#218 Brevan and Iajhi Hamden- Percussionist, Drummer, Educators & More!
This week’s guest’s are the Hampden brothers. Percussionist Brevan and drummer Iajhi.
Born in New York City in 1985, Brevan was born instantly a member of a high-level musical family; his father Ivan, who has toured with Luther Vandross, Vanessa Williams, Jennifer Lopez, Roberta Flack, Grady Tate, and Ashford & Simpson, and his mother Brenda, who has performed on Broadway, with Dizzy Gillespie, Angie Bofill, Marian Anderson, and Jazzmobile.
After moving to Durham, NC in 1988, Brevan began showing signs of talent in music from age 7. He began playing percussion in church with his mother and brother at age 9. Soon after, he began playing pick up gigs and at other churches in the Raleigh/Durham area. His older brother Brian moved to North Carolina when Brevan was 9, and introduced him to the world of Latin and World Percussion. Brevan learned how to read music in middle school, playing in concert band and jazz band, and participated in the marching band once moving on to high school. Although there were no high school programs that catered to Latin percussion or jazz/popular music in general, Brevan continued his study of percussion, by listening to and being influenced by percussionists Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, Carlos “Patato” Valdes, Tata Guines, Changuito, Giovanni Hidalgo, Angel “Cachete” Maldonado, Tito Puente, Miguel “Anga” Diaz, Tomas “El Panga” Ramos and other artists such as Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Kool and the Gang, Parliament, Daryl “Munyungo” Jackson, Leon “Ndugu” Chancelor, Steve Kroon, Roger Squitero, Sheila E. and Luis Conte.
Twice, during his high school years, Brevan attended the Berklee World Percussion Festival in Boston, where he studied with Giovanni Hidalgo, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Eguie Castrillo, and Ernesto Diaz. This helped further his knowledge of percussion, and of music in general, which, upon his return to North Carolina allowed him to continue performing locally, with bands such as Junk in the Trunk, Samecumba, Carnavalito, and the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Jazz Ensemble, with whom his other brother, Iajhi, was performing at the time.
Born in Manhattan to musical parents, Iajhi has had music around him all of his life. Following in the footsteps of his father (Ivan Hampden) who has toured with Luther Vandross since 1987. He began playing drums at the age of ten in a North Carolina church behind his mother who served as the musical director for the church, while taking gigs in the area at 16, as soon as he was able to drive. Iajhi enrolled at North Carolina Central University two years later in 1997, and under the direction of Dr. Ira Wiggins began the journey into jazz studies. While at N.C.C.U. as a part of the jazz studies program he was privileged to perform at the Montreaux and Vienne jazz festivals in Europe, the White House on two occasions, and also shared stages with Stanley Turntine, Slide Hampton, Frank Foster, Jimmy Heath, Terrell Stafford, Nicholas Payton, and many others.
In 2005, Iajhi completed a Graduate Assistantship to Ronald Carter (sax) At Northern Illinois University as a Liberace scholar. Professor Carter has taught many of the current young “lions” in the music scene today including drummers Montez Coleman (Rufus Reid), and Terrion Gully (Christian McBride), and has a working relationship with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center program as creative administrator. While at N.I.U., Iajhi was privileged to tour with the NIU Jazz Ensemble working alongside guest artists such as Donald Harrison, Christian Scott, Eddie Henderson, Dennis Mackrel and Red Holloway.
Shortly after Graduation Iajhi began dividing his time between Chicago and North Carolina while touring the country with a tribute band, and holding a residency at the Pump Room Jazz club in Downtown Chicago. He later that year decided to relocate to the Los Angeles area under the recommendation of mentor Ray Chew. Since relocating to Los Angeles in 2006, Iajhi has had the privilege to be involved in various numbers of musical opportunities. He has performed on such notable television shows such as: American Idol, BET’s Celebration of Gospel, The BET Awards, MTV’s TRL, Last Call with Carson Daily, Live with Regis and Kelly, Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late show with Craig Ferguson, The Mo’Nique Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Rachael Ray Show, and The View.
Iajhi has also worked and toured with artists such as: Lina (Hidden Beach), Andre Delano, Ashley Parker Angel, Andy Vargas, Norman Brown, Alex Bugnon, Chante’ Moore, Paul Taylor, Gordon Chambers, Aly & A.J. (Summer Tour 2007 & Hanna Montana, Best of both Worlds Tour January, 2008). Macy Gray, V.V. Brown, Jessy J. (sax), Rick Braun, Euge Groove, Peter White, Mindi Abair, Paige Bryan, Nikka Costa, Rumer Willis, Lee DeWyze (American Idol).
