NEW ORLEANS FESTIVALS - Jazz Fest Features

NEW ORLEANS BEATS - Bamboula 2000

To Luther Gray, the percussionist behind Bamboula 2000, drumming is history.

"We were trying to find the bamboula rhythm from Congo Square. We listened to old songs. We talked to Danny Barker. Then we met Chief Bay from New York. He knew the bamboula," Gray says. "It was the second line. It was never lost in New Orleans."

The Chicago-born percussionist came to New Orleans in 1982 and soaked up the city's music, culture and history. That led to Congo Square, where slaves were allowed to make music under colonial laws.

For Bamboula 2000, it's a chance to unite drumming, singing and African dance. Gray originally put together drumming workshops incorporating rhythms from Cuba and Brasil to Africa and the Caribbean.

"The purpose of drummers and dancers is to bring peace to the village," he says. " The village is your church, your school, your community. We hope we've influenced a new generation of drummers."