When I was two years old, my mother met my step-father Shabda Kahn. At the time he was an esoteric instrument builder (making drums for Micky Hart of the Grateful Dead), a member of the Bay Area Sufi Choir (the image for this mix is from one of their albums), a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath (a famous North Indian classical vocalist), and a recent transplant from New York City. Within the following couple of years, Shabda, along with other members of the Bay Area Sufi community started an annual Sufi campout in Mendocino. The week-long campout revolves around the “Dances of Universal Peace”, a spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's mystic traditions. Some of my earliest memories are from climbing the giant redwood stumps and playing in the streams.

Fast forward 25 years, as a DJ I spent some time traveling with a very interesting man named Matthew Fox, an ex-catholic priest who preaches about the world's mystic traditions and throws "Cosmic Mass" raves. My parents loved the idea of mixing DJ culture with their Sufi retreat, so they asked if I would come and do one of these Cosmic Masses at Sufi Camp. I've long recognized similarities between Sufi dhikr and peak DJ experiences, where a guide can take a group on a collective transcendent journey, so connecting these two worlds was a natural evolution.

Over the past 25 years I’ve been invited to play at many of their “rave night” parties, which is always an ecstatic and love-filled affair — this evening was no exception! This year was the first year my two daughters could stay up and enjoy the dancing, so it felt like a new generation stepping into the lineage of dancing as a community.

The music in this mix meanders through all four corners of the African diaspora through Afro House and remixes, dips into some Tribal Tech House, and explores other world music influences. Enjoy!