Panama-born and New York-based Santi Debriano steers away from simplicity. The bassist-composer, who emigrated to the United States from Panama at the age of four and later obtained an ethnomusicology graduate degree from Wesleyan University, has made a point to transpose Afro-Caribbean tradition onto his compositional work. His latest mark, Ashanti, finds West African language and ritual at its core. Arkestra Bembé features Robby Ameen on drums, TK Blue on alto saxophone, Andrea Brachfeld on flute, Tommy Morimoto on tenor saxophone, Ray Scro on baritone saxophone, Emile Turner on trumpet, Adrian Alvárado on guitar and Mamiko Watanabe on piano.
From Monday, March 13 through Friday, March 17, one cut from Ashanti by Santi Debriano & Arkestra Bembé will be featured each morning on the New Day, New Play spotlight on Gary Walker’s Daybreak show.
Preview “Angel Heart” from Ashanti, above.