China’s rich and diverse musical heritage has been recorded and documented in a stunning, original collection. With twenty albums in the pipeline, this is a highly specialized series with the appeal of perhaps being the closest thing to the ‘complete works’ of traditional Chinese music. Each album features a different region of the vast territory; an historical snapshot of China’s heritage. Due to the cultural privacy China mandates, these are in fact rare, musical gems. This album features ballads from the She, wandering love songs from the Miao, and lullabies from the Li peoples. All played on traditional instruments such as the suona, lu sheng and yehu. This is volume fifteen of a twenty album series, exploring China’s rich and diverse musical heritage.

China’s rich and diverse musical heritage has been recorded and documented in a stunning, original collection. With fifteen albums in the pipeline, this is a highly specialized series with the appeal of perhaps being the closest thing to the ‘complete works’ of traditional Chinese music. Each album features a different region of the vast territory; an historical snapshot of China’s heritage. Due to the cultural privacy China mandates, these are in fact rare, musical gems. The Uzbek and Tatar peoples both live in Xinjiang province and speak Turkic languages. The population of Chinese Uzbeks is around ten thousand, which is approximately three times that of the Tatars. The majority of these two peoples live in the northern and western regions of Xinjiang province. The Uzbek music displays its artistic charm with complex melodic variations and gorgeous ornaments. Their instrumental music mainly includes interludes of Shashmaqam and dutars accompany all the Uzbek musical pieces. The music of the Tatars is the gemstone in Xinjiang’s musical crown, with many of their songs being popular among different ethnic groups. In this album, the accordion accompanies all the Tatar songs. The kubyz, the brass jew’s harp, is another popular instrument among them and they also perform on an instrument similar to a long end-blown flute, the qurai.

China's rich and diverse musical heritage has been recorded and documented in a stunning, original collection. With nineteen albums in the pipeline, this is a highly specialized series with the appeal of perhaps being the closest thing to the 'complete works' of traditional Chinese music. Each album features a different region of the vast territory; an historical snapshot of China's heritage. Due to the cultural privacy China mandates, these are in fact rare, musical gems. This series explores China's rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in these recordings are folk songs from the Tibetan peoples of Qinghai province and the Tibet autonomous region. Beautiful folk singing, atmospheric soundscapes of nature and varied traditional instruments are heard in this colorful album from Tibet.

China's rich and diverse musical heritage has been recorded and documented in a stunning, original collection. With nineteen albums in the pipeline, this is a highly specialized series with the appeal of perhaps being the closest thing to the 'complete works' of traditional Chinese music. Each album features a different region of the vast territory; an historical snapshot of China's heritage. Due to the cultural privacy China mandates, these are in fact rare, musical gems. This series explores China's rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in these recordings are folk songs from the Bai, Nu and Derung peoples of Yunnan province. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin.

A.G.A Trio are three musicians from Armenia, Georgia and Anatolia (Asian Turkey), who have taken their heritage of melodies passed down through the ages and reinterpreted them to create vibrant ensemble music. From caravan travelers' lamentations in times of war to lively wedding dances in times of peace; this budding new group’s performances have captivated audiences in Europe. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Deniz Kartal graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Turkish folk dance in 2005. He has since used his skillset to explore many different genres, including Balkan ska / reggae, electronic and folk music. He has performed with bands in Turkey, Sweden, Germany and the Czech Republic. Mikail Yakut studied classical accordion and jazz piano at university, he is a member of two bands and involved in numerous collaborations such as an electro-acoustic techno duo with Korhan Erel. One can hear influences of classical, contemporary, jazz and blues in his music. He enjoys mixing different styles and crossing genre borders while leaving room for improvisation in his live performances. Arsen Petrosyan is a young duduk master numerously awarded for his talent. He lives in Charentsavan, Armenia. Seen as a musical prodigy, he initially started his studies at the age of six. He has toured internationally and created diverse collaborations that go beyond the boundaries of traditional Armenian music.

