Rural Barber, Jr., is a finely tuned instrument. With a song in his head and a how-to memory embedded in his soul, Barber's hands make music -- using his body as a drum.

He brought his unique style of orchestration to the Poway Branch library recently as part of a Kwanzaa celebration this month.

Barber, whose professional name is Danny "Slap Jazz" Barber," is a body percussionist. That's what it's called now. During the slave days of American history, it became known as "hambone."

"It's a novelty entertainment, and people like it for that," Barber, 44, explained his craft. "It's almost a lost art. It's very natural and it's soulish, and people just eat it alive."

Kwanzaa is an African-American cultural holiday begun in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga, a professor at CSU Long Beach. It celebrates unity, respect for ancestry and heritage and traditional family values.

First fruits

The word Kwanzaa is derived from a Swahili phrase meaning "first fruits." Traditionally celebrated from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, the holiday highlights the importance of family, community and culture, and marks a time for blacks to celebrate their African roots through the universal truths embodied in the Nguzo Saba, or seven principles: Umoja (unity); Kujichagulia (self-determination); Ujima (collective work and responsibility); Ujamaa (cooperative economics); Nia (purpose); Kuumba (creativity); Imani (faith in ourselves).

The celebration involves a candle-lighting ceremony and several symbols arranged on a low table or on the floor. Each of the seven days is dedicated to one of the seven principles, and one candle is lit each day to represent a principle.

The greeting "Habari Gani," meaning "what's the news," is given, with the response of "Nzuri Kwanzaa, Nguzo Saba" meaning "Good Kwanzaa, seven principles."

The Kwanzaa celebration includes a feast called Karamu on Dec. 31. On Jan. 1, the last day of Kwanzaa, gifts called zawadi are given. The zawadi are traditionally hand-made to emphasize creativity, one of the principles of Kwanzaa.

Musical legacy

Barber's familial music legacy is an example of those principles, celebrating black culture and heritage.

Body percussion is using the body as a drum, he said. The music is derived from a series of pats to the side of the thighs, the inside of the thighs, the chest in the pectoral area. A series of rhythmic beats generated from his hands and his arms.

"It's very rhythmic," he said. "I can amplify it. It's pretty advanced for a very ancient art form."

It all stems from the rhythmic dancing called hambone, he said. The hand-slapping percussion movements were a last resort for blacks who had few means of communicating with one another during the years before and during the Civil War.

"When the slaves had drums taken away, they turned to body percussion," he said. "Drums were outlawed because they were seen as a form of communication and seen as a threat. So they resorted to patting Juba or hamboning -- patting the body."

Barber didn't know the history when he took up body percussion in his adolescence. "I mastered the art form, then learned about the history later," he said. "I've been doing it so long I don't even think about it anymore. The practice days are over. It's like second nature to me."

Unknowingly, he had taken up a craft that his grandfather had also mastered. He learned during a visit from a cousin who had been taught by their grandfather.

"I saw it and I was so fascinated I had to learn it right there," he said. Before that, he didn't know his grandfather had any special talent. But he later learned, after his grandfather's death, that the man was also a master at the harmonica -- a skill Barber also mastered.

It was the same for the mouth harp. He heard a friend play just a few notes and was inspired for life, he said. "As soon as I heard it, I knew it was my instrument," he said. He became self-taught or maybe inherited it from his multitalented grandfather.

Barber, of San Diego, has performed at colleges, churches, jazz festivals, parties and choreographed dance shows. He also had a role in an independent film in which he played a character called "Jazz Shakespeare."

His son, Christopher, has inherited the family percussion legacy, but apparently not from the lessons his dad offered. "I tried to teach him, but he didn't catch on that way," Barber said. "Then one day he said, 'Look, Dad,' and he was doing it."

