DON REEVE From the highly purified atmosphere of the Sonoran Desert comes a multi-talented musician who is captivating listeners from all walks of life. Don Reeve is a composer, performer and recording artist whose work draws upon a diverse range of cultural and spiritual influences, realized on guitars, mandolin, flutes and many other instruments.

In his career beginning in 1980, Don has established deep roots in the Tucson musical community. As a founding member of the regionally popular reggae band Neon Prophet, he was responsible for much of their original material. These days,in addition to his solo performances, he also plays with the Indian music ensemble Sruti and Mandala, a pyschadelic-trance-dance band.

Reeve's broad scope of influences is most evident in his approach to the acoustic guitar. There is no easy way to pigeonhole or categorize the style of playing he has developed over the years. Electronic effects add to the sonic palette Don employs, but the audio impression of the acoustic guitar remains the dominant element. His recordings include the solo Nature's Way and several collaborative efforts with Soundings of the Planet, Spirit Wild on the Crash Landing label and his latest, Colors for a Rainy Day

When he's not playing solo concerts, Don can be found doing things in many parts of the musical spectrum. From Indian ragas and folk songs to original rock, and Javanese gamelan to acoustic country and bluegrass, Reeve has many outlets for his talents. All people with ears owe it to themselves to check him out.

Don has performed throughout Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii and has contributed tracks form many albums as well as producing albums for other artists and is available for performance, sessions and production.

ALLAN SHOCKLEY AND THE DREAMTIME PIPE - THE AMERICAN AGAVE CACTUS DIDJ

For thirty years I had searched for inner heart healing. Through ethnobotanical agents for inner exploration, fasting, Tai Chi, Tibetan Buddhism, and Kundalini Yoga, through learning to be a master stone mason, sculptor and jeweler. All of this would serve me. But it was in developing the DreamTime Pipe and experiencing the tones created with my own breath and body that I experienced the opportunity for the most deep and profound personal healing and growth.

It started in 1989 when I first encountered David West, an eccentric Australian and an accomplished didjeridoo player. David brought the sacred instrument to the Southwest US desert and with it a contagious passion for the Aboriginal culture. The didj was developed by a relatively small group of aboriginal people who's culture was based upon the ritual song and dance of the "Dreamtime" in which all of Creation is an intimate interactive relationship. The didj is an important tool to access this Dreamtime state. I was immediately drawn to the droning, mystical tones which seemed to reach deep inside. I was fortunate enough to acquire a few didjs from David's collection and he taught me the basics. During the next year I battled with a lung infection that nearly took my life. I painstakingly learned to circular breathe and in the process built up my lungs and health. The didj became a powerful force for change in my life.

My friend, Mark Woody, and I soon came to the conclusion that traditional didjs were overpriced, hard to acquire, and inconsistent in quality. We decided we could create a didjeridoo instrument here in America that would be consistently as good or better than the Australian traditional - and cheaper. My original experiments were with hard wood - split, hollowed and reglued, and other natural objects such as large bull kelp. Except for the boring plastic tube "instruments", these were the first changes in an instrument 40,000 years old!

Mark had the original idea and ability to create an instrument from an unsplit dead agave cactus stalk. He created one pipe and we were amazed that it played so well. I tried to persuade Mark to start production, but he lost interest and was off on other inventions. With his blessing I began to develop and perfect the instrument. Subsequent pipes revealed unique characteristics - such as the lovely harmonics. It played with less effort, was more responsive, and it didn't need the long warm-up time of a wood didjeridoo. I made it impervious to moisture and eliminated cracking and splitting. Fueled by reverence and a burning passion for the upper harmonics of the instrument, I made a commitment to Life to strive to make a consistently more musically perfect instrument for a substantially lower cost. After much trial and error, my experiments perfected the pipes I create now for Northern Sonoran Didjeridoo and DreamTime Pipe Co. Now, over 2000 instruments and satisfied customers later, I have realized my original dream and intent.

Allan was the first full-time didj teacher in America. Today he teaches a variety of classes from his studio and to children in school. He teaches that the tones are an important musical and spiritual tool. He emphasizes the physical benefits, such as stress reduction and has written about the healing nature of the didjeridoo. According to some, simply listening to the tones will lower blood pressure. His students are from all walks of life and all ages.

JOSS JAFFE has been playing tabla since 1995. He was introduced to the percussion of India through listening to the devotional chanting of his parents Arno and Evelyn, and their meditation teacher Baba Muktananda. In 1998 at the age of 17, Joss lived in Nepal for 3 months with Pandit Homnath Upadhyaya of the Benares Gharana. Returning to California, Joss studied under Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri of the Lucknow Gharana at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael. Joss has also studied briefly with Ustad Zakir Hussein. Joss has classically accompanied Maestro Montino Bourbon, Pandit Homnath Upadhyaya, and Jaya Jog in concert. He has twice performed in Swapan Chaudhuri's tabla ensemble and once with Zakir Hussein's tabla ensemble at the Omega Institute in New York. Over the years he has performed numerous classical and non-classical concerts in The United States, Nepal, and India. In addition to tabla Joss is studying sarod, dotar, guitar, bass, percussion, and composition. His teachers include, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Maestro Montino Bourbon, Gregg Johnson, C.K. Ladzekpo, and Steve Coleman.