Barrett Martin uses a variety of drums and percussions to create different moods and cadences with a flexible and rotating team of Luis Guerra-Kevin Hudson/b, Joe Doria-John Ranger-Ryan Burns/p-key, Paul Fischer-Kim Thayil-Peter Buck/g and a cut and horn section of Dave Carter/tp, Kanoa Kaluhiwa/ts, Ed Ulman/tb, Hans Teuber/bs-ts, Curtis Macdonald/as and with Ben Thomas on vibes.
Middle Eastern patterns feature pretty piano and lovely tenor sax on “Roll The Bones” while Thomas’ vibes get soulful on a CTI feeling “Way Down” with Doria’s keyboards. Some Hindi voices tam with Central Asian percussion and electric guitar on “Sarasvati” with a mix of Iraqui tones and hip hop beats permeate “The Fountain”. The team gets tribal as they gallop to the kalimba on “The Firebird” and rock a bit on “Sands of Venus”. The emphasis on these 17 in and out tunes is on visceral feel and atmosphere, and it works well as a musical kaleidoscope.