de man ia

Two innovators of solo instrumental music, acoustic guitarist Alex de Grassi and electric bassist Michael Manring, join forces with percussionist and tabla player Chris Garcia (of the Zappa alum group, The Grandmothers) for a set of arranged and improvised music. With influences from India to Appalachia to Latin America and the Blues, this trio fuses new sounds together with their original compositions and unlikely arrangements - think the Stones' Paint It Black in 7/8 time, and an improvised take on the traditional folk melody, The Water is Wide. De Grassi's sympitar (sympathetic string guitar) and Manring's liquid and ever-changing fretless sounds combine with tabla, kanjira, mbwata, and a myriad of percussion to produce a distinctly world twist to many of the tracks. From moments of introspection to pure grooving, the demania trio covers a lot of terrain and leaves no stone unturned.