Babatunde Lea

"The Babatunde Lea Quintet took us on a compelling musical trip through the African Diaspora, hunkering into the rich shores of jazz right here in Southern California."

– Dee Dee McNeil, Allaboutjazz.com

Babatunde Lea at the Kuumbwa, 2008

"Lea's quartet relied heavily on traditional African rhythms with an influence of Latin origins. The sound quality was top-notch and the fast-paced music had influences of bebop."

  – Peter Hironaka, Spartan Daily

 

"Yearning, uplift, and ancestry permeate this celebration of late vocalist Leon Thomas, a leading figure of post-Coltrane spiritual jazz who combined deep melodicism with a signature yodel-like technique on classics like Pharoah Sanders’s “Creator Has a Master Plan.”

– Stephanie Brown, The Boston Globe

"The deep love Babatunde Lea felt, and obviously still feels, for Leon Thomas and the music they made together comes through on every note of this disc."

– Phil Freeman, All Music Guide

Umbo Weti - A Tribute to Leon Thomas

"For this beautiful tribute to the spirit and music of Thomas, Lea captures the mesmerizing essence of Thomas ...not only a wonderful tribute to a great artist, but a tremendous work in its own right."

– Glenn Daniels, Thejazzpage.com

Babatunde Lea - courtesy LATimes

Allaboutjazz.com

Review by Dee Dee McNeil

Babatunde Lea Quintet - Tribute to Leon Thomas
Catalina Bar & Grill, Hollywood, California, March 10, 2010

Four musicians quietly walked onto the Catalina Bar & Grill stage greeted by enthusiastic applause. But where was the bandleader?

From the dressing room, Babatunde Lea sang to the packed room, with his strong voice filling the space like an evening prayer. He danced his way through the crowded tables, shaking a Shekere (a bead-covered gourd) and setting the tone for the quintet's opening night performance.

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Sf.Metblogs.com

Review by Lil Mike, 2010-03-04

After Yoshi’s celebrates St. Paddy’s Day with the unlikely Gil-Scott Heron on Mar 16th & 17th, another unique event comes to town the next night. Master Percussionist Babatunde Lea brings an all-star jazz virtuoso quintet feat. vocalist Dwight Trible, saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist/vocalist Patrice Rushen & bassist Gary Brown to town.

The night of March 18th promises to be a musical meeting of the minds @ SF’s Yoshi’s when these 5 veterans hit the stage to celebrate their new CD release‘Umbo Weti: A Tribute to Leon Thomas’. The album was recorded right here in the Bay Area live at Yoshi’s in 2008 and is a 2 disc tribute to the late ’spiritual bop’ vocalist Leon Thomas who passed in 1999.

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Thejazzpage.com

Review by Glenn Daniels, 2010-02-19

Babatunde Lea - Umbo Weti (Motema Music)
 
Legendary vocalist and composer Leon Thomas, perhaps best known for his collaborations with the great Pharoah Sanders on "The Creator Has A Masterplan", is the inspiration for percussionist and drummer Babatunde Lea's latest musical effort. Lea's connection to Thomas goes back to attending the same church while growing up in Englewood, New Jersey. For this beautiful tribute to the spirit and music of Thomas, Lea chose an ensemble of Ernie Watts on saxophone, Gary Brown on bass, Patrice Rushen on piano, and the powerful vocals of Dwight Tribles more than captures the mesmerizing essence of Thomas. Recorded live at Yoshi's in Oakland, California, this 2-CD set is not only a wonderful tribute to a great artist, but a tremendous work in its own right.

By: Glenn Daniels
Thejazzpage.com

East Bay Express

By Lee Hildebrand, October 14, 2009   

Babatunde Lea - Umbo Weti: A Tribute to Leon Thomas

The spirituality in John Coltrane's music was not apparent to many listeners, especially during his final years, when his performances became increasingly complex, cacophonous, and long. His spiritual vibe was made accessible to a wider audience two years following his death by his stylistic disciple Pharoah Sanders, on the 1969 album Karma. The song "The Creator Has a Master Plan," a distillation by Sanders of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" with lyrics and vocals about "peace and happiness for every man" by the previously little-known Leon Thomas, became a surprise hit. Thomas, who later sang with Santana, died in 1999.

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Metro Times

by W. Kim Heron, 9/30/09

Umbo Weti - A Tribute to Leon Thomas 1937-1999: Babatunde Lea, Motéma Music

The great Leon Thomas turns out to be not so inimitable after all. And that's not a bad thing. Thomas, for the uninitiated, started out as a Basie band blues-belter in the mold of Joe Williams, then became the vocalist most identified with the post-Coltrane avant-garde. In addition to his bedrock of blues, he brought a prayerful presence to invocations like "The Creator Has a Master Plan." And he met the volcanic horn solos of Pharoah Sanders, for instance, with some heat of his own: a kind of avant-yodel that we might not have expected anyone to pick up on in his wake.

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