Named for the calabash, one of the gourds that the group uses as an instrument, the Afro-Cuban vocal/percussion trio Women of the Calabash is led and directed by composer/arranger/vocalist/percussionist Madeleine Yayodele Nelson and features vocalists/percussionists Marsha Perry Starkes and Mayra Casales. Nelson makes many of the group's instruments, which are crafted from bamboo, wood, and dried gourds. The Women of the Calabash have been touring and performing together for over 20 years, sharing the stage with Phillip Glass, Ashford & Simpson, the Temptations, and Max Roach, and have performed for the presidents of West Africa and Haiti as well as sold-out audiences across the globe.The group's music is as political as it is lyrical, drawing from the international roots of North and South American, Carribean and North and South African music, and from issues like liberation, civil rights, and the environment. The Women of the Calabash released their debut, The Kwanzaa Album, which honors the week-long celebration of African and African-American heritage, in mid-2000 on Bermuda Reef Records. ~ Heather Phares