Face to Face (Live At the Jazzfest, Berlin, '99)

AACM saxophonist Chico Freeman, who blew everyone away in the '70s with albums like Kings of Mali and Beyond the Rain, has produced a substantial body of recorded works over the years while devoting much of his time and energy to the highly demanding art of education. His appearance at Jazzfest Berlin 1999 in humble collaboration with Swiss trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti and Reto Weber's Percussion Orchestra was preserved and presented to the public by Double Moon Records in 2006. In addition to Weber, the multi-national troupe consisted of Muthuswamy Balasubramoniam, who played mridangam, Mustapha Tettey Addy on African percussion, and Djamchid Chemirani, who specializes in the Zarb, a Persian frame drum also known as the Tombak. The creative and cultural scope of this album is in keeping with Freeman's life-long devotion to musical traditions both old and new that transcend both cultural and national boundaries.