For those unaware, Drums of Compassion - released on Trey Gunn’s innovative 7D Media label - is a testament to Michael Shrieve’s artistic journey, encapsulating over fifty years of musical exploration.

Jack DeJohnette, Zakir Hussain, Airto Moreira, Jeff Greinke and Trey Gunn also guest, with their collective genius creating a fusion of intriguing atmospheres and dynamic percussive elements.

Inspired by the Dalai Lama’s call for a Time of Compassion, with a nod to the title of Babatunde Olatunji’s classic album from 1959, Drums of Passion (one of the first records to popularize African Music to the Western World), the album is graced with an Introduction Vocal Incantation by Olatunji himself and acts as a bridge between eras, cultures, and sounds, embodying the spirit of unity and the transformative power of music.

1. The Call Of Michael Olatunji
2. On The Path To The Healing Waters
3. As Above, So Below
4. The Euphoric Pandiero Of Airto Moriera
5. The Fierce Energy Of Love
6. Oracle
7. The Breath Of Human Kindness
8. Zakir Hussain
9. Hejira

This brand new recording opens on an evocative invocation that resonates within The Call Of Michael Olatunji and the soaringly angelic On The Path To The Healing Waters, and they are followed by the fervently-sourced As Above, So Below and the atmospherically-charged The Euphoric Pandiero Of Airto Moriera.

A vision and testament to Michael Shrieve’s artistic vision, along next is the compulsive listening of harmonies and rhythms that drive The Fierce Energy Of Love and the fluctuating Oracle, and they are in turn backed by the dutiful hipsway of the translucent The Breath Of Human Kindness, rounding out on the impassioned drumming within Zakir Hussain, closing on the gorgeously sweeping Hejira.

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