Bill Summers
Bill Summers, born on June 27, 1948, is a former Detroit Observatory Student and a renowned Afro-Cuban/Latin Jazz percussionist and multi-instrumentalist, based in New Orleans.
Biography
Through his creativity and diversity in music, playing anything from traditional African instruments to pop bottles, he has affected the artistic and cultural community worldwide. Although Bill Summers is most recognized for his work with the multi-award-winning group Los Hombres Calientes formed in 1998, his musical career developed long before that. He has contributed to the musical soundtracks of several movies including The Color Purple, and also worked with Quincy Jones on the musical score for Roots.
As well as being a successful musician, Bill Summers is known as a cultural visionary bringing diverse people and ideas together. He has been involved in numerous musical ventures with groups that cross cultural boundaries, having served as veteran of the Walter Payton Trio and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, as well as contributing to their popular release “Evolution Revolutionas” in 2003.
Summers continues to lead the “Summers Multi-Ethnic Institute of the Arts,” which for the last decade has opened immense opportunities for young aspiring artists in New Orleans by taking students to Cuba to study Afro-Cuban Music. In 1999, Bill Summers and several of his students participated in the prestigious Yoruba order of sacred drummers by Estaban “Cha Chhaa” Vega, the most celebrated and honored drummer in Cuba.
Education
Bill Summers attend the University of California, Berkley.
Notable work
Bill Summers worked with the multi-award-winning group Los Hombres Calientes, with Quincy Jones on the musical score for Roots, contributed to the musical soundtracks of several movies including The Color Purple and participated in the prestigious Yoruba order of sacred drummers by Estaban “Cha Chhaa” Vega, the most celebrated and honoured drummer in Cuba. He is also a veteran of the Walter Payton Trio and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and the Head of the “Summers Multi-Ethnic Institute of the Arts”.
Further information
ICD - "Bill Summers & The Power of Music as Cultural Diplomacy" (October 2012).
