During the 30 plus years of his career, Steve Thornton has proved to be one of the most talented and original percussionists in music. But in the larger context of his life, he is much more: A loving husband, a devoted and caring father, and a man who freely shares his gifts with others. Since1997, when he began living in Kuala Lumpur with his Malaysian wife and family, he has been teaching local students the art of Latin percussion.

"Some of the local players asked me to teach them what I know about Latin percussion. And I felt that by starting a class I could increase the awareness of percussion and also share what I've learned from people like Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, and Willie Bobo. Essentially, I've tried to bring my experience into the Asia community here. And it's a lot of fun for me to do that with young people. It inspires me. I do a lot of sessions as well as performing in Japan with Sadao Watanabe. But since there's not as many distractions here as in New York, I still have a lot of time to give to this teaching and to these people. We started classes a year ago, and seeing the progress and the interest drives me to keep going. Originally I thought I'd only do this for 6 months or a year. But they've asked me to continue so I guess I'll be doing it as long as I'm living here. I also want to inspire some of these students to go on to teach, to give to others what I give to them. That way we can take the rhythms that I've learned, the samba and the rumba and all of those, and combine them with the great rhythms of Malaysia and Indonesia."

One of the things that sets Steve apart from most other world-class percussionists is his willingness to work with novices.

"I can understand some great players who don't want to sit down with somebody who started playing yesterday. I can understand that because when you do play you want to have fun. But for myself, I find it fun to sit down with someone who can't do a conga slap or make a tone or make a bass note. After a week, when I see them progress so they can make a conga slap or a tone or play a simple rhythm, I share their enjoyment and I can see in some of them, a determination to be a professional drummer. One night I was playing at a club, and someone asked me if thought they had rhythm and if I could teach them how to play rhythm. And I looked at them and I said that I believe everybody is born with rhythm. It doesn't matter if you are Chinese or African or Brazilian, we're all born with rhythm. And I really believe that what's needed is somebody who understands rhythm to bring it out in us. I think that on this planet we are so similar and that once weğre born and our heart starts beating, that's where the rhythm comes from. And I try to break rhythm down and simplify it so that anyone can connect and feel the rhythm of their body."

Recognizing that the average earnings in Malaysia are low, Steve chooses to charge next to nothing for his teaching.

"When you've been as fortunate as I have, it's good to be able to give something back. Not only that, but when you see people that want to learn, you don't think about money. If I charge $25 and it's too much for most people I might get only 2 students. But if I charge half of that and get ten students, more people get to learn and I make more in the end. I never think about the money because I never know how much I'll actually get. It just doesn't really matter."

Growing up in the Redhook area of Brooklyn, Steve saw first-hand the kind of poverty that denies people access to learning. Like a lot of others at that time and in that place, he was drawn to music, to rhythm and percussion. As a young musician, he found his greatest inspiration in Mongo Santamaria who would became his mentor and good friend. Maybe that experience helped shape his own willingness to give of his himself to encourage others.

Steve is one of the many great percussionists who recognize where today's rhythmic orientation in music comes from. He strongly endorses the idea that the world of percussion we take for granted would not exist without the efforts of Martin Cohen of LP. "I love Martin because of what he has done for percussionists and what he has done for the instruments themselves. I see a lot of people trying to copy what he has been doing for so many years. But we know who the leader is. Martin opened up the whole world for percussion. Even here in Malaysia, the first drums that got here were LP and everyone wanted them"

When Martin interviewed Steve in Malaysia in January of 2001, he mentioned that on his travels in the Pacific region he detected a growing interest in Latin music. He asked if Steve, as someone who now lives in the area, finds this to be true as well?

Steve Thornton and Tommy Campbell (on drumset) at a workshop in Bukit Jalil on March 11, 2000.

"It's very true. I was just called and asked to go back to the Club Med here in Malaysia to teach. Last year we hag a whole samba school there. We taught some of the staff musicians there how to play and we had samba going on there every weekend for three months. They wanted me to come back and start it again next week. I can't do it because I'll be in Singapore performing on a music awards show for television. But you know, that's another thing about teaching-I can send some of my students instead of going myself. So, there is this interest and influence here and that's why I think it's important to be doing what I'm doing."

Steve's influence as a teacher and musician can be seen in the reaction to his performances at some high-profile Asian musical events. At the prestigious Philips International Jazz Festival in Kuala Lumpur for example, Steve and his students took the stage with Sadao Watanabe. Though the audience was sweltering in the heat at Putra Stadium, there was nothing but cool in evidence onstage. Under the aegis Afro Asia the group made it impossible to stay still with a spirited and crowd-pleasing set. Audiences hereabouts exhibit a politeness that can sometimes be misinterpeted as lack of enthusiasm. No such behavior was in evidence during this performance. It was obvious from the reaction of the crowd that they would have been ecstatic if Steve and his proteges played all night. This was no isolated incident or case of hometown crowd supporting hometown musicians. At the music fest known as Rentak Asia, held in the National Stadium, an arresting set from all 23 members of Afro Asia roused the crowd from its first-night doldrums. Featured were two of Steve's outstanding students, six-year old Suraya and nine-year old Arthur Kam. With stage presence well beyond their years they had the audience spellbound, particularly the spotlight performance by Arthur on djembe.

Steve's talent and stature in his adopted homeland are such that even when he is acting in the role of sideman his presence pushes everyone involved to a higher level. The debut solo concert of Siti Nurhaliza, one of the region's brightest upcoming stars, was powered by an impeccable rhythm section led by Steve. And Siti's crowning moment may have been when she turned percussionist (by way of Steve's tutelage). It was a surprise display of skill that caught the audience off-guard and sent them into a frenzy of appreciation. Music that once seemed bounded by the urban centers in which it originally flourished now seems to be taking root everywhere.

"Latin music, African music, Brazilian music - it's all world music now, because this music is all over the world. You know, music, whether it's pop or jazz or Malaysian, isn't in any one language. People everywhere feel and understand it because music truly is our universal language."

All quotes taken from an interview conducted by Martin Cohen on January 12th, 2001.

All rights reserved.

Story by Jim McSweeney.