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Though he certainly knows his way around a standard 4/4 groove, saxophonist and bandleader Chris Byars of Local 802 (New York City) has found that a lot of world music is much more complex. Byars recently traveled to the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on a musical goodwill mission through the US State Department, and he played folk tunes with native musicians in meters like 11/8 and 37/16, and a few tunes that didn't fit any meter at all.
"It's tough for me, but to them, it's second nature," Byars says.
In addition to stretching Byars musically, his travels with the Rhythm Road American Music Abroad program allowed him to share traditional American music with listeners who had never heard it before and didn't know about the country it comes from.
"We try to increase appreciation for the US via cultural exchange," he says. "We present what we do, and people tend to look favorably on trying to...