I stumbled across a short man of athletic muscular build, speaking with his fingers and a smile, squeezing aromatic music out of a stringed instrument lying across his torso. At first glance, a handheld sitar? A modernized koto? Further inspection revealed more of a six-string guitar fretboard widened to accommodate the four or five strings of a bass. The man fingered both sides, no plucking, no strumming; instead hammering the voices from the strings picked up electronically then amplified, delayed, and otherwise sweetened. He sounded like two players. Later, he told me the name of his ax: the Chapman Stick.

Flowing, fluid, meandery, music straying in structure. Fans of Will Ackerman/Windham Hill will enjoy. The momentum feels that of Keith Jarrett, if Keith were on guitar instead of piano. Actually, at times Eliah's music might fit snugly on Jarrett's double album Clavichord release "Book of Ways." Then drifting from new age, hinting of blues, tiptoeing in a little funk, but all with a soften harpsichord-like edge.

Good music to relax, work or romance to, for more information or CDs see: www.eliahlevy.com