This is an album for people who believe that art and politics mix. Poet David Budbill, whose vocal inflections and cadences refer to Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac respectively, has composed the seventeen poems, songs, and fables out of a sense of urgency at the state of the world and a belief that art can have a political effect.

Quoting and alluding to the writings of Lao-Tzu and Confucious as well as to the Bible and Christian philosophers such as Thomas Merton, Budbill proclaims his love of life, of its trials and tribulations, and a desire to spend his time drinking tea and making music (and love) with friends in the face of the folly of our leaders, the presidents and prime ministers, despots and dictators of the world.

The musical accompaniment by Parker and Drake employs a variety of instruments-drums and bass, shakuhachi, pocket trumpet, balaphone, frame drum, etc.-that is insistent but never intrusive. Parker also provides call-and-response, particularly effective on "In the Mood" and "I Believe." (In a sense, Songs for a Suffering World can be regarded as a companion to Parker's Thirsty Ear release from last year, Raining on the Moon.)

On a personal note, I, as a Canadian who finds himself in the vast majority of his fellow citizens in opposing George W. Bush's military adventures overseas, have been dismayed (or at least disappointed) by the manner in which the American mainstream media has swallowed the lies and half-truths of Bush and his administration and in the high approval ratings among the American public. I can only imagine how people like Budbill, Parker, and Drake must feel to be in the minority in America, where the Bushes and Ashcrofts are subverting the ideals in the name of which they claim to speak.

When I think about that, I can understand Budbill's sense of urgency.