From starting off in Texas as a young kid whose talents as a drummer were nurtured to later coining the term “body music” to reflect the sounds and actions of the art form that fuses sight, sound and rhythmic claps, slaps, and footwork, Keith Terry is a legend in the world of percussion. He’s the executive director for Crosspulse, an Oakland-based non-profit arts organization dedicated to the performance, recording and education of cross-cultural rhythmic arts.
The master of modern percussion
In this conversation we explore the origins of the the art form and how Keith has woven his life around his percussive roots to bring body music to people around the world. Keith characterizes body music as a way of “seeing music and hearing dance.”
An art form to also watch
Find more videos and performances of Keith and body music on the Crosspulse web site. Body music is something to see as well as hear.
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To listen to this episode as a podcast, search for Agile Vocalist anywhere you get your podcasts.
International Body Music Festival & Upcoming Documentary
The 2024 International Body Music Festival is happening November 4-10, 2024 in Athens, Greece. The International Body Music Festival is also the focus of an upcoming documetary called Through the Body. Learn more and support the film here:
About Keith Terry
Keith Terry is a percussionist, rhythm-dancer and educator whose artistic vision has straddled the line between music and dance for more than four decades. He’s appeared solo at Lincoln Center, Bumbershoot, NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition, PRI’s The World, the Vienna International Dance Festival, and the Paradiso van Paradiso van Slag World Drum Festival in Amsterdam.
Keith has performed with a wide range of artists including Charles “Honi” Coles, Turtle Island Quartet, Bill Irwin, Jovino Santos Neto, Barbatuques, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Kenny Endo, Freddie Hubbard, Tex Williams, Robin Williams, and Bobby McFerrin. As a producer he has created 5 CDs and 4 DVDs for Crosspulse Media.
His many groups and collaborations have performed in venues such as Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors (NYC), Grand Performances, LACMA Jazz, SFJazz, the Bali Arts Festival and many more. From 1998 to 2005 he was faculty at UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures, where he designed and taught a dozen courses on the relationship of music and dance.
He conceived and directed the first International Body Music Performance Project in 2006 for the Orff Institute and he tours extensively in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, He’s a 2008 Guggenheim Fellow and the Founding Director of Crosspulse, an arts organization dedicated to rhythm-based intercultural music and dance.
Keith is also the Founding/Artistic Director of the Crosspulse project, the International Body Music Festival (IBMF), an annual 6-day Festival which explores the language of body music from culture to culture. Now in its sixth year, IBMF has been produced in San Francisco/Oakland, US; São Paulo, Brazil; and Istanbul, Turkey.
Hambone
Stone River Rebellion
Patting Juba
Talking drum
Stevie Wonder, Talking Book
ODC Dance
Keith’s 70th birthday at the Freight and Salvage in 2021
Music in this Episode
Keith Terry & Evie Ladin at the International Body Music Festival (IBMF) #12
Gypsy Eyes
All Blues Ven Aca, Slammin All Body Band
Joropeando, Keith Terry & Crosspulse
All Blues, Corposonic Trio