Iajhi plans to continue on the journey of life called music and letting the journey take him wherever it may.
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to the percussionist Steve Kroon.
R.I.P.
Ralph Peterson Jr., a drummer, bandleader, composer and educator whose lunging propulsion and volatile combustion were hallmarks of a jazz career spanning more than 40 years, died on Monday in North Dartmouth, Mass. The cause was complications from cancer, his manager, Laura Martinez, tells NPR Music; Peterson had been living with the disease for the last six years. He was 58. -Article
The post Damon refers to on Questlove’s Instagram page is below.
Gig Alerts
Damon participated in the show Pose on FX/Hulu. The release date of that episode is TBD.
You can find out more details about the LHS Marimba Seminar by CLICKING HERE. There are additional guest faculty that you can learn about by CLICKING HERE.
To apply to the seminar and reserve your spot, CLICK HERE.
It is Women’s History Month, and there is a Hit Like a Girl Contest open to all female percussionists.
You can get more info by going to the Hit Like a Girl Website.
Educational Spotlight
Every Wednesday “Drum Summit" LIVE! features a guest drummer/percussionist.
The show is hosted by Middle-eastern percussionist Ava Nahas and live streams on the @drum_summit Instagram on Wednesdays at 10AM PST/ 1PM EST, which is 10:30PM in India.
During the 30-40 minute show, each guest is asked to talk about their gear, their past and current projects, give short lesson, and answer questions that may be sent by the audience. The show will be promoted on the Drum Summit and Hit Like A Girl social pages and will be reposted after the LIVE session.
Product Review
DW Music Foundation (DWMF) is delighted to announce Project Timeline. A new initiative with the objective of highlighting the importance of the African American musical lineage and the influence it has had on a wide range of music genres.
Project Timeline is a music-centric advisory board made up of manufacturing industry veterans and celebrated drummers and percussionists. It aims to deliver of a program working with schools in underserved communities to spark musical interest and engage young people of all ethnic backgrounds, ages, abilities by donating resources including instruments and qualified, passionate educators.
Special Ambassadors for Project Timeline include award winning percussionists Kevin Ricard, Mona Tavakoli, Taku Hirano (Fleetwood Mac) and drummer Trevor Lawrence Jr. (Dr. Dre, Herbie Hancock, LeAnn Rimes). Speaking about the initiative, Lawrence said: ‘DW is the only company that is progressive and aware enough to initiate a project like this. Project Timeline is a huge step in the right direction.’
Each year, during Black History Month, Drum Workshop will design and build an exclusive, limited edition run of 10 snare drums. These special drums will retail at $1000 each with 100% of sale proceeds going to Project Timeline. For 2021 the all maple 6x14”, 10-ply Collector’s Series drums are finished in Ivory Ebony Exotic with Piano Black lacquer bands and chrome hardware with special Project Timeline batter head.
DWMF invites you to join them, as the foundation reaches out to underprivileged, disadvantaged and deprived schools to kindle music engagement, illuminate the potential and embolden growth with each beat of the drum.
To learn more about DWMF, Project Timeline and to purchase the limited edition snare drums, please visit dwmf.org/
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording this week is “Spirit of Love” by Eddie Palmieri, from the ‘Lucumi, Macumba, Voodoo’ album. You can read the lengthy credit listing by CLICKING HERE.
Music News
What is Clubhouse? It’s a new audio social platform that took off during the pandemic in 2020. Here’s everything you need to know about the exclusive app.
The social media app took off last summer among Silicon Valley tech workers during the pandemic. It’s an invite-only system of drop-in audio rooms that connect people like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah, and Drake to their fans. Clubhouse grew meteorically over 2020, and today, it has millions of users – and remains invite-only. -Article
You can watch the Masterclass Damon gave to the students of Wyandotte High School by CLICKING HERE.
The recording of the song “The Listening” can be heard (and seen) below.
Hampden Brothers Interview
The interview starts with Iajhi talking about how he was born. His parents Brenda, and Ivan were participating in the Dance Theater of Harlem and he was conceived in Philly.
They talk about the importance of the church in Greensboro, NC. They also talk about their older brother Brian was a driving force as well.
Brevan and Damon talk about different areas where slaves were able to keep their drums vs. areas where there was a drum ban.
Brevan continues to talk about the use of Cajons in Cuba. The DG Cajon company has 11 short clips talking about the history of the cajon with maps and videos. Below is the first one.
