He received a B.A. from the Evergreen State College (WA), and an M.A. in World Music and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University (CT). He has taught at Ohio University and the University of Michigan, and spent two years teaching in a village secondary school in Kenya. He is an active member of the African Studies Association and the Society for Ethnomusicology, and is currently Film Review Editor for the SEM journal Ethnomusicology. He has published articles and reviews in Ethnomusicology, Africa Today, History and Anthropology, and African Music, and has twice been a guest editor of the journal The World of Music.