Michael Leonhart became well known when he won a Grammy at the age of 17 and became the youngest musician to receive such an award. Since then his career has rocketed and he has performed with Yoko Ono, Bobby McFerrin, Joshua Redman, Caetano Veloso, Brian Eno, James Brown, Henry Mancini, Wynton Marsalis and David Byrne. He is no ordinary musician, as shown by the numerous film and television soundtracks he has written, and over a hundred guest appearances on numerous records. Leonhart had already demonstrated his talent as front man and complete musician on six previous albums, but it is with Seahorse And The Storyteller that he gives full rein to his imagination, using psychedelia to tell a story that could equally be an opera or a musical. In his words, this work, "tells the story of two mythical creatures who meet, fall in love and together begin to solve the mysteries of their pasts". The idea came about in 2005 as a mixture of styles ranging from Bollywood to Hollywood, taking in ballads and rock from the sixties. Each song is a part of this musical like The Story of Echo Lake, sung by a seahorse that goes in search of the origins of his family. There is underwater ambientation, of course, but it is not Finding Nemo, but rather a complex work full of dissonance and continual surprises. Seahorse And The Storyteller is featured in Gladys Palmera's Future Beats.
