Joseph Bowie / Adam Rudolph - Good Medicine

Good Medicine - what we strive for our music to be. The natural reverberations of earth and sky. From time before time humans have been creating music for healing: To balance psycho - emotional pathways, to harmonize the cellular vibrations of the body, to expand consciousness itself. This way of wisdom was shared with US by the elders of this music as the essential approach to creativity. The mix - bands of tin are wrapped around the tongue keys of the thumb piano, the metal sarsara rattle is inserted into the end of the Gnawa sintir, a gut string is strung across the skin of the brekete drum. Throughout much of Africa musician-healers have used these and other methods to alter the voice of their instruments so when played, a parallel "shadow line" of sound is heard. These rhythm overtones are sometimes called "the voice of the ancestors" and are linked to the transcendent quality of the music. In recent years, artists like Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and Congotronics used newer technologies for this. The music on this recording was mixed with this idea in mind. The sounds of the instruments are allowed to resonate into deep space, creating a shadow world of harmonic colors. As the music unfolds each instrumental voice sings into this space adding to the dance of orchestration and form. Adam Rudolph: handrumset (kongos, djembe, tarijas, zabumba), sintir, cajon, thumb pianos, cup gongs, bells, gongs, cymbals, kongo slit drum, selya overtone flutes, vocal, percussion. Joseph Bowie: trombone, electronics, vocal, harmonica, congas, balaphone, shakers, waterphone, thumb pianos, cowbell, shekere, caxixi, percussion.