Introduction
James Hawthorne Bey(April 17, 1913 – April 8, 2004) was an American jazz percussionist and African folklorist. He played under the name of Chief Bey.
Early life
Born James Hawthorne in Yemassee, South Carolina, Bey moved with his family to Brooklyn and then to Harlem, where he began playing drums and singing in church choirs. He also served in the Navy during World War II and later attended cosmetology school.
Later life and career
In the 1950s, Bey performed in an international tour of Porgy and Bess starring Leontyne Price and Cab Calloway. He also began a busy recording career, performing on Herbie Mann's At the Village Gate (1961), Art Blakey's The African Beat (1962), Ahmed Abdul-Malik's Sounds of Africa (New Jazz, 1961), as well as albums by Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba and Pharoah Sanders, among others. He took his stage name after joining the Moorish Science Temple of America, a Muslim sect. Then he taught the shekere, a West African percussion instrument, at the Griot Institute at Intermediate School 246 in Brooklyn.
Bey died at his home in Brooklyn of stomach cancer at the age of 91. His widow, Barbara Kenyatta Bey (born Barbara Ann Coleman in Harlem on June 9, 1944), was a priestess ofYemaja in the Yoruba religion. She collapsed at his funeral and died four days later.
Discography
As leader
- Children of the House of God (Mapleshade Records, 1997)
As sideman
With Art Blakey
- The African Beat (Blue Note, 1962)
With Hamiet Bluiett
- Dangerously Suite (Soul Note, 1981)
With Herbie Mann
- Herbie Mann at the Village Gate (Atlantic, 1961)
- Herbie Mann Returns to the Village Gate (Atlantic, 1961 [1963])
With Pharoah Sanders
- Izipho Zam (My Gifts) (Strata-East, 1969 [1973])
With Guy Warren
- The Guy Warren Soundz: Themes for African Drums (RCA-Victor, 1958)