Kwasi Badu; Drummer, Dancer, Teacher From Ghana
Kwasi Badu, master drummer and dancer from Ghana who taught African music at UCLA for six years and in Los Angeles schools for 15 years, has died. He was 63.
Badu, who had repeatedly been hospitalized with diabetes and kidney and heart disease, died Nov. 21 in Los Angeles of heart failure, his friend and colleague Morris B. Abram Jr. said Tuesday.
The 10th child of an Ashanti nation minister of war, Badu was named Kwasi, meaning “10th child born on a Sunday.” He grew up learning ethnic ceremonial and religious music in the court of King Agyemang Prempeh, who ruled Ghana’s Ashantis from 1931 to 1970.
In the 1960s Badu headed the National Dance Ensemble of Ghana, which toured several continents performing African music and dance. In addition to directing and drumming, Badu designed and constructed musical instruments and sewed traditional African clothing for the troupe.
As royal drummer in Ghana, Badu taught at the University of Ghana. He taught at UCLA from 1969 until 1975, later at Southern Illinois University and for 15 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
He is survived by four children, one brother and one sister, all of Ghana.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
