Babatunde Lea is an Afro-Cuban jazz

Afro-Cuban jazz

Afro-Cuban jazz is an early form of Latin jazz that mixes Afro-Cuban rhythms with harmonies and musical timbre typical of Bebop. It was developed in the early 1940s by both Cuban musicians and Jazz musicians, with Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, Machito and Stan Kenton among some of the most notable...

 and Worldbeat

Worldbeat

Worldbeat is a music genre that primarily refers to a blending of Western pop music with traditional/folk or world music influences...

 percussionist. Michael Lea was raised in Englewood, New Jersey

Englewood, New Jersey

Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...

, while regularly commuting to 116th and Amsterdam in New York, where the rest of his family lived after moving from his birthplace, Danville, Virginia

Danville, Virginia

Danville is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It was the last capital of the Confederate States of America. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Danville with Pittsylvania county for...

. His aunt was one of the first women to play in a marching band. He began drumming at the age of 11, when he, without drumming experience helped a drumline

Drumline

A drumline is a section of percussion instruments usually played as part of a musical marching ensemble. High school and college marching bands, drill and drum corps, drum and bugle corps, indoor percussion ensembles, and pipe bands usually incorporate drumlines; however, drumlines can exist...

 get a rhythm right. That same year, his cousin took him to see Babatunde Olatunji

Babatunde Olatunji

Babatunde Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist and recording artist.- Biography :Olatunji was born in the village of Ajido, a small town near Badagry, Lagos State, in southwestern Nigeria. A member of the Yoruba people, Olatunji was introduced to traditional African music at...

 and his Drums Of Passion, and Olatunji's influence was so great that Michael took on his first name. At 16, he first participated in a professional recording session with Ed Townsend

Ed Townsend

Edward Benjamin 'Ed' Townsend was an American attorney, songwriter, and producer. He was best known for performing his composition, "For Your Love," a rhythm and blues doo wop classic, and as the co-writer of "Let's Get It On" with Marvin Gaye.-Biography:Although he was born in Fayetteville,...

. In 1968, he moved to San Francisco, where he joined Bata Koto, led by Bill Summers. He joined a band called Juju

Juju

A Juju is a supernatural power ascribed to an object.Juju may also refer to:-Geography:* Juju , one of seven districts on the island of Rotuma in Fiji* Juju , a village in the district of Juju on the island of Rotuma-Albums:...

, which relocated to Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 in the early 1970s.

In 1977, he moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

. Among the artists with whom he played were Stan Getz

Stan Getz

Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...

, Joe Henderson

Joe Henderson

Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than forty years Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.-Early life:From a very large family with five sisters and nine...

, McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...

, Randy Weston

Randy Weston

Randy Weston , is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage.-Biography:Weston studied classical piano as a child. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he ran a restaurant that was frequented by many of the leading bebop musicians...

, Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

, and Oscar Brown, Jr.. In 1993, Virginia and Babtunde Lea founded the Educultural Foundation, a California 501(c)3 educational non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 based in Vallejo, California

Vallejo, California

Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...

.

Returning back east, he met up with Leon Thomas

Leon Thomas

Amos Leon Thomas Jr was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois.Thomas studied music at Tennessee State University. In the 1960s he was a vocalist for Count Basie and others....

 (who used to sing at the church Lea attended as a youngster, the First Baptist Church of Englewood) and became drummer in his band. This led to working with Pharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...

. Lea would ultimately pay tribute to Thomas on his 2009 album, Umbeto Weti, which appeared on the Motéma Music

Motéma Music

Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...

 label that he he founded with Jana Herzen

Jana Herzen

Jana Herzen is a singer-songwriter with folk, world, rock and jazz influences who founded Motéma Music, a Harlem-based record label focused on virtuosic jazz and world music. Prior to founding the label in 2003, she worked as a musician , an art agent for Winston Smith, who designed the logo for...

 in 2003. His first album as leader, Levels of Consciousness was released in 1979. He recorded with a band called Phenomena, which grew out of the Loft Jazz Association. He did not release another, Level of Intent, until 1996, putting it on his own label, Diaspora Records. He mortgage

Mortgage

A mortgage is a security interest in real property held by a lender as a security for a debt, usually a loan of money. A mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is the lender's security for a debt...

d his home to get the album released, but it was not widely distributed until Motéma reissued it in 2003.

In 2010, Babatunde and Virginia moved to Pennsylvania to teach at Gettysburg College

Gettysburg College

Gettysburg College is a private four-year liberal arts college founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has about 2,700 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women...

.

Says Lea of his work, "I strive to make my compositions functional, which is an African take on the arts. The purpose I try to imbue my music with is that our growth as human beings should strive toward an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, egalitarian, democratic universal society and I don't care how many life times it takes to get there! I consider myself an activist as well as a musician and consider myself an 'agent of change.'"

His work has been noted for its mixture of styles and influences.

Albums

Album	Year	Label
Levels of Consciousness	1979 1979 in music See also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...	Theresa Records
Level of Intent	1996 1996 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...	Diaspora Records
March of the Jazz Guerillas	2000 2000 in music See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....	Ubiquity Ubiquity Records Ubiquity Records is an American music label that focuses on funk, rare groove, soul, and hip hop and other musical genres. It is located in Costa Mesa, California and has a satellite office based in San Francisco, California...
Soul Pools	2002 2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...	Motéma Music Motéma Music Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
Suite Unseen: Summoner of the Ghost	2005 2005 in music -Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...	Motéma Music

Credits

Elaine Lucia Album	Year	Label
Sings Jazz and Other Things	2001 2001 in music See also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....	Raw Records
David Leshare Watson Album	Year	Label
Live at Lo Spuntino	2002 2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...	Music in the Lines
Loves Swinging Soft & Ballads	2003 2003 in music -January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...	Music in the Lines
DJ Jackie Christie DJ Jackie Christie DJ Jackie Christie is a DJ, songwriter, and music producer based in New York City. She is well known for her work at MTV's The Grind and The Limelight in New York City. She began releasing singles in 1997, originally under the alias, Shine, and her first album, Made 4 U, in 2004. The first...  Album	Year	Label
Made 4 U	2004 2004 in music See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....	Motéma Music Motéma Music Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
Valerie Joi Album	Year	Label
Rise Above	2004 2004 in music See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....	TruJoi Music
Singing the Sacred Yes	2006 2006 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....	Gemini Sun
Bujo Kevin Jones Album	Year	Label
Tenth World	2005 2005 in music -Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...	Motéma Music Motéma Music Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
Wayne Wallace Wayne Wallace Wayne John Wallace is a New Zealand former rugby league player and coach who represented his country in the 1988 World Cup Final.-Playing career:...  Album	Year	Label
Dedication	2006 2006 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....	Patois Records
Idris Ackamoor Idris Ackamoor Idris Ackamoor is a multi-instrumentalist , composer, actor, tap dancer, director, and producer...  Album	Year	Label
Music of Idris Ackamoor 1971-2004	2005 1971 in music -Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music... —2000 2000 in music See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....	EM Records
Eric Swinderman Eric Swinderman Eric Swinderman is an American writer, director and producer. He is most widely known for the films and and the 1990s' sketch comedy series The Assassin Squad...  Album	Year	Label
In Pursuit of the Sound	2006 2006 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....	Self-released
Panos Kappos Album	Year	Label
Harmony	2007 2007 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...	Voyager Records

Compilations

Album	Year	Label
Viva Cubop!, Vol. 2: Dance the Afro-Cuban Way	2000 2000 in music See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....	Cubop Records