Greg Ellis
Kala Rupa: Explorations in Rhythm
Narada
Ellis is a percussionist who’s played with some rock people (Billy Idol, Mickey Hart) and is in the band Vas, if that means anything to you. Me neither. His bio describes him as “completely self-taught,” but also notes that he “studied classical percussion at San Jose State University.” Doesn’t say much about good ol’ SJSU, does it?
All this boils down to Ellis being a drummer. He’s a very good one. This is mainly instrumental (there are vocals on a couple tracks, but they are used as instruments, not singing lyrics), highly rhythmic-oriented world-music with a distinctively Middle Eastern sound. Ouch, talk about your bad timing. Gotta wonder how well this is gonna fly post-9/11. Good stuff if you like traditionally-instrumented world music.
Narada, 4650 North Port Washington Road, Milwaukee, WI 53212; http://www.narada.com
