About the Kalimbass

Kalimbass (kah -lem- base), metaphorically speaking, is like the "reeses peanutbutter cup" of musical instruments.

Two musical instruments I fused together and get the sound of three.
Bass guitar, kalimba and percussion manifest as one in this creation I call "KalimbassTM" which probably wouldn't have happend without growing up in New Orleans, with all of its unique influences and experiences I had there.

A general description of the music I create on my Kalimbass is something of "delta swamp rythms spiced with tropical island harmonies".

My musical genes I get from my father, Henry C. Spicer, Jr. and lots of creativity via my mother, Alice Wedekind.
Couple that with my sister Susan's great musical tastes/influences and extensive record collection (that I probably ruined learning bass licks by ear off the LPs , stacking them up on the record player and dragging the needle arm back and forth until I had memorized the songs, oh well.. I sorry) which established the basis of my musical prowess.

The Kalimba, aka an African thumb piano, is a refined African musical instrument derrived from its ancestor the mbira. I use several kalimbas with different custom tunings.
The mbira was created and played by story tellers of the African bush country to attract listeners so that thier stories, message and experiences could be spread.

My acoustic/elctrified bass guitar, is a Tacoma Thunder Chief which has two special features that allow the kalimba to resonate on and become "one with it". The features I like best is the bass drum and percussive sounds as well as how nicely it resonates the sound of the kalimba.

The Hugh Tracey Kalimba is the best you can get and is also available here on tomspicer.com.

My core influences (besides family mentioned) come from:
Mardi Gras drum beats and New Orleans rythms and musics, a phenominal drummer/friend Ricky Sebastian www.rickysebastian.com, The Meters, The Neville Brothers, Wild Magnolia and the Wild Tchoupitoulas Indians, Bruce McDonald, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Steve Amadee, Jaco Pastorious and Daniel Lanois, with intellectual and musical guidence from Jim Bremer and Elton Heron.
I thank these people and am greatfull to be the conduit from which Kalimbass chose flow.

Spiceman