By Polly Ikonen

So says Kerry Taylor, who recently invited me for coffee with him, Gregory Harris and David Stringer, all core members of Soulbeatz, the wonderful community drum circle that you can hear and feel every weekend afternoon at the Pergola that crowns the eastern end of Oakland’s Lake Merritt.

We will have the great delight of welcoming them as special guests on our spring program, “The Sound Garden of Love.” They will perform Denko!, Shoshaloza and other drum-driven African diaspora chants with us - as our guests for the full concert in San Francisco on April 6, and as our hosts at the Soulbeatz weekly jam on April 7. (Details here - and sneak peak from our rehearsal here.)

Kerry was careful to explain that Soulbeatz is not an official performing group and doesn’t have a leader. While it’s been around for decades, Soulbeatz is both an intentional and organic gathering of drummers from all backgrounds - from novice to professional - who gather weekly to share their rhythms with each other and the crowds that inevitably gather and dance along the lake shore. “People say that they come here every weekend to get their medicine,” explains Greg. Soulbeatz doesn’t have a website, but they do have a Facebook group of more than 600 members and an international diaspora of drummers through whom the rhythms of Oakland “are constantly traveling.” Check out this video from one of their drum circles in 2022.

I asked Kerry, Greg and David how they first got into drumming and connected with Soulbeatz, and their answers were revealing of that special rhythmic “flow” that brings Soulbeatz together:

David: “When I was a kid in San Francisco, we’d go out to picnic and I remember hearing the drums in the background, and I was always drawn to the drums myself. And I started in high school - I had a math teacher who played drums. One day at lunchtime, he got out there and he started drumming, and I asked him to teach me how, and he did. But it's been a part of California culture forever. I used to go play at Golden Gate Park, UC Berkeley, in Oakland. The drum is always there. It's always been here. That's the lesson. That's who I am.”

Greg: “I was a professional trap drummer on a drum set, back in the 80s. We did rock and roll, progressive sort of Steely Dan music. And we got signed and got to tour in our 20s! You know, that was just the pinnacle of rock and roll. Since then, I moved on to other things, right? I actually just play two congas right now, but I think I'm a better drummer now than I was.”

Kerry: “So drumming for me got started at the Ashby Bart station [where Soulbeatz used to gather]. I would hear the music in the background. The music captivated me, and I started lingering. I walked over and I saw a cowbell sitting there. I asked the drummers, ‘Can I pick up the cowbell?’ Then I heard myself playing the rhythm. Then I heard the drums following the rhythm. Then I said, ‘I can’t stop because I’ll mess up the song if I stop!’ The next thing I know, my brother gifted me with a djembe. And there we go. [laughs] That was the bloodline! Yeah, it was over.”

Greg wrapped up our coffee with this reflection: “We all have a heartbeat. And I believe when you’re drumming together, that heart becomes one. Everybody gets a chill. It means that we are brothers and sisters. God gave us a heartbeat that is universal. It’s that transfer of spirit, of energy. And that's what it's all about. That is music. That is communication. That is human beings interacting with each other through music, because music is feeling.”

Soulbeatz gathers every Saturday and Sunday afternoon (except when it rains) at Oakland’s Lake Merritt Pergola (map here). All are welcome.