Time Out NY calls him "the world's best bassist". And for good reason.

Bassist Melvin Gibbs adds to his already stunning musicial resume with  a truly world music record.  On Ancients Speak, recorded field hollers meets underground hip-hop, Afro-Beat swims with monster funk grooves, yet there's still room for soaring Hendrixian guitar solos and transcendental jams.  It's truly one of those albums (yes, I said albums) that can be your soundtrack as you're walkng down the street just about anywhere in the world.  The personnel on this CD reads like a Lincoln Center Outdoors schedule: John Medeski and Mark Batson on keyboards; guitarists Pete Cosey (Miles Davis) and Blackbyrd McKnight (P-Funk); Amayo from Antibalas Afrobeat on vocals; horns by Graham Haynes, Micah Gaugh; raps by Ruben, Chason Walker and B-Negao and percussion legend Abdou Mboup are just some of the extraordinary talent Melvin pulls in for Ancients Speak.  The live show is no joke either - they'll be performing on June 25th as part of Celebrate Brooklyn, opening for the explosive Femi Kuti and Positive Force.  Whether you see the live show or buy the CD, you won't lose either way.

--Earl Douglas