Red Wind
Nakai continues on his eclectic path in this collaboration with guitarist/composer/instrument-maker William Eaton and multi-percussionist Will Clipman, who has an impressive resume in the jazz, reggae, rock, and world music fields. Each of the three players are impressive musicians, and although the tunes are all based on spontaneous group interactions, there's seldom if ever any grandstanding. Each instrument floats comfortably in the sea created by the group's improvisations. Eaton's playing on the harp-guitar produces bass and sitar like tones by running the instrument through a synthesizer, and Clipman's work on tabla and talking drum is particularly impressive, while Nakai's flute flutters in an out of the mix like a hummingbird drunk on the nectar of a thousand wildflowers.--j. poet