Luther Gray
Luther has been active in the New Orleans arts community since 1984. He co-founded the Congo Square Foundation in 1989, which was renamed the Congo Square Preservation Society in 2011. The Society has been instrumental in the resurrection of drumming and cultural activities in Congo Square. In 1993, the Congo Square Foundation was successful in placing Congo Square on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1997 the Foundation led the effort to erect the Congo Square historic marker. In addition, he with a team of drum makers including Douglas Redd carved three Bamboula drums from a one hundred year old cypress tree that are now on display at the new Louisiana State Museum of History in Baton Rouge. The Congo Square Preservation Society sponsors weekly Sunday drum circles in Congo Square that date back to 1988. In 2013, the Congo Square Preservation society launched the Congo Square Living Classroom Fieldtrip which consists of a on-site tour of the Armstrong Park Sculpture Garden followed by the Congo Square Drum & Dance Workshop
He founded two major musical groups, Percussion Incorporated in 1985 and Bamboula 2000 in 1994. He has produced 7 compact discs for these two groups; “Windswept”, “Congo Square”, “Cultural Warrior”, “New Society”, “Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival”, We Got It Goin’ One” and “The Wild Bamboulas”. Luther Gray and Bamboula 2000 annually teach approximately 5,000 students in elementary, middle, high schools and universities around the country with The Imagination Tour. |