban moved to Milwaukee to join the band. She now leads reggae-soul group The Urbanites. “Jahmés could see the gifts in people, and he created safe spaces for them to evolve into their gifts,” Urban said. “He had this magic that turned something on inside people, so they would have the courage to follow their dreams. He did this for me and so many others. I am so grateful to have had him as a friend, mentor, and colleague for over 20 years.”
One Drum will present a set dedicated to the group's visionary founder, Jahmés Tony Finlayson, at Brady Street Festival, East Stage on Saturday July 29 from 4-5 p.m..
“There could be a different lineup at each show, and even with the same lineup no two versions of the music were ever the same.” Green recalled, “On one occasion we split into two groups and presented One Drum shows in two different towns the same night, unbeknownst to either.”
The band spent more time in schools and camps than in bars but could rock the house in any setting, for any age or political viewpoint or ethnicity. “We played from kindergartens to nursing homes, with bars and festivals and weddings in between,” Green said.
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One Drum weaves a tapestry that illustrates the common cultural origins of music. Making use of oral traditions of call-and-response, sing-along, creative movement, dance & hands-on-learning, One Drum expresses a universal spirit that knows no boundaries. From the group’s web page.
“We expected to be playing with Jahmés. We are without words to describe the loss,” said bandmate David Stocker. “Jahmes opened the door to a musical life for thousands and thousands of people. As One Drum we shared performances at schools, colleges and festivals starting in 1997. We gave workshops in drumming, dance, and instrument making from the Midwest to Florida, from NYC to Seattle. We performed in Giza, Egypt in 1999 for the Drumming in the New Millennium festival. Jahmes' love, his imagination, and his talent are at the center of all of this.”
The focus was always on the human connection and shows regularly evolved into deep interpersonal rituals where audience and performers alike were changed forever, Green recalled. “We sang in English, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Sinhala, Native American tongues, and original languages of our own. We all played drums, while we also played strings, horns, keys, and all manner of obscure and bizarre trinkets from around the world.
Green says they were a band of instrument collectors who found an outlet to put their treasures to use in public. “The result was an original blend of tradition and avant-garde, ancient and brand new.”
The lineup for Brady Street includes Jeff “Doc” Green, David Stocker, Kristin Urban, Jan Sebon, Roman Edirisinghe, Julio Pabon, Holly Haebig, Andy Miller, Ken Dietz, David Wake and Guy Fiorentini.
One Drum won the 2006 WAMI for World/Ethnic/Reggae/Ska Group of the Year. The group also performed at the Knitting Factory in NYC and for Ralph Nader’s 2004 presidential campaign rally in Chicago.
Another member of One Drum for decades, the beloved performer and teacher, Cecilio Negron Jr., will also be remembered. He passed away this May.
