For more than 30 years, Doc Powell, 60, has participated with the drummers and dancers who gather each Sunday at Malcolm X Park. Drummers from all walks of life, and from every level of drumming ability, come together to bang out interesting sounds and rhythms. Out of that group, Powell founded the Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers.
Is Doc your real name?
It’s my real name in the sense that that’s what you call me. I got the name as a student at Howard. I lived with an internist, and we physically resembled each other. The neighbors thought I was his son and called me Doc.
So the name started from those humble beginnings. I’ve achieved a level of drumming efficiency, talent and knowledge, and so I call myself a drum doctor.
Where did the group at the park come from?
That group grew out of the social and community activity that went on in that park all the way to the mid-60s.
All levels of musical talents can participate, from “I don’t know what music is,” to “I have tremendous knowledge of African culture and African music.”
Whoever acts as the lead starts a musical expression of music and rhythm. The drummers may not know the history of the expression but they can join the expression by following.
So, the rhythms are not just made up on the spot?
These are musical expressions that have been passed down through the ages – Nigerian, Ghanaian, Yoruba.
It’s a re-creation of an African village scene. You have the same type of situation, where people come out of their homes to celebrate – the fruit was good this year, or we have a new child, or we have a new member of the village – and people perform music and wonderful dances and provide recreation for those in the village.
