Master percussionist and Fulbright Senior Specialist David Pleasant presents an ongoing free weekly evening series of polyrhythm workshops based on his new percussion manual, “African American Root Rhythms." The series takes place once a week in the evening (irregularly scheduled, usually Wednesdays) at St. Peter's Lutheran Church ("the Jazz Church"), 619 Lexington Ave. at 54th St. (entrance on East 54th St. betw. Lexington & 3rd Ave's), New York City, 212-935-22OO, www.saintpeters.org. Take the E or V train to Lexington Ave., the Lexington Ave. #6 train to 51st St., or the M4, 31, 57, 1O1, or 1O3 bus. Due to the irregular scheduling of the workshops, please contact [email protected], call 646-2O7-1843, or check www.davidpleasant1.com before going.
David Pleasant is a multi-faceted percussion virtuoso, rhythm-effects vocalist, avant-garde performance artist, and lecturer who specializes in African-American traditions. Born in Savannah, Georgia and raised in McIntosh County, he grew up immersed in the rich Gullah / Geechee culture of Georgia and the South Carolina Sea Island, and that culture has played the dominant role in his performance and teaching methods, developed from a synthesis of African, Caribbean and African-American musical traditions. Using assorted drums, cymbals, tambourines and marimbas, as well as the body-percussion rhythms of shout, juba, and jive, David Pleasant aims to get everyone fully, joyfully, and musically involved.
As a Fulbright Senior Specialist, David Pleasant presents his work at universities and institutions worldwide. He is a critically acclaimed, award-winning composer, performer, and soloist who has worked with Tony and Grammy Award winners such as Erykah Badu, Graciela Daniel, Audra McDonald, Paul Simon, and Regina Taylor. He has been a featured performer and/or consultant for ABC Nightline, the Disney Channel, the Today Show, Reading Rainbow (PBS), ABC Evening News, CBS's Early Show, ABC's Good Morning America, Essence Awards, Brave New World (ABC) and numerous PBS shows, as well as guest speaker at NYU's Jazz Symposium, Columbia University's Jazz Symposium, the International Association of Jazz Educators, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Lincoln Center's Master Improvisors series.
David Pleasant has also been a working New York musician for over 2O years, presenting a dynamic interactive journey in music with a bewildering array of percussion instruments in unique arrangements of standard and original compositions. Time Out New York described his performance as “wall-to-wall music-gospel, hip-hop, drumming-African flavored dance... The music carries us across the Deep South, through urban streets, to the Caribbean and Africa, all in the space of a drum solo."
David Pleasant has collaborated with, among other great musicians, Harry Belafonte, Anthony Braxton, Don Byron, Daniel Carter, Jayne Cortez, Jack DeJohnette, Charles Gayle, Craig Harris, Oliver Lake, Christian McBride, Dianne McIntyre, Amina Claudine Myers, William Parker, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Step Afrika, Sekou Sundiata, Cecil Taylor, Reggie Workman, and the El Piccolo del Opera Orchestra, Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Lukes, Savannah Symphony Orchestra, and Stamford Symphony.
WHO: David Pleasant
WHAT: Weekly evening polyrhythm workshop series
WHERE: St. Peter's Lutheran Church ("the Jazz Church"), 619 Lexington Ave. at 54th St. (entrance betw. Lexington & 3rd Ave's on East 54th St.), New York City, 212-935-22OO, www.saintpeters.org
WHEN: irregularly scheduled evenings once a week, usually on Wednesdays (please Email [email protected], call 646-2O7-1843, or check before going)
DIRECTIONS: E or V train to Lexington Ave., the Lexington Ave. #6 train to 51st St., or the M4, 31, 57, 1O1, or 1O3 bus
PRICE: free
CONTACT: 646-2O7-1843
David Pleasant is a multi-faceted percussion virtuoso, rhythm-effects vocalist, avant-garde performance artist, and lecturer who specializes in African-American traditions. Born in Savannah, Georgia and raised in McIntosh County, he grew up immersed in the rich Gullah / Geechee culture of Georgia and the South Carolina Sea Island, and that culture has played the dominant role in his performance and teaching methods, developed from a synthesis of African, Caribbean and African-American musical traditions. Using assorted drums, cymbals, tambourines and marimbas, as well as the body-percussion rhythms of shout, juba, and jive, David Pleasant aims to get everyone fully, joyfully, and musically involved.
As a Fulbright Senior Specialist, David Pleasant presents his work at universities and institutions worldwide. He is a critically acclaimed, award-winning composer, performer, and soloist who has worked with Tony and Grammy Award winners such as Erykah Badu, Graciela Daniel, Audra McDonald, Paul Simon, and Regina Taylor. He has been a featured performer and/or consultant for ABC Nightline, the Disney Channel, the Today Show, Reading Rainbow (PBS), ABC Evening News, CBS's Early Show, ABC's Good Morning America, Essence Awards, Brave New World (ABC) and numerous PBS shows, as well as guest speaker at NYU's Jazz Symposium, Columbia University's Jazz Symposium, the International Association of Jazz Educators, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Lincoln Center's Master Improvisors series.
David Pleasant has also been a working New York musician for over 2O years, presenting a dynamic interactive journey in music with a bewildering array of percussion instruments in unique arrangements of standard and original compositions. Time Out New York described his performance as “wall-to-wall music-gospel, hip-hop, drumming-African flavored dance... The music carries us across the Deep South, through urban streets, to the Caribbean and Africa, all in the space of a drum solo."
David Pleasant has collaborated with, among other great musicians, Harry Belafonte, Anthony Braxton, Don Byron, Daniel Carter, Jayne Cortez, Jack DeJohnette, Charles Gayle, Craig Harris, Oliver Lake, Christian McBride, Dianne McIntyre, Amina Claudine Myers, William Parker, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Step Afrika, Sekou Sundiata, Cecil Taylor, Reggie Workman, and the El Piccolo del Opera Orchestra, Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Lukes, Savannah Symphony Orchestra, and Stamford Symphony.
WHO: David Pleasant
WHAT: Weekly evening polyrhythm workshop series
WHERE: St. Peter's Lutheran Church ("the Jazz Church"), 619 Lexington Ave. at 54th St. (entrance betw. Lexington & 3rd Ave's on East 54th St.), New York City, 212-935-22OO, www.saintpeters.org
WHEN: irregularly scheduled evenings once a week, usually on Wednesdays (please Email [email protected], call 646-2O7-1843, or check
DIRECTIONS: E or V train to Lexington Ave., the Lexington Ave. #6 train to 51st St., or the M4, 31, 57, 1O1, or 1O3 bus
PRICE: free
CONTACT: 646-2O7-1843
For more information contact Margaret Davis Grimes.
