Speak in Tones

In the early 2000s percussionist Daniel Moreno and saxophonist Mike Ellis launched Speak In Tones in New York City, where both also write original material. After establishing a following through appearances at underground venues, the ensemble soon traveled to Salvador Do Bahia, Brazil. More than twenty instrumentalists and singers belong to the group, whose sound draws heavily on Malian sources and Brazilian idioms while incorporating post-bop jazz and contemporary improvised music. Trumpets, saxophones, flutes, and guitars join traditional instruments that include the tambura, tabla, udu, pandeiro, marimbau, djembe, and whistles. Among the players who have appeared with the band are trumpeters Jerry González and Graham Haynes, saxophonist Antoine Roney, flutist Bira Reiss, keyboard players Luizao Paiva and Cheick Tidiane Seck, guitarists Jean-Paul Bourelly, Munir al Hassan, and Durval Leylis, bass players Darryl Hall and Reggie Washington, percussionists Dende, Terreon Gully, Peu Meurray, Adam Rudolph, Sabia, and Anderson Souza, balfone player Lasine Kouyate, and cuica player Martihno do Cuica.