What does Miles Davis, the Zawinul Syndicate, Stevie Wonder, Dianne Reeves, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters and dozens of others, including numerous ethnic music and dance troupes all have in common?

Well other than great music, they have all called upon the talents of Munyungo Jackson to drum with them.

Munyungo was born in Los Angeles, into creative surroundings: his parents, Arthur Jackson Jr. and Genie Jackson, both maintained various involvements in music, dance and writing, and Munyungo is the nephew of the legendary jazz, pop and blues singer and pianist Nellie Lutcher.

Munyungo’s childhood passion for the timbales was only the beginning. He made the natural progression to congas, bongos, bells, triangles, bell trees and beyond. Subsequently, he met and worked with traditional drummers from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, China and Japan, resulting in a collection of over four hundred percussion instruments and drums from all over the world—all of which he plays proficiently.

That name? On several occasions, Munyungo has performed with some players from Africa and the Caribbean, who would shout “Munyungo!” (which is a Zulu word meaning “door”) to cheer him on as he played—and it wasn’t long before the word attached to him as a nickname.

Munyungo also leads his own band, "Jungle Book",” in presenting traditional performances, which often include dancers. In addition, he conducts local drum clinics in which he teaches the rudiments of ethnic percussion to aspiring professionals of all ages and levels.

Aside from his drumming Munyungo has also published a book!

D. Munyungo Jackson’s "The Nu Naybahood Funetic Ebonic Dictionary", is a tongue-in-cheek look at the many ways this language has seeped into American culture. Ebonics is the African American linguistic way of putting our fingerprint on the King’s English.

This book gives us a keener insight into Ebonics. This book is a collection of words and terms that we use everyday. Some old, many new. Some of these words are actually 2 or 3 words put together, but the way some of us speak, they sound like one word. For example, "WAOUNCHU," translates as "Why don’t you--"
For more information on this legendary musician, please go to his main website: www.Munyungo.com