mycompasstv, Oct 26, 2011
Great hambone technique from Archie Shepp's drummer Steve
McCraven.
Recorded in Tunisia at the Tabarka International Jazz
Festival.
video: Stephen Smith
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents seven examples of body percussion in various African American performing arts.
"Body percussion" is also referred to as "body patting", pattin juba", hambone, or "doing hambone).
In no particular categorical order, these examples are from singing, drill team routines, historically African American Greek letter fraternity and sorority stepping, stomp and shake cheerleading routines, dancing, and strutting down a Jennifer Hudson Show Spirit Tunnel.
The Addendum to this post showcases a YouTube video of doing body patting while they sing and dance.
The overarching purpose of this post and all pancocojams post is to encourage people to recognize, respect, acknowledge, study, appreciate, promote, and celebrate the origins, evolution, and current practices of African American and of other Black cultures around the world.
In no way are these posts meant to suggest that we (Black people) should prohibit non-Black people or people of other Black communities besides the originators of specific cultural practices from respectfully and knowledgeably learn about and/or participate in these cultural practices.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these YouTube videos and thanks to all the videographers and publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/pattin-juba-hambone-and-bo-diddley-beat.html for a closely related 2011 pancocojams post with the title "Pattin Juba, Hambone, And The Bo Diddley Beat".
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ADDITIONAL SHOWCASE VIDEOS
With the exception of Showcase video #1, these YouTube videos are presented in chronological order based on their publishing dates. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - 1st Place Winners for Chicago Sprite Step Off - Alpha Phi Alpha (Central State University)
Gowhere Hip Hop, Jan 30, 2010
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - Babynetts & Electronetts @ Black Festival 1994
SeattleDrillTeamHistory Jul 18, 2013
Babynetts & Electronetts Drill Team
@ Black Community Festival ( Central District Area)
Seattle, WA, July 1994
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4 -Cheer Phi Smoov's "Let's Go, Broncos"
Christopher Blacksher, Oct 4, 2015
Fayetteville State University's own cheerleading squad performs their signature and most poplar cheer during the FSU vs Lincoln University of Pennsylvania football game on October 3, 2015.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5 - Wiibathon Saturday 7th Lip Sync Battle
Renee Powell, Sep 25, 2016
Whip my hair by Jaiya
-snip-
This is a video of my then almost three year old granddaughter Jaiya Hughes dancing to Willow Smith's 2019 record "Whip My Hair" during the seventh Powell-Hughes family lip-synch battle party.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #6 -when the band forgets to show up
Jason Fieler, May 24, 2024
Bobby McFerrin performing "Drive". Original
video: • Bobby McFerrin - Drive (Live
from Mon...
Notes:
I only notated the actual sung notes instead of
things like breaths and the body percussion. Also, in the section toward the
end with the super low stuff, those notes are just the fundamentals but it also
sounds an octave higher, as is true for the double stops he's singing.
-snip-
This video includes the music score.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #7 -🔴NATURI NAUGHTON AT
JENNIFER HUDSON SPIRIT TUNNEL ❤️#naturinaughton #jenniferhudson
#dance
@Madmedianews27, Jan 5, 2025
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ADDENDUM - YouTube Video
Traditional Jola dancing. Video 1. July 2006
Ulf Jägfors, Sep 29, 2006
This video shows traditional Jola body patting and dances
by girls from Mlomp, Casamance region, Southern Senegal. It was recorded at The
Akonting Center for Senegambian folkmusic, Mandinari, Gambia July 2006
-snip-
The Jola are an ethnic group in Southern Senegal, West Africa.
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
The Addendum in this pancocojams post of the Jola people of Senegal performing body patting while they sing and dance suggests to me that the origin story about why enslaved Black people in the South began performing body patting is incomplete. According to that explanation (which appears to be widely circulated and accepted at least among African Americans) is that in the early 18th century after drums were found to be used for communication during a rebellion of enslaved Black people, White people prohibited Black people from playing drums. So instead of drums, body percussion (patting juba) began to be used for percussive accompaniment.
ReplyDeleteWhile this is true, it seems likely to me that Black people who were enslaved in the United States and elsewhere had some memory of body patting "in their genes" since Black people had probably been doing body patting in the motherland of Africa for countless generations.
That 'genetic memory' may be why it body percussion was and still is so prominent in African American (and in other Black?) performance arts.