"The Meeting Pool" is where different musicians, ideas and styles of music come together. Celtic melodies meet African rhythms. Acoustic instruments meet electronic. Ancient meets modern. Just as the music has its inspiration from different places and countries, so too Baka Beyond brings musicians together from across the globe.

On this album Martin Cradick is again joined by Paddy le Mercier from France. He brings his own style of fiddle playing, blending celtic, Cajun and gypsy jazz styles with touches of Arabic music and hints of Jimi Hendrix, as he did on Spirit of the Forest (HNCD 1377) and Outback's Dance The Devil Away (HNCD 1369). Also from Outback is Sagar N'Gom. Sagar is descended from the famous Griots (storytellers and musicians) from the Casamance region of southern Senegal, renowned for its rich music and arts. He has been playing with Martin since 1989 and introduces West African percussion to some of these songs.

Tom Green played in a band with Martin in the early 1980s but then went his own way, working on a number of projects including "The Orb" (he co-wrote Star 6 & 7, 8, 9 amongst others). Their mutual appreciation of the Baka's music brought them back together and Tom's very organic approach to electronic sounds aids the cross-over between acoustic and electronic instruments. Tom has taken time out from his solo project, "Another Fine Day", to remix ambient dance versions of some Baka Beyond tunes (e.g. track 8) and to play live with the band.

In order to perform songs from Spirit of the Forest live, Su Hart needed a singing partner. This role was expertly filled by Kate Budd who sings in an acapella group with Su. She also brings gallic and swahili influences to the band, learned from her Scottish mother who lived in Tanzania.

Baka Beyond "live" is completed by Sam Pope on drums who here plays the bodhran on track 2, and Mark Pinto who brings a London/Caribbean roots, jazz influence on the bass.

John Ssekitoleko Ssempeke from Uganda met Baka Beyond while touring the UK with his father playing traditional Ugandan xylophone music. He performed with the band at the 1994 WOMAD festival and was an instant hit with the crowd but unfortunately could only be present at one short recording session before returning home.

Also touring the UK last summer was Mark Robson with his band, Kangaroo Moon. He guested on "Ohureo" at the WOMAD festival and was able to fit in a recording session with Martin just before returning to Australia.

Due to the large geographical distances between the musicians involved in Baka Beyond we have always had to rely on spontaneity and chance both in live work and recording. The songs on this album have grown out of a series of recording sessions towards the end of 1994 where each musician put their ideas into the musical pot and Martin organised it into this resulting stew. If you see Baka Beyond don't expect it to be exactly like the album. Each concert and each audience is different and we aim to keep the music alive and evolving. On this album the music is frozen in time by the recording process like a snapshot of an ever changing scene. When live expect the unexpected.

After the delights of the Heart Of The Forest/Spirit Of The Forest project of nearly two years ago, this is essentially more of the same, conceptualised by master musician Martin Cradick and inspired by his (and wife Su Hart's) time spent living with the Baka pygmies in the Cameroon rainforest. After some time spent in their midst armed only with a guitar, a tent and a tape recorder they lived the life of the Baka, came home and crafted some gentle musical soundscapes which should be accessible for a wide variet of the listening populace.