In the process of working on my album through the years. I have been blessed with the chance to work with many wonderful musical friends and collaborators. This Blog series is shout out to these great artists and their interesting work.
Sikiru Adepoju is a master drummer from Nigeria. He plays the dundun – more commonly known as the “talking drum”. I first saw him perform in the late 90s as part of Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum. I was immediately mesmerized by his masterful playing. His sound and groove truly transported my mind!
Sikiru came to the US in 1985 to play with O.J. Ekemode’s Nigerian All-Stars, and three months later met legendary drummer and fellow Nigerian Babatunde Olatunji and began playing his “Drums of Passion” ensemble. Through Olatunji, he met Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. He has been an integral part of Mickey’s various projects since that time.
I was so thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to record Sikiru and include his tracks on my album! I will never forget that fall day in 2013 when my friend, recording engineer Karen Stackpole and I met with Sikiru at Expressions Studio in Emeryville for a session. He came in, and immediately encouraged Karen to start recording. He had never heard my tracks before – we just rolled the “tape”. He did one single take on my long instrumental track “Deeper”. This “1st take” was perfect. Karen and I looked at each other astounded – thoroughly blown away!! Like that … we were done… A true master!!
Check out Sikiru’s website below: