Beside the fire, as the wood burns black, a laughing dancer in veils of light, whose dance transforms the darkness to gold - Abu Abd Allah ben Abi-l-Khisal, drawn from Serpent of the Nile, by Wendy Buonaventura Dance and music predate civilization, and are deeply rooted in the innermost core of what it is to be human. Our resonance with rhythm begins with the mother's heartbeat; movement and music seem natural extensions of this, common to all cultures worldwide. For this recording I have drawn inspiration from numerous music and dance traditions surrounding the Mediterranean, as well as from farther East, to the borders of India. The sounds from these lands are rich, exotic, and exciting, providing much fuel for the fire of the musical imagination. I have written original dance music that I hope both expresses the flavor and spirit of each culture represented on this CD, and will inspire others to seek out more of this music, and perhaps create new dances of their own. Though raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tim Rayborn lived for nearly seven years in England, where he completed a Ph.D. at the University of Leeds, and worked in the fields of early and world music. He founded and directed Ensemble Florata, whose recordings for ASV/Gaudeamus received international critical acclaim. In addition, he worked with the noted British medieval ensemble Tintagel, and performed with them on BBC broadcasts, Belgian live radio, in Majorca, as well as a tour of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. Tim has toured the UK and continental Europe extensively, and worked with traditional musicians in Marrakech and Istanbul. He plays nearly 40 musical instruments from Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. He is currently an instrumentalist with Ya Elah (a women's Jewish vocal group), directs his own medieval music ensemble, Caladrius, is the musical director of Shuvani, a music and dance group tracing the gypsy trail from Rajasthan to Spain, and works with Jeremiah Soto on the Solace live project. He recently released two new solo recordings: Chordae - medieval harp music, and Ashek - Balkan, Middle Eastern, and Indian music.