Abubakari Lunna

For two decades, from the 1960s to the 1980s, Abubakari Lunna was the lead Dagomba drummer of the Ghana National Folkloric Company. He later took Dagbon drumming to American universities, teaching at Berklee College of Music and Tufts University.

Teacher

Holder of the drumming title Dolsi-naa, he was a drum-maker as well as a performer. His students included the ethnomusicologist David Locke, a professor of music at Tufts, and the American percussionist Jerry Leake, who went on to teach Dagbamba drumming in the United States.

Death

He died in Tamale in 2009. That year the Granoff School of Music and Tufts University held Africa Fest 2009 in his memory.