Yogi McCaw, Pianist, keyboardist, and composer of 8 of the 9 songs on the CD. Yogi's been playing since childhood, with many teachers, and also on his own and with many rock, jazz andR&B groups over the years. His most notable teachers are Eddie Paolantonio of Raleigh, NC, a longtime disciple of the great Lennie Tristano, and currently, Jovino Santos Neto, the famous Brazilian pianist and 15-year veteran of Hermeto Pascoal's ensemble. In addition to the Yoginis, Yogi works with various jazz, rock, reggae and African groups in Seattle WA.
Back to top

Mike Deasy Jr, Sax Man who wrote the horn arrangements for the album. Hailing from the Midwest and a musical family,Mike simply plays all over the place and everybody likes his sound. Mike's father, Nashiville Studio veteran Michael Deasy, played with Ray Charles and other greats, and his son is majoring in classical music at the University of Oklahoma.
Back to top

Michel Tyabji, sound engineer, musician, and owner of Limitless Sky Records. Michel has extensive recording experience in Africa, India and the USA. He and his wife Rosa also do sound for independent films. They have won awards for their filmwork in Nepal and some of the African artists on the Limitless Sky record label have been nominated for Grammys and found worldwide acclaim.
Back to top

Johnny Conga is becoming recognized as one of the most mature and authoritative latin percussionists around. He has played with Charlie Palmieri (this is Eddie's brother, and arguably an equally good pianist), The Jackson 5, Willie Bobo, Mongo Santamaria, Maynard Ferguson, Sergio Mendes & Brazil 77, Arturo Sandoval, and Dave Valentin just to name a few. He hosts a radio show on KBCS of Bellevue Washington, filling the airwaves with all subgenres of Latin music from his extensive personal collection every Saturday evening. He started out in the New York City Latin music scene in the 60s, honed his style in the Miami Afro-Cuban scene during the 70s and 80s. He is also a quite experienced teacher and a good vibraphone player. His group Tumba Caliente brings the authentic old-time Mambo to thousands of latin-dance enthusiasts in the Seattle area.
Back to top

Vishal Nagar is a virtuoso of Tabla, a set of tuned drums that are played in India, Pakistan, and elsewhere in Asia. Born into a family of musicians,Vishal started his performance career at the age of eight, and despite his young age Vishal has already performed all over India including performances in Calcutta, Jalandhar, Bombay, Gwalior, Patna, Mysore, Jaipur, Lucknow and Delhi. Some of the festivals he has performed at include Jaipur Sangeet Utsav, Lucknow Mahotsav, Harivallabh Sangeet Sammaillen, Mysore Mahotsav and the famous Sahitya Kala Parishad Yuva Mahotsav, to mention a few. His initial training was with the late Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan, and he has received additional training from Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan. He has also received special rhythmic training from his mother, the renowned Urmila Nagar--one of the most famous Kathak dancers and vocalists.
Back to top

Gordon Assadi has trained in Western Classical violin with various teachers including the Russian violinist Mikhail Shmidt. His current teachers are of Raman Iyer, Carnatic violinst, and Arijit Mahalanabis, Dhrupad vocalist. He studies both the Northern (Hindustani) and Southern (Carnatic) Indian styles of music.
Back to top

Bob Antolin is a multi-instrumentalist (alto, soprano sax & flutes, wind synths), composer, ethnomusicologist, and music educator. He has performed and taught in United States, Japan, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. His teachers include Joe Brazil, Carter Jefferson, and Ustad Z. Dagar. His influences include Charlie Parker, Maceo Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Mann, Wayne Shorter, and Ravi Shankar.
Back to top

Thomas Marriott (Trumpet) is a Seattle native who has recently returned from New York and released a new record called Individuation on Origin Records. Thomas worked with Eddie Palmieri, the Tito Puente Orchestra, and others and did three world tours with Maynard Ferguson. He has won the KPLU (Tacoma, WA) Jazz album of the year in 1997, and voted best emerging artist in 1997 and 1998 by Seattle's Earshot magazine. He is a C.G. Conn-sponsored artist.
Back to top

Jeff Busch has studied percussion and drum set with Dave Hassel, calypso with steel drum master Dudley Nesbitt, and later Brazilian percussion with Jesse Bannister, in England. In 1997 and 1998, Jeff went to Brazil for extended stays where he studied and played with many Master Musicians including Edmilson Costa Teixeira, Gilo do Pandeiro, and Mestres Memeu, Lazaro from Olodum, and the Jovino Santos Neto group. Currently Jeff continues to perform with a variety of groups in the Seattle area including the Jovino Santos Neto quinteto; Cuban jazz groups Rumba Abierta, and Tumbao led by pianist Julio Jauregui; and Cuban dance band Mango Son, led by Roberto Sanchez.
Back to top

Marc Miller is a native of Atlanta, GA. Marc plays jazz, salsa, tango, gypsy jazz, hip-hop, and flamenco styles as well as the rock and funk he grew up on. He has played with Jason Marsalis and Brannen Temple (whose award-winning group Blaze was anchored by Marc for three years). Marc has returned to Atlanta where he performs and teaches.
Back to top

Samia Panni has been a performer, producer, band leader, recording artist, composer, radio programmer and teacher. Daughter of an ambassador, she was born in Bangladesh, but was raised internationally. She sings in a half a dozen languages, amongst them Portuguese, Spanish and English, and has performed since the age of twelve in the Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, North Carolina and the Pacific Northwest. She has sung in the groups of Jovino Santos-Neto, Celso Machado and Jim Brock. Samia was Music Director of the Seattle based Brazilian-jazz ensemble, Beija Flor. In 1987 she initiated Washington State's only Brazilian radio program, Raizes, on KBCS-FM.
Back to top

Ed Mays began playing drums in 1967 in the Seattle area and has played with countless rocknroll and R&B groups here and in Houston Texas, including Tiny Tony and the Rock & Roll Jones, Legal Tender, Big Otis & Double Stuff, and lead his own jazz group, Park Avenue Quartet, in the 1980s. He now plays with the Mentalmen, a jazz-fusion improv group, and the Yoginis. He also teaches drums at A# Music in Renton WA, and at Eckstein Middle School, and taught for four years at the well-known Kennelly Keys music store in Seattle.
Back to top