They also bring up some of the history of Congo Square.
Iajhi talks about the musical and real life education they got from their parents. Special shout-out to the Jazzmobile program in NYC.
THIS ARTICLE talks about the different types of churches and their music.
Red Lobster on Sunday, after church is a staple for black people.
Brevan talks about the camaraderie and relationships of high profile touring families.
Shout-out to Steve Kroon.
Brevan continues with the importance of the “off the stage” aspects of being a professional musician.
Shout-out to Dr. Ira Wiggins at NC Central University. Brevan attended F.I.U. for two years before transferring. Both Iajhi and Brevan finished their undergrad at NC Central University. Brevan got his Masters at Queens College. Iajhi got his Masters at Northern Illinois University.
Brevan talks about the influence of Charlie Hunter into the North Carolina music scene.
They talk about the difference of playing music in a smaller city and needing to be versatile, vs being able to be a specialist in a big city.
Iajhi talks about being an east coaster and moving to the west coast. He talks about the adjustments he had to make. Before smartphones, Iajhi used the Thomas Guide to get around. He also talks about how the visual aspect can be just as important as the music you’re playing.
Iajhi has learned a bunch from watching top musical directors like: Rickey Minor, Ray Chew, Paul Mirkovich, Herman Jackson, Kevin Antunes Eugene “Man Man” Roberts, and Adam Blackstone among others.
Shout-out to Jeremy “Bean” Clemons
Damon brings up the grassroots organization called “Be An Arts Hero”. Iajhi brings up MusiCares. Damon mentions Niva. The full list and explanation of each group is below…..
Be an #ArtsHero is an intersectional grassroots campaign comprised of Arts & Culture workers, Unions, and institutions in the United States pushing the Senate to allocate proportionate relief to the Arts & Culture sector of the American economy.
They also have a letter to Senators (which Damon signed) presenting their case. https://beanartshero.com/dear-senators
NIVA's mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent venues and promoters throughout the United States (specifically independent ones smaller than the size of arenas).
We are an alliance of working musicians, performers, and songwriters fighting for a healthy creative economy and fair treatment for all creators in the digital world. We work to defend and protect artists, guided by our Artists’ Bill of Rights, which outlines fundamental principles for today’s music economy.
This is their proposed 'Bill of Rights'
The Right to Control Our Work – the ability to decide when and on what terms our creative works are performed, reproduced, or distributed, and the ability to assign these rights to partners of our choosing.
The Right to Economic and Artistic Freedom – including the right to fair market value compensation for creative work on all platforms at all times and a music ecosystem that incentivizes creativity, breadth and variety, diversity among creators and styles, and that nurtures and supports the next generation of artists.
The Right to Attribution and Acknowledgment – including ready access for all audiences on all platforms to credit information and liner note materials.
The Right to a Music Community – including fully funded public arts education and support for non-commercial performances and works so that creative opportunities, expression, and connection are open to all and society is broadly enriched by as many forms of art and as much artistic participation as possible.
The Right to Competitive Platforms – including channels of distribution, communication, and social media that are competitive, transparent, accurate, secure, open to all on non-discriminatory terms, protective of user privacy, and free of industrial scale piracy and any other commercialized theft of our work.
The Right to Information and Platform Transparency – including effective audit and transparency rights with respect to all platforms, services, and companies that use, distribute, or monetize our work.
The Right to Political Participation – including the ability to advocate for the recognition and protection of all these rights without retribution, blacklisting, or retaliation from distribution channels, platforms, or partners; and the elimination of restrictions on organizing and collective action in support of such advocacy.
NITO
National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) is a non-profit 501 (c) 6 organization that was founded by a group of like-minded US based independent talent agencies and independent management companies for the purpose of promoting the welfare of our members and their represented artists. NITO advocates for the direct benefit of our members as well as for the indirect benefit of associate members represented in a broad coalition of entities in the live touring ecosystem.
Touring Professionals Alliance
The Alliance was started by a group of like-minded Tour and Production Managers who joined together to find ways to help our touring families as they struggle with unprecedented financial and emotional hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are still a community, and we are better together.
There are other organizations that have been established to help provide temporary Covid relief and resources, like this one, this one, this Grammy one, and these Broadway ones.
As far as Government supported organizations, we already have the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Iahji uses: Yamaha Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, Big Fat Snare Drum and Se Electronics.
Brevan is a free agent when it comes to endorsements. But, you can check out Break Alive Studios.
You can follow Iajhi on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
You can Follow Brevan on his Website, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
