Barney McAll's new album, Mother of Dreams and Secrets, is the cross-cultural musical journey of one of Australia's most inspirational jazz musicians.

From Australia to Havana and New York, the award-winning pianist and composer has combined his love of jazz and Afro-Cuban sacred rhythms to pay tribute to the Santerian goddess, Yemaya ' the mother of all the world. 'I have always felt drawn to Yemaya so I took some of the rhythms used to invoke her, slowed them down and then applied my own harmonies and melodies to each interlocking part�, explains McAll. 'I first visited Cuba in the late 90s and experienced a Yoruba/Santerian ceremony honouring Yemaya. The music had such a profound effect on me that I may never recover!'

McAll, who has been based in New York since 1997, received an Australian Arts Council grant in 2004 which allowed him to study and compose music in Cuba. 'While I was there I worked with a number of passionate and incredible Cuban percussionists. We recorded the rhythm tracks for Mother of