J. Reuben Silverbird

Native American music has been balanced by a love of theater for multi-instrumentalist and vocalist J. Reuben Silverbird. While his albums -- The World in Our Eyes, Shaman 2, and Spiritual Wise Man -- have established him as an important musical spokesman for the Nedni Apache, Cherokee, and Navajo tribes, his appearance in such films as Disney's Young Harry Houdini, I'll Take Manhattan, Spirit of Pocahontas, and Fruit of the Vine, off-Broadway shows including Winter Man and Red Sky, and the Californian production of Black Elk Speaks, introduced him to a much larger following. Silverbird inherited his performance skills from his parents. His father owned a vaudeville and circus tent in the Southwest and was a popular performer. His mother was a well-known singer and comic. The owner of a successful restaurant in New York, Silverbird served as ambassador and coordinator of an Indian village near Vienna, Austria. Silverbird's most ambitious recording, The World in Our Eyes: A Native American Vision of Creation, released in 1992, was conceived and produced by Rob Russo and combined narration, environmental sounds, and synthesized soundscapes as well as traditional Native American melodies. He recorded an album and video for children, based on a traditional Navajo story, Annie and the Old One. Silverbird has served on the board of directors of the American Indian College Fund and the American Indian Museum in New York and was president of the annual American Indian Nations Powwow. His son, Perry Silverbird, has followed in his father's footsteps, building his reputation as a virtuosic flutist. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide