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 [+]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, an
|
 |
Genre/Tags: 
Ringtones
Full Tracks
