Joe Townend
Bass & Vocals
Joe was raised in Denville, NJ, a lovely small town near the railway station where his father used to catch a commuter train to New York City to work.
While in college at the University of Scranton he learned to play upright and electric bass and joined his first band, The Druids, which recorded a few singles for Columbia Records. Joe continued playing bass while a student at Michigan State and then in San Francisco with a band called Nazgul. In LA he recorded an album with super guitarist John Ussery that was released on Mercury Records, and did club and concert gigs all over California and Nevada.
In Minneapolis he was a founder of the performance group Meeting Rivers, which combined music, dance and spoken word in shows with a spiritual journey theme.
Joe was musical director and bassist for Bassirima Soro’s (K-Bass’) band Farafina Musiki from 2012-2013, and played bass with The Key Ingredients of African Soul (KIAS) from 2013 to mid-2017.
He began studying West African percussion in Tucson in 2005 with Martin Klabunde, one of the few Professional Djembe Instructors certified by Mamady Keita. Joe was a founding member of drumming group Planet Djembe, which performed from 2010-2015.
He joined Baba Marimba in late 2017 and continues with them today. He has written and arranged many new songs for the band.
Brian Hanner
Drums & Percussion
Brian Hanner, a native of Texas, is a multifaceted musician who has made Tucson, Arizona his home. He started his musician life as a saxophonist in sixth grade until a friend let him sit down behind his drumset. And that was it. Now, many decades later, he is a sought-after freelance percussionist, drummer, recording engineer, and music producer, known for his commitment to the arts. In addition to holding down the drum chair for Baba Marimba, Brian is currently in his third season as Principal Percussionist with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to his performance work, Brian is deeply involved in supporting local music through his co-ownership of Hanner House Records, alongside his wife, Syndenn Sweet. Their record label is dedicated to providing a supportive and accessible studio environment for local musicians. The goal of Hanner House Records is to help artists record their music and share it with the world in a comfortable and affordable setting. One of their recent projects is a children’s educational record titled "I L-O-V-E This D-E-S-E-R-T," which was created in collaboration with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Brian earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Stephen F. Austin State University, where he studied under the guidance of Dr. Lawrence Kaptain, Drew Lang, and Dr. Christopher Hanning. He then pursued a Master of Music degree in percussion performance at the University of North Texas, working closely with Mark Ford, Christopher Deane, and Eugene Migliaro Corporon. He has also spent time learning drumset with Steve Houghton, Gary Chaffee, Ed Soph, Ignacio Berroa and Jim Chapin. He is an endorser of Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.
Basically, he just loves being a drummer and making music with a groove.
Robert "Swami" Peizer
djembe, congas, doumbec, marimbas, multi-ethnic hand percussion, vocals
“Swami” (a stage name given to him by kinetic sculptor Mat Bevel) loved playing the piano since childhood, but stopped for many years until music took over his life in 1990. He was introduced to Congolese, West African and Caribbean drumming at a workshop with his Middle Eastern drum teacher, Mary Ellen Donald, who studied with Hamza El Din, an internationally known composer, oud and tar player, and vocalist.
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, he was incredibly fortunate to have access to drum and dance instructors from the national ballets of Guinea, the Congo, Brazil and Trinidad.
For 20 years, teachers like Mamady Keita, Karumba Diakete, Mabiba Baegne, Fred Simpson, Malonga Casquelord, Ferdinand Batantu, Samba Ngo, Massengo, Hugh Humphries and Wilfred Mark gave him both close friendship and an intimate access to their music and culture that was unique and precious.
He also played with many jazz musicians and groups, playing percussion with the Jersey Foreman Express in the Bay Area for 10 years, and did workshops and performed with Eddie Gale, a former trumpeter with Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor.
Integrating world music rhythms and instrumentation with jazz, R&B, funk, reggae and original compositions is Swami’s passion.