As a kid, Cooder first heard a number of Uncle Dave Macon tunes strummed on the banjo by his father Ry. As he finds himself a father now, Cooder has reimagined those same tunes to share with his own children. By with the mbira in his hands, the tunes morph and bloom into an almost meditative groove.
A drummer/percussionist by trade, Cooder was a teenager in the mid-1990s, when his father started work on a project linking African and Cuban musicians. But after visa issues prevented the Africans from making the journey to Havana, Ry instead turned to identifying and recording the legendary musicians of Buena Vista Social club, and history was made. Joachim held down the rhythm section on that seminal recording.
It took quite some time for Joachim to step out as both a singer and a songwriter, but on his Nonesuch debut, Over That Road I’m Bound, he showcases an amazing ability to sound unlikely anyone else in the music world.
