Bill Summers and his ministry of rhythm

Christopher Leach
·3 min read
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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Spirituality governs the artistry of musician Bill Summers. Over the years, having worked with the likes of Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson and Patrice Rushen, he has decades of music under his palms.

In the 1970s, Summers was becoming popular as part of Hancock’s groundbreaking group, The Headhunters. He grew up in Detroit and that is where his musical relationship with Hancock began.

“If it wasn’t for me winning the daily double at DRC Racetrack, I would never have met Herbie. I quit high school in the 12th grade, and I got a job at a racetrack in Detroit as a bus boy, and I learned how to bet the horses from a guy that shined shoes in the bathroom, and I won! I threw all the dishes up in the air. I flipped a bunch of people off that were getting on my nerves. I didn’t even pick up my check, I had made so much money,” recalls Summers, on the day that his life changed forever.

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Over the years, he went to the bay area of California as a flautist and saxophonist, as his ministry of musical rhythm would evolve until he found his love for percussion. In the 1980s, he wasn’t a sideman. He had his own group, Bill Summers and Summers Heat. Nowadays, he calls New Orleans home.

Although, he is from Detroit, the lineage of his ancestry is storied. His heart and his faith drive his hands to create music.

Summers explains how his spirituality began saying, “I take great pride in living here in New Orleans. My family is from Louisiana and has been here for 300 years. Everything is spiritual with me. From the skins on my drums, to my hands, what I do, what I say, what I eat and what I pray. One day, I was taken to a ceremony in New York. I went to this house and the walls were moving, it was grooving, and the kids and grandparents were there. They were cooking. Everybody was smiling and they were dancing and playing music that I had never heard before. I said to myself, that is what I have been looking for!” said Summers.

Rhythm is in the heartbeat of New Orleans and West African traditions like drumming, food and Yoruba religions can be traced all the way back to Congo Square in the 17th century and earlier.

Musicianship and artistry are soul-stirring to say the least. To create something, such as music is as spiritual as the genesis of every religion, birth and scientific explosion. Music has been an integral part of faith across the world and continues to be today.

Summers knows the power of music and West-African spirituality drives him. He was initiated into the Yoruba order of sacred drummers in Cuba.

“Without having the percussionist, without the drummer and without having that rhythm, there is nothing else. Life itself would not exist. We play rhythms for God. That’s how important it is,” said Summers.

To experience Summers’ ministry of sound, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. on Bayou Road, Summers performs at the Andre Cailloux Center. “Papa Legba Meets Papa Noel: A Christmas Season and Blessing;” is the name of the benefit concert. Find out more information online.

Jan. 12 through 14, Summers has an interactive camping artist experience with Unity Festival.

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