KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In celebration of Black Music Month and Make Music Day in Kansas City, a free class for all ages was filled with eager drummers on Wednesday at Loose Park.
“We’re going to use the fat part of the stick, it sounds better,” Jaisson Taylor said while teaching his Urban Bucket Brigade class. “I use different parts of the bucket, you can speed it up once you get muscle memory.”
Taylor has brought the beats for years, but he said it’s the teaching of the Urban Bucket Brigade where he gets to share his knowledge with everyone.
“I like the idea of making music,” he said. “Everybody can play on a bucket.”
It's a hands-on class using five gallon buckets and drumsticks, all while practicing rhythm, call and response and individuality.
“A lot of my rhythms are from a West Africa view,” Taylor said.
Thirty two people signed up for the class put on by KC Parks and Recreations for Make Music Day.
“A real mission moment to get more people to have that experience,” said Marty Arvicu, with Kansas City Young Audiences.
No matter how experienced, it’s a way of finding your voice
“It builds confidence, self-esteem, communication skills and sense of belonging,” Arvicu said.
Markell O’Neal was one of the people who attended the class on Wednesday.
“When you get to understand it, when you get to do it — easy, you become a beast at it,” O’Neal said.
Rachel Riley, O'Neal's grandmother, was excited to learn alongside her grandson.
“It’s a calm, it’s a coolness, it’s a solvent of just live easy,” Riley said.
Taylor said as long as it’s something you can relate to, it’s the importance of learning to make your own music.
“It’s the international language, music, you can be anywhere in the world and if you have that connection through music, you can make a firm connection,” Taylor said. “It’s a melting pot, so I think everyone can relate to it.”
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