A wide variety of music comes across my desk for review - often from artists just getting started - but once in awhile music magically appears and I have to ask myself "Why haven't I heard this artist before?" I just had that experience as I started listening to David Mash's Back To My Roots and reading about his extensive background in music, music education and innovation. David introduces himself on his website with:

"I am a musician, educator, and futurist, and produce music under my own name as well as two artist brands: 'Mashine Music,' which combines machines and humans to create a unique musical identity; and 'Stefan,' which is for my more meditative and electronic musical work. I worked at Berklee for 41 years, retiring in 2017 as the senior vice president for Innovation, Strategy, and Technology."

On Back To My Roots, David Mash takes us back to his musical beginnings in Detroit with nine instrumentals that he describes as "the perfect soundtrack for anything you want to do. It’s funky, it’s fresh, and it’s ready to groove." I agree! Bruce Nifong composed a few of the tracks and plays sax on all of them, while David covers the rest of the "band" on guitars, percussion, keyboards and synths, and more. Major wow!!! Known primarily as a synthesist, I was very impressed to learn that David is also the President of the Board of Directors at The Bob Moog Foundation. However, the guitar was his first instrument while growing up in Detroit in the 1960s surrounded by music from Motown, jazz, Michigan rock, etc. He set the guitar aside while making a name for himself as an electronic musician, but now he can do both (and does!). Lucky us as listeners!

Back To My Roots begins with "Drain the Swamp," a title inspired by the irony of a particular political campaign and the creation of a "swampy" groove. The video for this track shows David Mash playing six different parts along with Bruce Nifong on sax and plenty of swamp footage! Playful and funky, it's a great start! The title track also has a video that takes us on a tour of the Detroit of David's youth. Quoting David: "The funky interplay between multiple rhythm guitar parts, bass, drums, and keys was something I learned early in my guitar lessons with Jack Montcrief, who had played with James Brown." "Just Mo" is the first of the tracks composed by Nifong and arranged and produced by David. The two artists have played together for at least ten years and their styles combine beautifully. "Blüz For Rufe" goes back to 1978 and was named for David's cat, "Rufus." This really sounds like a full big band, but it's just David and Bruce in a very impressive groove! Although David's band, Ictus, often played this piece live, this is the first time it's been recorded and released with David's choice of instrumentation and tempo. "Ictonomics" goes back to 1980 and was intended to get people up and dancing into the Disco era - fun, funky and a real toe-tapper! "Funktion 80-24" also dates back to 1980 and was originally titled "Funktion 80." This is also the first recording of the piece and has David on guitar as well as the synths he was playing back then. He began the recording process as the piece was originally written and then added to it, resulting in the updated title. It's a happy groove that ends this excellent album!

David Mash and Back To My Roots are both amazing! Much more information about David, his music, and the stories behind all of these pieces are available on his website, as is his music. CDs and downloads can be ordered from Bandcamp. Downloads and streaming are available on Amazon and Apple Music/iTunes, and the album is also available on many streaming services including Pandora and Spotify. Be sure to check it out! I think you'll be glad you did!