Review Text
BataMbira Michael Spiro is an internationally recognized percussionist, recording artist, and educator, known specifically for his work in the Latin music field. He has performed on hundreds of records, co-produced several instructional videos for Warner Bros. Publications (featuring such renowned artists as David Garibaldi, Changuito, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Ignacio Berroa), and produced seminal recordings in the Latin music genre, including Orquesta Batachanga, Grupo Bata-Ketu, and Grupo Ilu-Aña. Mr. Spiro's recording and performing credits include such diverse artists as David Byrne, Changuito, Ella Fitzgerald, David Garibaldi, Gilberto Gil, Giovanni Hidalgo, Bobby Hutcherson, Dr. John, Bobby McFerrin, Andy Narell, Eddie Palmieri, Carlos Santana, Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner and Charlie Watts. In addition, he has recorded soundtracks to such major motion pictures as 'Soapdish,' 'Henry and June,' 'Eddie Macon's Run,' and 'Dragon-The Life of Bruce Lee,' and wrote several arrangements for the Tony Award winning Broadway show 'BLAST!,' which was released on video by PBS in 2002. He currently resides in San Francisco, California where he is an integral part of the Bay Area music scene. He records and produces with groups throughout the West Coast, and is touring world-wide with his percussion trio 'Talking Drums,' which he co-leads with David Garibaldi and Jesus Diaz. In June of 1996, his own recording, 'Bata-Ketu,' was released to international critical acclaim, and debuted on the stage in 2002 with a performance grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. That same year he performed with his own group, 'Ara Meji,' at the 2002 Monterey Jazz Festival, where he received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Percussion. Most recently, in 2004 he received a Grammy nomination and a California Music Awards nomination for his work as both producer and artist on Mark Levine's Latin-Jazz release, 'Isla.' B. Michael Williams is Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Active as a performer and clinician in both symphonic and world music, Williams has performed with the Charlotte (NC) Symphony, Lansing (MI) Symphony, Brevard Music Center Festival Orchestra, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and has appeared at four Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. He has written articles for Accent Magazine, South Carolina Musician, and Percussive Notes, and has made scholarly presentations on the music of John Cage and on African music at meetings of the College Music Society and Percussive Arts Society (PASIC). Dr. Williams is Associate Editor (world percussion) for Percussive Notes magazine. A composer of innovative works for percussion, his 'Four Solos for Frame Drums' was the first published composition for the medium. Additional works to his credit include 'Three Shona Songs' and 'Shona Celebration' for marimba ensemble, 'Recital Suite for Djembe,' 'Tiriba Kan' for solo djembe, 'Bodhran Dance,' and 'Another New Riq,' all published by HoneyRock Publications. His book, Learning Mbira: A Beginning...,also published by HoneyRock, utilizes a unique tablature notation for the Zimbabwean mbira dzavadzimu and has been acclaimed as an effective tutorial method for the instrument. BataMbira Liner Notes In the fall of 1998, I had the great pleasure (with the help and encouragement of my good friend and fellow percussionist, Beverly Botsford) of bringing Michael Spiro to Winthrop University, where I teach in South Carolina, for a series of lessons and masterclasses. Between sessions, Michael and I sat in my office sharing experiences and mutual interests. I told him of my interest in the Zimbabwean mbira dzavadzimu (the 'mbira of the ancestors') and we had a lively discussion about the cultural similarities between mbira and the Cuban bata drum. Both are sacred instruments with deep African roots. Both are used as spiritual media for contacting the ancestors (playing these ins
