the recording on this one is exceptionally good. I think you may have perfected the perc mic up over this last year. is there a hint of reverb? Nice one, really warm malaria-like sound

@ Kirk& Kamachi: excellent observation, and you are correct. As most of my patterns are built around clave, and as clave is structured upon so many off-beats, to get my metronome to "click" on some key clave beats, I set my metronome at double time- so my bpm notation reflects what my metronome setting was dialed to. Here is a clave link that graphically shows how many times clave percussion scores are transcribed in 2/2 (cut time) to make it easier to read... but if one is counting 8th notes instead of quarter notes, the bpm will be doubled. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clave_(rhythm)?wasRedirected=true

Excellent playing. But +1 here for the 110 BPM perception :-)

Excellent! I find it interesting that in almost every one of these that you list the BPM I feel them in half time, so I would think of this as 110 BPM

glad to be back. good stuff here.

@ Richard: many thanks- recording accoustical percussion is sometimes tricky and I'm still learning the skill sets required for that. I mount my own skins from bulk rawhide (so not actually tanned) but I don't actually make the rawhide from animal skins... that's a lot of work on a non-industrial level and there are some health concerns when it comes to working with (especially imported) fresh animal skins. Many of the (nonterrorist) cases of anthrax reported involve folks making their own drum heads, so I just use commercially cured cow skin from the USA for the latin drums and buy pre-made drum heads for the African drums, which are usually water buffalo, goat or some sort of deer.

the sound quality is great,,, i can almost see/feel the bending/vibrating of the skin,, do you make,, tan etc your own skins?,,, this has a wonderful warm quality,, great piece

I heard the style somewhere but you perfected it. Thanks for uploading.

Phenomenal - almost, pheromonal!!

i played this in college. fun.

@ Dave: thanks for listening! This recording is 8 tracks, consisting of 2 (stereo) bass drum, cowbell, clave, chinese blocks, and 3 tracks of various sized conga drums playing their parts. Traditionally it is performed by a group of percussionists, which I would *love* to assemble- but that rarely is possible for me to do where I live. Perhaps I should move to Africa.

Thanks Norm, I posted the lyrics. Now then on to this great groove, Yeah baby thats really moving isn't it. Is this one track or a few tracks overdubbed together? I am moving every part of my body to this groove.

Absolutely brilliant.

Great brilliant top job mate.

@ Jarvis: Ha! I'm vocally challenged, but to hear the lyrics, go here: http://alonetone.com/vaisvil/tracks/walk-with-sorrow-norm-rick-chris-emily

Cool job ...but hey lyrics and no vox ?

Yet another good one. I love how you always post the style and a bit of history with each track. It always helps me understand the song better.

excellent! I like the way the congas answer each other.

Great stuff Norm! I must make some time to jam with some of your tracks

Beatiful!

Oh so funky. Great work!

Huge. Just fantastic.

Very nice!

This is just perfect. I can't stop listening to it. "I need a riiiiide" is just brilliant!

Great guitar work here! (And your typical great vocals/harmony)

Fantastic!

Fantastic harmonies on all of your stuff!

Hilarious! Cool that you used home made guitar samples...

Now that's cool... love the hang drums!

"If only for a day..." - did that line actually work? Nice one!

Good point, Gumbo! That is the nature of "cross-over" patterns: they involve 2 rhythms with *different meters* which are played at the same *tempo*. So, regardless of listening to this pattern through the lens of 4/4 (8 beats/bar) or 3/16 (12 beats/bar), both patterns are played at the same tempo, i.e. 180bpm in this case. These patterns have measures that start at the same point, but do not end at the same point until cycling through 24 beats each - at which point they "cross-over"; a point that is illustrated by the clave in this example.

Totally pro, as is typical for you!

Suprise: much shorter than your typical pieces. Not a suprise: Once again, you stretch out to genres 3 clicks beyond the Bell Curve. Is there anything you can't tackle?? Nice work!

Big. Very big. Great work!

Good 'ol Charlie. A fitting tribute.

Ooo-la-la! Fantastique! Me rend souhaitez aller danser avec ma femme!

Great song. The tune reminds me a bit of "House of the Rising Sun", which can be traced back to the Appalachian area in the early 1900's (Alan Price of the Animals has claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song about a Soho brothel, and that English emigrants took the song to America where it was adapted to its later New Orleans setting.) Cool piece and well done!

How can you have your pork chops if you won't eat your little cup of swill? Well done, lads!

Groovy. Thanks, I enjoyed it!

Very clever! Great work with the chorus, too!