Reinaldo de Jesus, the leader of the group, is on the percussion instrument, tumbarora (which has a cow hide on the top, with bells attached), and also plays on shakers, whistles and chimes, that bring in different sound effects.

At the age of 10 , he began playing the congo, and graduated from La Escuela Libre de Musica in Puerto Rico. He also attended the conservatory there.

Zaccai Curtis brings in piano notes, while his brother Luques is on the electric bass. They studied at New England and Berkley. Together the two brothers combine their learning with their emotions and feelings to experiment and explore with American, Caribbean, African and music from other parts of the world. Richie Barshay , on drums, has performed internationally from the outset, and has had extensive tours with Herbie Hancock and George Garzone. The group met at Boston, where they were playing with different bands.

"Zaccai and I had a band called Insight and out of that band emerged the new band Rhythmic Prophecies, all of us having a musical academic background. We studied both classical and jazz," said Reinaldo. "The Curtis brothers do have music in their families but the rest of us do not. But we've had the encouragement from our homes, whether it be in Puerto Rico or in Connecticut. We've had a diverse cultural scene and that helped us play Latin jazz."

Dwelling on the origin of jazz, Reinaldo said," It comes originally from the African people, who came to USA, mainly in New Orleans. There is a difference between the Latin jazz and American jazz, as the rhythms are a little different, the former combining Caribbean rhythms. The difference between jazz and other music found in USA is that there is a lot of improvisation in jazz, and the musicians have a large measure of freedom to express their emotions -- that are often pensive and poignant. " Richie added," Jazz is very democratic music, because it is always evolving and changing, much more than classical music.

"We've played in Europe -- where most of American jazz musicians perform -- as parts of different bands. Together this is the first time we're performing overseas. I've been in places in Africa, in Congo, Nigeria, Guinea and Camaroon. Richie has been to Havana and Tahiti, apart from European cities. Luques has been to Japan too."

Reinaldo said that they had no preconceived notions about their trip to Dhaka, and were fascinated with tourist attractions like the multicoloured rickshaws, and the meetings with local musicians. They found the food quite sumptuous and the warmth of the people very heartening.