Heart Beat Drum Circle with Baba Jubal Harris

Join our community of rhythm-loving people at Heart Beat Drum Circle! Join Baba Jubal Harris, renowned drummer with a passion for building community connections and fostering environmental sustainability, as he shares his gifts of rhythm and connection with Inside Circle. All abilities welcome!

Biography: BABA JUBAL HARRIS
Baba Jubal Harris is a visionary artist, educator, and cultural ambassador whose life’s work
revolves around the transformative power of rhythm, community, and tradition. As the founder of
the Heart Beat Drum Circle, he has dedicated decades to fostering connection and creativity
through the universal language of drumming. His contributions to the arts and education have
earned him numerous accolades, including a 2023-24 Creative Impact Fund Fellowship from
Assembly for the Arts, funded in partnership with Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
A master teaching artist with the Ohio Arts Council’s Arts Learning Program and the Ohio
Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE) Artist-in-Schools Program, Baba Jubal has played a pivotal
role in shaping arts education across Ohio. He served on the OAAE Collaborative for Arts
Education and contributed to the Ohio Statewide Plan for Arts Education in 2018. His expertise
has also been recognized through his participation on the Ohio Arts Council’s Traditional Arts
grant review panel and his presentations at the 2018 Ohio Arts Council “Arts Impact” state
conference.
Baba Jubal’s journey as a drummer was profoundly inspired by his experience at the 1995
Million Man March. This pivotal moment led him to create the six-foot-tall Jesse Owens
Memorial Drum, adorned with paintings by artist Michael Thompson. As drum master for the
1996 Olympic Torch Relay Jesse Owens Memorial Drum Corps, he orchestrated a historic event
featuring over 1,200 registered drummers—a national record—as the torch passed through
Worthington, Columbus, and Cleveland, Ohio. His artistry was further celebrated when he
performed as a featured drummer with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and represented
Ohio at the opening of the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, sharing the stage with
luminaries such as Katherine Dunham, Babatunde Olatunji, and Sweet Honey in the Rock.
A passionate advocate for clean renewable energy, Baba Jubal collaborated with NASA
astrophysicist Dr. Willie Karimi Mackey and other experts to design the African Solar Village
Outreach Project, a traveling solar exhibit showcased at NASA events and cultural festivals
across the country. His innovative spirit was also highlighted at the 2006 Ingenuity Festival of Art
and Technology in Cleveland, where he installed an interactive solar energy exhibit and
performed as a featured soloist in the opening ceremony’s Symphony for 1000 Drums,
composed by Halim El-Dabh.
Baba Jubal’s accolades include a 2009 Creative Workforce Fellowship from the Community
Partnership for Arts and Culture, multiple Ohio Arts Council Traditional Artist Apprentice
Fellowships (2012, 2013, 2019, 2023), and the Ohio Heritage Award in 2015. In January 2020,
he was honored with the chieftaincy title Saranon Aho (Bridge Maker) in Ouidah, Benin, West
Africa, under the auspices of the North American African Cultural Restoration Monarchy.
Currently, Baba Jubal serves as an African drum instructor at the Broadway School of Music
and Art and performs with the Djapo Cultural Arts Institute in Cleveland. He continues to
collaborate with renowned artists, including Grammy-nominated musical director Weedie Braimah
and internationally acclaimed pianist Robert Irving III, with whom he performed at the
2024 Serpent Mound Solar Eclipse Celebration in Peebles, Ohio.
Baba Jubal’s recent publications, is an exploration of the Indigenous African American Ashiko
Drum published in the Black Child Journal, further cement his role as a scholar and storyteller. His
work is a testament to the enduring power of cultural expression and the importance of preserving
and sharing traditions for future generations.
Through his artistry, teaching, and advocacy, Baba Jubal Harris continues to build bridges
across cultures and inspire communities.