Album Notes

These tracks are the result of a few years of work. It represents a different look at hand drum music. All the pieces on this cd are composed by friends. Some composers have won prestigious awards and are leaders in their field. Other composers are percussionists and friends that have dedicated their working lives to new, contemporary art music. Some music grooves, other music does not. The pieces are all composed for hand drums-talking drums, tabla, congas, Djembes, etc…

I have been a professional percussionist for twenty years. I have been lucky enough to work with groups like the Talujon Percussion Quartet, Ensemble 21, Newband and the Harry Partch Instrumentarium, Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and Tan Dun. I have worked with John Cage, Steve Mackey, Bang on a Can, George Crumb, Ralph Shapey, Tan Dun, Steve Reich and many other composers. They were all great experiences and I cherish them, but I have a deep place in my heart for other, traditional music from around the world.

As a percussionist, I did not regularly get a chance to play on these instruments in their traditional form. Every now and again I would get a chance to work with improvisatory artists like Oliver Lake, Henry Threadgill, Jimmy Heath, Michael Mossman, Antonio Hart, Carlos Gomez, Ganesh Kumar, River Guerguerian and Roland Vasquez. With these artists, I was able to break out of my usual performing experience. I was able to perform on different hand drums in different styles, most of it was improvisatory.

The pieces on the cd represent a unique form of music. I do not know any collection like it. All the pieces are very different. The anthology of works are published by Calabrese Brothers Publishing.

I hope people like this cd and perform the compositions in the future.