Album Notes

This CD features some wonderful musicians I have the pleasure to know: Forward Kwenda, well known in Zimbabwe and around the world for his magical, spiritual and intuitive playing of the mbira and singing. Sana Ndiaye from the Casamance region of Senegal plays the ekonting, a precursor to the American banjo and sings so sweetly. He is a member of Gokh-Bi System. Billy “Blanco” White is an American guitarist, oud player and producer living in San Miguel del Allende in Mexico. He began his musical life playing in hard rock arena bands, is a dedicated practitioner of Zen and now works mostly in the flamenco style. Tony Vacca is an award winning balafonist, percussionist and bandleader from the Northhampton, MA area and is a member of my world fusion power trio Impulse Ensemble. Jim Matus plays the laoutar (an electric Greek lute), has been deeply involved with world music for decades and is the leader of the band Mawwal. He is the third member of Impulse Ensemble. Go to www.impulseensemble.com and watch our video if you want to learn more. Gordon Stone is a well-known pedal steel and banjo player from northern Vermont who began in bluegrass but works a lot these days with African musicians. Erik Lawrence is a NYC based world-class jazz sax and flute player and who is currently a member of the acclaimed Levon Helm Band.

I love to play with musicians from other countries and cultures. It’s an exciting challenge for me to blend my own musical sensibility with theirs. All of the musicians on this CD bring their own very unique perspective on music and all of them have their own distinct musical personalities.