When inspiration comes to BC’s Roger Baird, it isn’t only by performing on one of the many percussion instruments he plays or with his sublime mastery of the drum kit; Roger’s Hedd Wyn Essentials business has made the successful entrepreneur and dedicated musician a Canadian global pioneer. Roger was the first to market certified organic Wild Mediterranean Oil of Oregano globally. With more than enough to take on already with current business pursuits, the 71-year-old also produces music concerts and performs on drums and percussion in Cumberland at his Vancouver Island music venue Studio Live.
Roger’s love for music as a child had him playing so much that he wore out his toy drum kits. He was taught about musical instruments and jazz by his drummer-father, who was a big band lover and passed on his enthusiasm. Having learned his first five-stroke roll in marching band lessons, Roger studied at the age of 12 with Winnipeg Symphony percussionist Willie Wendt. It led to a life-long study and passion for music.
In the 1980s, Roger had taken on the challenge of running Vancouver’s beloved creative and jazz music venue the Glass Slipper, partially inspired by his mentor Sam Rivers. It was at Sam Rivers’ Studio Rivbea in New York where Roger further developed his approach to improvisation, listening to the masters performing at the venue and where he met Daniel Carter. The Music Ensemble was formed with Daniel, William Parker, Billy Bang, Earl Freeman and Malik Baraka.
At the Glass Slipper, Roger encouraged young musicians to find their own voice through original music. Tragically, the uninsured Glass Slipper venue was a victim of arson in late 1997. After a few years, Roger fell in love with an island property and moved to Denman Island, and was looking for a way to reinvent himself to support his wife and two children.
With synchronicity, two friends contacted Roger, separately, asking him to make oil of oregano based upon the excellent quality of his essential oils side business. Roger says, “It was just successful from day one.”
Roger and his wife, Miho, and staff currently produce and sell quality organic Hedd Wyn Oil of Oregano to health outlets and stores all around the globe. Roger stands by his product firmly due to its potent anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effects, and enjoys the rewarding challenge of operating his business.
Roger’s love for music and business has led to mastery and success. As a seriously dedicated musician, he pursued tabla hand drum studies in the 1980s for four years in India and has recently taken up the congas and Middle Eastern darbouka hand drum. He works in study with books authored by drum masters like Poncho Sanchez and loves the work of Cuban composer Mongo Santa Maria. A fan of African-based jazz fusion, Roger is inspired by African/Uruguayan candombe rhythms as of late.
On drumming, he says, “I used to look at practicing as drudgery, but I don’t anymore. I find the simplest things are tremendously engaging. You can take a simple rhythm and you can play it upside down, backward, between your hands, between your drums, between your feet and your hands. You can take one little simple idea and do so much with it. So, nothing is drudgery. I love the rhythms, they really breathe and move, and they’ve got emotion.”
Roger’s daily practice routine on hand drum and drum kit includes two to three hours of working on rhythms, then improvisation at the end of the session as a reward, where he engages what he has practiced in a meaningful fashion. He enjoys transcribing rhythms from master Cuban percussionists on YouTube videos.
“The drum is my connection, even in practice, it is connecting me to another realm,” says Roger. “It’s centering. It’s what I love to do.”
A master at improvisation on percussion instruments and the drum kit, Roger’s jazz trio, the Baird, Black & White Trio, performs advanced-level extemporaneous music that is completely spontaneous through improvised composition. The music emotes lyrical, melodious improvisations to the avant-garde. The trio’s gifted pianist Miles Black, soulful bassist Scott White, and the transcendent drum wizardry of Roger Baird will be featured on their new upcoming recording, Lifestream, a follow-up to their first CD, Spirit Door.
The band does not rehearse, they just play, and Roger says that to approach music in this manner of openness is very challenging. The trio members listen intently to the moment and are open to change and letting the music come through.
“Music is architecture in motion,” says Roger.
A fan of sculpture, creative concepts and architecture, Roger says he has always seen music in a space transpose into colours and geometric shapes. Currently planning a mobile sculpture project with aircraft cable and driftwood, he is constantly creating.
Inspired by the natural beauty of the BC west coast, Roger and Miho also enjoy travelling. They have visited many countries including Peru, Mexico, Belize, Thailand, Cambodia, India and the US. He has been keenly interested in world cultures and other states of consciousness. Roger even ventured a couple of hours up the Amazon to experience the use of the medicinal ayahuasca plant under the guidance of a shaman.
Roger has been a yoga practitioner and is a firm believer in alternative medicine, using modalities like acupuncture, Chinese medicine, diet, herbs, meditation, Tai Chi, electro-medicine and colour therapy. “You could say I took a holistic approach,” says the talented businessman and drummer. He eats an organic diet and does not eat red meat. A past vegetarian, he now prefers to eat home garden-grown vegetables and fruits and locally grown produce with chicken and fish. Baird says, “the secret sauce for health is a clean diet and exercise.”
Roger’s wisdom passionately emphasizes that anything is possible when facing life’s obstacles; “We can be our own worst enemies and our own best friends. We are in charge of our own destiny. You will get excuses from people for their behaviour or circumstances. Challenges are a gift from which we can grow stronger. The doer reaps rewards.”
Running his Cumberland music venue Studio Live, Roger brings popular touring musicians to Vancouver Island for performances. “There’s a definite spirit of music. If you can hop on the spirit of music’s wavelength and ride it and open yourself up completely to it and disengage your ego, then you’ll reap the rewards of an amazing experience,” he says. He wants to continue performing music and collaborating with musicians by playing as much music as possible into the future.
With a luminous philosophy capturing the present, Roger embraces life and reminds us, “Every moment is precious and should be spent wisely. You’ve got to bring in a sense of play. We take so much for granted; just the fact that we are here on this planet is amazing. Personal development, whatever path it takes, might lead to something well worth your time. Live life to the fullest and find your own voice.”
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