The Path

Paul Ricci's sound world has obviously made a significant impression on the rest of this stellar cast...
Raul Da Gama, Latin Jazz Net

The Path began long ago in New York City for guitarist Paul Ricci. He knew he wanted to put together an album with some of the wide-ranging, high-level artists he'd been working with to interpret the grooving, multi-cultural music he was envisioning. That it would take 29 years, 17 collaborators, and a whole lot of living—including an extended move to Brazil—for it to come to fruition was not what he had in mind! Going in the studio in 1997 with Anthony Jackson, Steve Jordan, Manolo Badrena, Randy Brecker and numerous musicians from Brazil, Uruguay, Cameroon and Mali, they created most of the album, later inviting in many new voices who he'd become acquainted with in the intervening years to complete the recording in 2021. The Path was long and winding, but tunes like "Lobo," with the soaring vocals of Malian singer Abdoulaye Diabate dancing amidst Ricci's high-flying guitar phrasing, on a bed of rhythms created from the rich musical cultures of 3 different continents, can argue that it was a journey well worth taking.

Click here to listen to the album