Oloye (Chief) Baba Neil Tokode Adewede

Ayanlere Clarke, Alufopejo Awo of Osogbo, Nigeria

Chief Baba Neil Clarke is a master African-centered percussionist, bandleader, producer, educator, and scholar. He studied under some of the world’s greatest percussionists, including “Chief” James H. Bey, Baba Kwame Ishangi, Ladji Camara, Olukose Wiles, Souleye Diop, and Orlando Rios. An award-winning musician, he has collaborated and performed with legendary artists such as Dianne Reeves, Phyllis Hyman, Third World, Norman Connors, David Sanborn, Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu, Harry Belafonte (for 15 years), and NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston (for nearly three decades). In 2016, he received the Jazz Impact Award from the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium. He is a founding member of Omi Yesa, the oldest African American Orisa music group, and the International African American Ballet, and currently serves on the Council of Elders of Dance Africa.

Chief Baba Neil’s grounding in the Yoruba Orisa tradition began at age 13. For over half a century, his contributions to African spiritual and percussive arts have been unparalleled. A passionate researcher of African ancestral traditions, he has received multiple research grants and fellowships, including two from the BMRC in Chicago and a prestigious Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship (2019–20) at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. A dedicated educator, he has taught and lectured at institutions including Medgar Evers College, CUNY, Harvard, Yale, Rutgers, and the American Museum of Natural History.