China’s rich and diverse musical heritage has been recorded and documented in a stunning, original collection. With nineteen albums in the pipeline, this is a highly specialized series with the appeal of perhaps being the closest thing to the ‘complete works’ of traditional Chinese music. Each album features a different region of the vast territory; an historical snapshot of China’s heritage. Due to the cultural privacy China mandates, these are in fact rare, musical gems. This series explores China’s rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in these recordings are folk songs from the Dai and Hani peoples of Yunnan province. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin.

This album features folk songs from the Tajik and Russian ethnic minority groups living in the western and northwestern areas of Xinjiang, China. These folk songs have an earthy beauty that is theirs alone. Many of the Tajik songs featured here are accompanied by the Rewap – an ancient stringed instrument made from mulberry trunks. The sound is similar to that of an acoustic guitar, but the tone is brighter and more elastic. Many of the Russian songs feature the Bayan (a type of accordion) and the Balalaika.

This series explores China’s rich and diverse musical heritage. The songs featured in this recording are folk songs of four of the minority ethnic groups of Guangxi province – Zhuang, Bouyei, Mulao, Maonan. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin. It is noteworthy that the music of the Dong-Tai language speakers presents a common feature of incorporating polyphonic or heterophonic songs. Although this feature is present in the music of more than 20 minorities in China, it is rare that the speakers of a whole language family all incorporate multi-voice songs in their music. The performance forms of these multi-voice songs include nearly all the types found in folk music. The number of harmonic intervals is limited because the songs usually employ only one octave. Aside from pentatonic scales, the folk music of the Dong-Tai language speakers also incorporates the scales of three or four notes.

This album features songs from the Qiang and the Yi tribes, who both mainly live in the mountainous regions of southwestern China, specifically in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Many of the Yi folk songs make reference to the mountains in this region, especially in love songs and group dance songs, as heard in tracks 19 and 23. The music of both of these two minority groups includes lively short dance songs in duple metre and long melodious labor or love songs that employ a free rhythm. At first, you may not be able to distinguish between the music of these two minority groups; in fact, the two tribes are closely related and the Yi are thought to be descendants of ancient Qiang tribes. The languages of the Qiang and Yi both belong to the Sino-Tibetan language phylum. Yet the music of each tribe has its own distinct characteristics. Although both of them often prefer high pitches, the songs of the Yi tribe use a broader vocal range. The dance songs of the Qiang have lively rhythms and are structured with repetitions of a few musical phrases. The dance songs of the Yi incorporate more melodic and rhythmic variations and long, resounding cries. The cries also appear in other types of Yi songs, for example, the middle of track 23, and the beginning and end of track 24. It is noteworthy that the songs featured here have distinct local characteristics, which may differentiate them from the songs of the Qiang and Yi minority groups living in other parts of China. The Qiang songs in this album come from Xin Beichuan County, the only Qiang autonomous county in China.

Noukilla’s Soley is a mix of sega and seggae music, with a touch of jazz: a tribute to their home country of Mauritius. Created by Creole slaves, sega music was publicly shunned in Mauritius until the 1960s, when it was embraced nationally. In the 1990s, a Mauritian Rastafari, known as Kaya after the Bob Marley classic, infused it with reggae, creating seggae. Although he died under questionable circumstances in 1999, countless contemporary Mauritian musicians are influenced by his legacy and music. The album cover features the island’s most famous ex-resident, the dodo bird.

This album features songs from ethnic minority groups living in Taiwan: Amis, Atayal, Saisiyat, Tsou, Paiwan, Rukai, Bunnun, Seediq and Truku. These aboriginal ethnic groups are distributed across mountainous areas, high plateaus, and flat plains, adhering to various beliefs, lifestyles and musical cultures. Listening to this album in its entirety feels like flying across the island with a kite camera, overlooking all of the people living with their traditions. One minute you are put into the scene of a sacred ceremony, the next into a hunting trip or a wedding. As with Chinese traditional visual arts, the song titles explain their mood and origin. A booklet with lyrics and translations is also included.