This excellent recording was made at the Windsong Pavilion at Four Winds just to the south of Bermagui and the venue is fast gaining a reputation as one of Australia's most sought after for the recording of live music.

Listening to The Passage one can see why.

The Pavilion's acoustics shine through here giving a lovely warm gloss to the music and allowing the musicians to interact with each other to provide a truly live and spontaneous feeling to the whole CD.

As usual with Malumba's music these compositions borrow from a great variety of folk traditions though all this music is composed by Dan and John, separately or together.

There are certainly hints of the Celtic and Klezmer traditions, some of the rhythms hark back to Eastern Europe but there are also pieces that are highly original.

The Pocket Waltz is a quirky piece that reminds us that a waltz doesn't need to be straight or predictable. John's guitar solo, Eddie's Gone, is a lovely and beautifully played guitar song full of memories and ready to become a classic.

Overall this CD is a meeting of two musical spirits. These two musicians know each others' playing inside out and so there is a confidence that allows them to be their best on this fine recording.

Malumba will be launching their CD in the Windsong Pavilion at Four Winds where it was recorded, on Sunday, February 3, at 2.30pm.

Dan and John will play several tracks from The Passage and will then be joined by other members of the band as well as some surprise guests.

I urge you to head out to Four Winds for some terrific music at this world class venue.