This month we hear from musician Donald Gamble, in the first of a series of guest posts exploring some of the many varied career pathways within the music industry.
Donald Gamble is a world music percussionist who has had a long and interesting career as a working musician and music tutor.
He was born in London as a child of parents who were part of the Windrush Generation.
His parents arrived in the early 1960s from the Caribbean Island, Jamaica, which was at the time part of the British Empire until the island gained its independence in August 1962.
As I child in the late 1960s I can remember having piano and violin lesson from an elderly good teacher. Private music lessons in the 1960s were very strict and I can remember her hitting my hands with a ruler whenever I repeated a mistake in my learning. I did learn the basics on the piano and violin, but I was not very good at reading music because it was not discovered at the time that I was short-sighted and could not read very well without glasses. This was unfortunately not picked up by my music teacher and parents in my early years. At the time this limited my music learning but I was able to develop a good memory for remembering music pieces and playing an instrument by ear. I also had piano lessons with a family friend until I was 9 years of age.
My music lessons came to an end when I moved from North London to the East End of London. There was always a piano at home that we could use and a set of tourist hand drums that were picked up from Tanzania by my father, who had served in the British military before I was born. I do remember having these instruments around me throughout my childhood and I still have the same piano in my home today.
From 10 years of age I enjoyed a regular childhood doing the normal things that young people do, going to school and engaging in sports and enjoying friendships. I did not go back to music until I was in my late teens. I engaged in dance and drama classes and did lots of film, TV and cabaret work until my mid-20s.
During the mid-80s, I started to develop a deep interest in world percussion especially music from Africa, South America and the Caribbean. I would find local musicians who worked with percussion instruments and seek advice and tuition. At this time it was very difficult to find teachers who could support this type of learning in London and unlike today, there were no institutions where you could receive professional tuition in African derived drumming and percussion. I would get most of my study experience from travelling to Africa and the Americas, and studying from records, tapes and books. It was a very difficult and slow way of studying which required a lot of discipline and self-motivation.
Becoming a professional musician
I would eventually acquire enough knowledge to be able to work with local African and Caribbean folkloric dance companies as a musician accompanist for dancers.
I worked with a Nigerian Dance Company managed by the award-winning dancer/choreographer Bode Lawal (Sokoba Dance Company), Elliot Nubane Utingo (Rainbow) Dance Company (South African Folkloric Dance) and the London Afro-Blok (Brazilian Samba Reggae). I had the opportunity to travel to many countries with these traditional dance and music ensembles. The London Afro-Blok went on to represent Great Britain for music and culture in the 1994 Commonwealth Games held in British Columbia. I have even had an opportunity to meet Queen Elizabeth II on a couple of occasions – which was a very big deal for my mother, who always loved the Queen.
Working for a few years with these ensembles gave me the skill base as a musician to connect drumming and percussion to movement and art. I would eventually use this transferable skill for work with Western contemporary dance and ballet companies, where I would work as an accompanist musician for dance classes and performances throughout the 90s.
My musical development, and breaking into popular music
My musical development was also supported from the mid-80s with regular visits to the Ronnie Scott’s Club in London, where you could attend concerts for £1 Mon to Fri if you were a member of the Musicians’ Union. The opportunity was made available by this wonderful club to watch and study the musical expressions of some of the greatest jazz and world music musicians from the USA, South America, Africa, the Caribbean and Europe. There were also many opportunities to meet and get many words of wisdom from these visiting master musicians. This opportunity and the resource of studying and analysing music on vinyl records, cassettes and music books were key. The record player and cassette player at home, observing musicians in performance and diligent practice on my instruments were my method of musical self-study and development.
Donald performed with Ronnie Laws between 1995 to 1997
This type of study forces you to work through your mistakes and produces a lot of creativity and individuality. There were no mentors and your mistakes were made and corrected when you were working. During my own learning there were many musicians I worked with who were happy to perform with me but were not generous with sharing information that would support my musical development. Back then it was sometimes very difficult to navigate my own musical development. But with consistency and hard work anything is possible.
I eventually was able to break into the world of popular music in the early 90s.
I was given the opportunity to work in a wide variety of musical genres as diverse as experimental jazz, dance music, rock and roll and African music.
The 90s was still a great time musically, with record companies providing decent record deals to support talented artistes and bands.
I had many opportunities to travel around the world doing shows and festivals, and fortunately these opportunities have continued to this day.
Donald performed with Karen Ramirez between 1997 to 1999
Life as a touring musician
The life of a touring musician has allowed me the opportunity of regularly travelling the world and connecting with people globally through the gift of music.
You also get to experience wonderful locations, great food and generally the most hospitable welcomes from music lovers.
Although this may all sound quite glamorous, there is a lot of stress and anxiety often associated with the demands placed on the working musicians, especially when touring at a professional level.
Donald performed with Courtney Pine between 2000 to 2011
Finding the time to maintain a high level of musical performance requires a lot of practice and conditioning. Using the example of the Blue Note Tokyo Jazz Club: you will be expected to be able to do two 2-hour musical sets for six nights a week if you have a residency. There is a requirement that the body and mind are conditioned enough to cope with the rigour of performances – even if you are jetlagged from travelling for 13+ hours, tired and not acclimatised to an overseas environment.
In extreme touring situations you can find yourself travelling and working in a few different world time zones, where you are literally going straight from airports to performances. It is not uncommon to have to spend up to a full day flying and travelling to a gig. Having good interpersonal skills with your work colleagues is also essential, because travel fatigue and sleep deprivation does affect mood, emotions and communication.
These work conditions can have a quite negative effect on your general health if you are not mindful and careful. Most musicians I have worked with are very fit and dedicated to their craft. To work as a touring musician requires a lot of preparation and self-care sometimes beyond the scope of a regular 9 to 5 job.
Moving into teaching
I was lucky that I could complete my university studies in the 90s, when I did a Psychology degree followed by a professional teachers’ training qualification. I have also completed a wide variety of professional therapy qualifications, so that I am able to work as an alternative therapist.
Since 2001 I have been teaching a Drumming and Percussion course for adult learners for local government and have regular teaching contracts in London based primary schools.
I still work as a visiting tutor in dozens of schools in England teaching African, Caribbean and Samba Drumming for many years. I still enjoy and derive a lot of personal satisfaction from working with our young people and adults.
Tours and Recordings include:
Noel McCoy,1992-1994
ENC 1993-1994
Gabrielle Dreams Tour 1994
Mother Earth, 1995
Corduroy 1994-1998
Brian Auger Tours 1996
Ronnie Laws 1996,
Cameron Pierre 1998
Tony Kofi 2001
Jean Toussaint 1998-1999
Courtney Pine 2000-2011
Cymande 2019 to present
and too many others to mention ...
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