Celebrations

During December, all branches of the San Diego County library system are celebrating Kwanzaa with a total of 85 events for all ages. The holiday program is launching a monthly series of "Occasions to Celebrate," special events that highlight local talent, educators and experts to further connect the library with the community. Some events are supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

"It's important that we show diversity," said Poway librarian Liz Hildreth, "and how important it is, especially as we turn into a global nation, that we turn our eyes to all different ethnicities, cultures and religions and to embrace the differences that we have."

Barber's performance in front of a small audience was well-received. The library hopes for increased turnouts for the "Occasions" program, Hildreth said. "You have to keep trying, and that's what we'll do," she said. "It takes a while to grow an audience for different things."

Contact Danny "Slap Jazz" Barber at (619) 852-3680 or by e-mail at slapjazz@yahoo.com. For more information about the San Diego County library programs, "Occasions to Celebrate," call (858) 694-2448.

Kwanzaa events in North County

Ramona Branch Library, 1406 Montecito Road, Ramona

(760) 738-2434

11 a.m. Tuesday, Craft: Celebration of the seven Kwanzaa principles, focusing on the principle of family unity by decorating a memory box for the whole family.

11 a.m. Wednesday, Preschool Storytime: "Kwanzaa Time."

Poway Branch Library

13137 Poway Road

(858) 513-2900

10 a.m. Wednesday, Cultural Storytime: "Kwanzaa TIme," for toddlers

11 a.m. Wednesday, Cultural Storytime: "Kwanzaa TIme," for preschoolers

KWANZAA RECIPE

Foods celebrating African heritage are a part of the Kwanzaa holiday. Here's a recipe with roots in the black experience. It's from "New Orleans by the Bowl." by John DeMers and Andrew Jaeger.

YAM-PECAN BREAD

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

5 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2 cups mashed canned Louisiana yams (sweet potatoes), 3/4 cup juice reserved for glaze

Glaze:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup juice from yams

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar

and vegetable oil, then add the eggs. In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the salt, baking soda and pecans, then combine this with the creamed mixture. Add the mashed yams, incorporating thoroughly. Line the bottom of a tube pan with waxed paper and lightly grease the sides. Pour in the batter and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes.

About 15 minutes before the bread is done, melt the butter for the glaze in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and yam juice. Boil until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Pour the glaze over the top of the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let cool, then turn out onto a serving plate. Makes 8 servings.

The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa

1. UMOJA (oo-MOE-jah): Unity -- in the family, community, nation and race.

2. KUJICHAGULIA (koo-jee-cha-goo-LEE-ah): Self-determination --to define, name and speak for ourselves.

3. UJIMA (oo-JEE-mah): Collective work and responsibility -- to build and maintain our community and to solve our problems together.

4. UJAMAA (oo-JAH-mah): Cooperative economics -- to build our own businesses and to profit together from them.

5. NIA (nee-AH): Purpose -- to make, build and develop our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

6. KUUMBA (koo-OOM-bah): Creativity -- to do whatever possible to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than when we inherited it.

7. IMANI (ee-MAH-nee): Faith -- to believe with all our hearts in our parents, our teachers, our leaders, our people and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Preparing for the nightly candle-lighting:

1. Spread the Mkeka (Straw Mat) on the table.

2. Place the Kinara (Candle Holder) in the center of the mat.

3. Place the Mishumaa Saba, seven red, black and green candles, in any combination of colors, in the Kinara.

4. Place the Muhindi (Ears of Corn) on each side of the mat, one for each child in the family.

5. Arrange the Zawadi (Gifts), Kikombe Cha Umoja (Unity Cup); Tambiko (Water and Soil), and a basket of Mazao fruit on the mat.

6. Hang a Bendera Ya Taifa -- red, black and green flag of the Black Nation -- facing east. The flag's colors are significant, with red representing blood, black for the people and green for the land. The combination was used by ancient African empires and revived in 1920s America by black nationalist Marcus Garvey to symbolize the struggle for equality.

Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (760) 740-3511 or adiggs@nctimes.com.