Over the past several months, I’ve been reflecting on my time as a professional musician. One of my most inspiring teachers while I studied at the New England Conservatory of Music was Ra-Kalam Bob Moses. Also referred to as Rahboat Ntumba Moses, Bob is unlike any drummer or frankly, anyone I’ve ever met.
Billy Martin from the Jazz, Funk, Avant Garde group, Medeski Martin & Wood wrote the following about Bob:
"Aquaduct for the porpoises?"... Bob (Rahboat Ntumba) Moses has coined many phrases with regard to his perspective on things. His inner world is vast. Always evolving yet maintaining a language all his own. Wizard of art , sound and concepts. He hears something hip in anything: from Janet Jackson to Olivier Messaien or Ellington to Cream. Every experience is an epic realization. Sharing his ideas and thoughts with people of all backgrounds from young students to the great artists of our time. Moses is truly a cult hero. Ahead of his time-perhaps but too few can appreciate his creative mastery.
A Godson of Max Roach. He grew up in a building in NYC filled with American legends: Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Rasaan Roland Kirk, Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to name a few. His stories of playing and growing up around these artist are classics. If you have witnessed his performances or his bandleading you have been blessed. An eternal child wonder. "Never an adult moment." Have you experienced a juju-mensch at a breakdance party? A jazz musician jonesing for some LSD-booty-shakin' action. He dances. He Raps. He talks story. He drums. He paints. A beat poet meets Sitting Bull speaks in tongues watching Buddha nature flow "Bittersweet in the Ozone" is Mozone. Broheem supreme, spirits travel far, sending messages of pure love inspiration.” "A world within worlds within a world." - Billy Martin (May 1999)
A true artist, Bob brings a supernatural approach to music and the drums. I’ve been relistening to his distinctive solo recordings, his early, more traditional work with Pat Metheny, and his unrestrained, often beautifully wild, stream of consciousness explorations with Tsziji Munoz and John Medeski.
It is hard to encapsulate how his drumming, and specifically the spiritual aspects of his playing, speak to me. I immediately notice how “in the moment” he sounds. His drumming sounds like a conversation in a language I don't understand, but I feel the intent of the conversation. I absorb the linguistic nuances through sounds, textures, and dynamics. Deep in the music, I hear the dramatic intonations and conversational ebbs and flows that occur when humans talk to each other.
For example, God-Fire on Tsziji Munoz and Bob Moses’ live concert (part 1 & part 2) Free Freedom is uplifting and fiery. The music is reminiscent of the stroll Coltrane takes with Elvin Jones on "One Down, One Up" on Live at the Half Note from 1965. This is far and away among the spiritually deepest recordings.
Ra-Kalam Bob Moses taught me a lot about music, spirituality and life in general. Bob lives in the moment. He has a natural gift for rhythm, and is an out of the box thinker. Ra-Kalam’s commitment to music and rhythm are apparent in his words, and are heard and felt in his music. I watched this two hour interview with Clifford Koufman. It reminded me of many life lessons I learned from him. It’s a long interview, but it summarizes Bob’s life. He talks about growing up playing with Charles Mingus, Rashan Roland Kirk and other jazz luminairies, and seeing Coltrane play live many, many times. The interview captures Bob’s passion for music, his views on the infinite nature of rhythm, highlighting his “in the moment”, non-judgmental style.
He is the first to describe resolution points. A unique approach to musical concepts described in his phenomenal book, Drum Wisdom. Bob also turned me on to simul-circular loopology which stems from his ideas about skipped records. If you are old enough to remember, when a record skipped, it repeated a small section of a song over and over again, sometimes starting in the middle of a bar and repeating over several bars. The repeating skip often sounded strange, especially with jazz records, here’s an example clip that illustrates the idea. Bob took this idea as a starting point for creating music and expanding on rhythmic concepts. Here’s a video clip of him describing it, and playing an example on the drums.
I have had the privilege throughout my life to have access to amazing people with mastery in a domain. These masters whether in music, art, academics, business, law, etc… profoundly influenced my outlook on the world, and contributed to who I am.
I am blessed to have been exposed to such amazing mentors. Ra-Kalam Bob Moses has had a tremendous influence on me. I feel immense gratitude toward him. I believe that writing about him is one small way to pass his influence and teachings along. He has never received the recognition he deserves. Hopefully this essay serves as a conduit for others to discover the unique and magical musicianship he brings.
Ignore the confusion!
Thanks to Rohit Gupta for inspiration and editing.