the 24th annual

WinterStar Symposium: Vision Quest

Exploring Realms of Consciousness

Muruga Booker is a percussionist with an incredible list of credits, from jazz to rock, world beat to techno-rave. He started drumming in Detroit in the mid 50s, playing with such legends as John Lee Hooker and Junior Wells, and with Jim & Jean on their albums Changes and People World in the early 60s. When he played with Tim Harden at Woodstock, he met Swami Satchidananda and began a three-decade quest in Sida/Kundalini Yoga, touring with Swami Muktananda and Ram Das, and eventually attaining the titles of Nada Yogi and Go Swami. He played with Paul Winter Consort on Something Wild in the Wind in '68, at Carnegie Hall with the Brubeck Generation in '71, and replaced departing Airto Moreira in the band Weather Report to record Sweet Nighter in '73. In the 80s he recorded several albums with George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars, and produced Journey of the Drum with Prem Das and his wife Shakti Booker. In the 90s, he was part of Merl Saunder's Rainforest Band, who recorded the classic album Blues For the Rainforest with Jerry Garcia and Sikiru Adepoju, and he produced a CD with Babatunde Olatunji and Sikiru called Cosmic Rhythm Vibrations (recently re-released as Circle of Drums). Muruga plays with his own group, The Global Village Ceremonial Band.