Search - Barrett Martin and the Wayward Shamans :: Alchemy

Out of print since 2003, Barrett Martin and the Wayward Shamans' Alchemy is finally back in print. Recorded in the field by drummer/composer/producer Barrett Martin in Accra, Ghana; Dakar, Senegal; Havana, Cuba; Hopkins Village, Belize; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Seattle, United States, the album features drummers from several different traditions, performing with American Jazz musicians. The album was featured on NPR's All Things Considered when the band performed live on the show in 2003. In Barrett's own words: 'The Wayward Shamans was a project that I envisioned back in 2001, after I had returned from a series of research trips. Along the way, I accumulated quite a few field recordings of various rhythms, both secular and sacred, many of which made appearances on this album. When I returned to the United States, I realized that I had much more than a collection of tapes; I had a band of international proportions that spanned six countries and three continents each of us recording our 'voices' through different mediums, writing poems or melodies, or just throwing down the ferocious rhythms that defined our cultural expression. Every song is different, just like each of our voices is different, Wayward Shamans all of us, each with a story to tell.'