in spring
James Waterman & Joel Reed Mankey
In Spring is a Celtic-inspired album by James Waterman and Joel Reed Mankey that blends traditional folk melodies with cinematic textures and transcultural instrumentation. While rooted in Irish and Scottish traditions, the album draws from a wide range of world music cultures, including Indian classical, Brazilian, West African, East Asian, and Americana influences. The result is a layered soundscape shaped by the meeting of diverse musical traditions. Featuring intricate arrangements for violin, flutes, harp, hand percussion, and voice, In Spring traces the emotional arc of renewal and rebirth, offering a listening experience that is expansive, detailed, and intimate.
Featured Performers
Yvette Holzwarth – violin, Hardanger fiddle, viola, string arrangements
Jett Kwong – vocals
Matt Orenstein – double bass
Clarice Cast – pandeiro, Brazilian percussion
Sean FayeCullen – bodhrán drum, composition (“The Mutant Reel-ish” from The Folk Scramble)
Neel Agrawal – tabla, ghatam
Michael Dwan Singh – sarangi
Philip Graulty – 12-string guitar
Sachiyo Yoshimoto – koto, violin
Rumi – flute
Production
Joel Reed Mankey – Producer, Recording Engineer
James Waterman – Producer, Additional Recording Engineer
Brendan Byrnes – Producer, Mixing/Mastering Engineer
Audrey Knight – front cover artist
Label
WEEfolk Records © 2025
Los Angeles, California
“Slipping Skyward” — Official Music Video
Featuring Yvette Holzwarth on Hardanger fiddle
Directed, shot and edited by Arthur Mok
Additional Camera – Alex Ito
Titles by Pasha Teplo
Filmed in Topanga Canyon, California
James Waterman
James Waterman is a dynamic percussionist, composer, and songwriter based in Los Angeles whose work spans global traditions, concert stages, and film. His studies have taken him around the world, including fieldwork in Ghana where he trained with master musicians in gyil, Kete, and Ewe drumming, and he has performed at top venues like Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, SFJAZZ, The Getty Villa, and The Blue Whale. As a composer, his work includes the original score for Jebel Banat (Festival de Cannes, Tribeca Film Festival), and premieres with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Santa Clarita Youth Orchestra. He has collaborated with artists and ensembles including four larks, Alessandra Belloni, Volta Drum and Dance, and Bridge to Everywhere, and appeared on major platforms such as PBS SoCal, NBC’s Today Show, and dublab. His original music blends percussion traditions with electro-acoustic, classical, and global fusion influences, and his performance credits include work with Pulitzer Prize-winner Roger Reynolds and composer Angélica Negrón at the LA Philharmonic’s Noon to Midnight festival.
Joel Reed Mankey
Joel Reed Mankey is a Los Angeles-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer whose career spans continents, genres, and roles across the music industry. Equally at home on stage or behind the scenes, Joel has performed and worked internationally in countries including Bulgaria, Bali, Japan, Mexico, Germany, and Scotland, as well as at venues like the Fred Kavli Performing Arts Center in his hometown of Thousand Oaks, California. A true musical generalist, Joel has been a guest performer on Dancing with the Stars, taught Taiko drumming workshops in Berlin, recorded French horn for CBS’s Survivor, and mixed live shows for touring artists across North America and Europe. His deep versatility and global perspective inform a creative practice that bridges traditional and contemporary sounds with technical mastery.