Background

Layne Redmond was born on August 19, 1952 in Florida, United States.

Education

Layne Redmond majored in Fine Arts at the University of Florida. She later continued studying art at Rutgers University in Newark.

Career

From 1981 to 1990, Layne Redmond performed and recorded contemporary frame drum compositions for European and American labels. She researched the ancient playing styles and history of the frame drum in religious and cultural rituals. This became the basis of her book, titled When The Drummers Were Women. This book details a lost history of a time, when women were the primary percussionists throughout the Mediterranean world, and explains why they are not today. The book was published in June 1997. Layne also authored a chakra meditation guide, titled Chakra Meditation.

Being one of the leading performers on the frame drum, Redmond was featured in many music festivals, including the Touch Festival in Berlin, Seattle Bumbershoot Festival, the Institute for Contemporary Art in London and Tambores do Mundo. She was also a soloist at the 1995 World Wide Percussion Festival in Brazil.

Layne taught and lectured at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention, the National Association of Music Therapy and the eighth annual Healing Sound Colloquium. She also was one of the keynote presenters at the 2007 International Sound Healing Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In 2006, Redmond and Karen Hopenwasser presented Therapeutic Rhythmic Techniques at the International Society for the Study of Dissociation. The next year, she presented and performed at the University of Florida's Health and Spirituality Program. From 2007, she taught annually at the New York Open Center's Sound and Music Institute in New York. Layne also taught or performed at Penn State, Vassar College, William's College, Bucknell College, Hartford Seminary, Andover Newton Theological Institute, Sam Ash Music Institute, Berklee School of Music, California Institute of the Arts, Jacksonville University, Roulette, The Knitting Factory, Kripalu and Esalen Institute.

Redmond's discography includes: Seven Heaven, with Glen Velez, Steve Gorn (1987); Internal Combustion, with Glen Velez (1985); Handance (1985); Assyrian Rose, with Glen Velez, Steve Gorn, John Clark and Howard Levy (1989); Musica Esporadica, with Pedro Estevan, Maria Villa, Suso Saiz, Miguel Herrero and Glen Velez (1991); Since the Beginning (1991); Ramana, with Glen Velez (1999); Feather and Bone (2000); Trance Union World Rhythms of Resurrection, Ecstasy and Bliss (2000); Chanting the Chakras: Roots of Awakening (2001); Chakra Breathing Meditations (2004); Invoking the Muse (2004); Heart Chakra Meditations (2006); Book of Changes (2008); The Wave of Bliss (2008), Invoking Aphrodite (2009); Hymns from the Hive (2010) and others.

Achievements

• Layne Redmond was mostly known as an American drummer and historian, specializing in percussion, namely frame drums, from around the world. She was listed by the February 2000 issue of DRUM! Magazine as one of the 53 heavyweight drummers, who made a difference in the 1990's. Layne was the only woman on this list, which included Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, Zakir Hussain, Elvin Jones and Micky Hart. Besides, she was the only drummer on the list, whose work focused on the spiritual and healing dimensions of drumming and rhythm.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Chakra Meditation: Transformation Through the Seven Energy Centers of the Body

    (In this book, Layne Redmond offers a complete course to b...)

    2004
  • When The Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm

    (In this inspiring book, Layne Redmond, herself a renowned...)

    1997

• music

  • Chanting the Chakras

    (Chanting the Chakras combines trance drumming with authen...)

    2001
  • Since the Beginning 1991
  • Chakra Breathing Meditations 2004
  • Invoking the Muse 2004
  • Hymns from the Hive 2010

Views

Quotations: "Women need the archetypal image of a Divine Female. We need to reconnect with the inherent sacredness of woman as creator and nourisher, rather than accept a vision of ourselves as less-than-divine inferiors."

"A cosmology, that admits of only one male god, limits women's capacity to envision their full potential as human beings."

Interests

• spiritualism

• Sport & Clubs

  cheerleading

Connections

While in Gainesville, Redmond married a northerner and later moved to New Jersey.

colleague:

Glen Velez

Glen Velez is an American percussionist, vocalist and composer, specializing in frame drums from around the world.