There's no better way to give thanks than through a rousing Mbuti yodel or the improvisational stylings of the Yèyí musical tradition. Adam Rudolph and Ralph Jones, who have worked with each other since the 1974 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, embrace the purpose of this music, and will be using its improvisational techniques in a performance at the Kerrytown Concert House this Sunday.

“What I relate to it is the idea that when the Mbuti do Yèyí, they are giving thanks to the forest,” Rudolph said. “So our idea is that we are giving thanks to all of the good things we have: the fact that we can breathe, and (that) we are given the capacity to communicate between human beings.”

Rudolph and Jones will be releasing a CD titled Yèyí: A Wordless Psalm of Prototypical Vibrations this month, featuring many of the same sounds the duo will be using in their performance. Rudolph, being a percussionist, plays the glockenspiel, frame drum and djembe (an African drum). Jones, being a woodwind musician, plays the alto flute, bass clarinet and soprano and tenor saxophone.

“(Yèyí: A Wordless Psalm) was a moment of what we recorded then, and what we are going to play now is similar in that it’s the same two humans communicating with each other,” Rudolph explained. “We have a lot of shared musical compositions and concepts, but how we are going to filter and express these depends on the feeling with the audience at that time.”

Rudolph has been playing percussion since childhood.

“I grew up on the south side of Chicago in the ’60s, and I heard musicians drumming in the parks and it was something that was attractive to me,” Rudolph said. “I can’t explain exactly why, but it’s something that called to me and when I had a chance to try it, it was something I was really good at so I wanted to go deeper and deeper into it.”

So many distinct influences have molded themselves into Rudolph’s spiritual brand of music that he no longer sees them as separate from himself.

“It’s like you eat something and it becomes part of your cellular structure,” Rudolph said. “All of the things that have impacted us growing up, including nature itself, are things that influence the music and we bring into the music.”

For Rudolph, the act of improvising requires not only inspiration but also the right mindset.

“There’s kind of a technical preparation that’s gone on many years now, so (improvisation is) being in a state of openness, and you hope that things will get beamed to you from the Cosmos,” Rudolph added.

Since the 1974 Blues Festival, Rudolph and Jones have played together multiple times, but Rudolph is looking forward to returning where he and Jones first collaborated together.

“Jones is one of the musicians where we share a lot of the same interests musically and philosophically,” Rudolph said. “I think he’s one of the greatest woodwind players, and I’ve played with many of the best. He has his own voice and his own direction. He always plays with a lot of heartfelt feeling and imagination and I love to play with musicians like that.”

Rudolph promises a rewarding experience for those who decide to come to the performance.

“I hope people will come and bring their open mind and spirit. I think what’s really thrilling about participating in a concert like this as a performer and audience is you can travel and see where the music is going,” Rudolph said. “If you have the temperament, that can be a really fun and exciting journey. It’s a rare thing.”