I performed with Babatunde Olatunji at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California during a week of drum workshops and a performance on the final day during the summer of 2002 before his passing in 2003.  I spent a lot of one on one time talking with Baba about his life, West African musical aesthetics, John Coltrane attending his school in Harlem, and the two of us listened to the singing of Ali Farka Toure into the late night hours while overlooking the Pacific Ocean from his cabin at the Institute.  He made an important and lasting positive impact in my life, and I will always miss him.