Classical Music

Played with traditional instruments, this spirited and lively bellydance music from Turkey is excellently suited for beginning dancers.

This release features authentic recordings from powwows in the United States and Canada. These ceremonial dances and secular music selections come from various tribes of native American Indians. Accompanied by singing in native tongues, these tracks are performed on ceremonial drums, water drums, rattles, and jingles. The field recordings make this one of the most genuine native American music listening experiences on the market today. Featured artists on this release include Northern Wind from Ontario Canada, and Eyabay from Red Lake, Minnesota, who are regarded as kings of the pow wow trail.

Traditional festivals are an important part of the culture and history of China, each with their own customs, origins and celebrations. This special collection celebrates music of a variety of these festivals held throughout the Chinese calendar, including the world-famous Harvest, Lantern, Dragon Boat and Spring festivals. These works are performed by UK-based group The Heart of the Dragon Ensemble with their award-winning founder, Jiang LI. Jiang LI has been awarded a Fellowship Programme from NESTA- the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts. He was also one of three finalists for a Pearl Award in the Creative Excellence category.

Now more than 50 years ago, Mario P. Gutierrez founded the group Los Ruphay in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. In the Quechua language of the Andean region, "Ruphay" means "Warmth of the Sun". Mario P. Gutierrez lived and died with a steadfast dedication to preserve and promote Bolivian music. While his death in 1994 was a great loss for Bolivian traditional music, his legacy is upheld in Los Ruphay, who continue to record and perform into their sixth decade as a group. Mario left behind him a wealth of compositions embodying a cry of rebellion against the injustices faced by the Andean peoples over centuries. It is in this spirit that Los Ruphay release this, their twentieth album. Ruphay's music carries with it a philanthropic message of hope for the Andean people. They perform to portray the realities and principles of their traditional ways, and to remind the world that they are there and are not about to disappear from history; to forge their own identity, and to break free from the shackles of colonization. It was the wish of the master, Mario P. Gutierrez, "that modern man change his way of thinking and come to understand that we are star dust vibrating together in the universal sound".

Seasons of India has captured the essence of Indian life that is infused with the customs and cycles that have shaped generations over millennia. There are regional variations in the timings and precise nature of the seasons, but there are major seasonal festivals celebrated throughout India alongside local customs. Baluji Shrivastav grew up in rural India experiencing first-hand the rhythm of the seasons flavored by sounds, smells, songs, dances, legends and poetry. Although India is being modernized, for the majority of people those seasonal festivals, foods and customs remain the same. The intense power of nature and her influence on music is encapsulated through the knowledge and imagination of this great multi-instrumentalist virtuoso and composer. It is the reflection of a life dedicated to the rich and boundless beauty of Indian music.

Producer Joji Hirota writes: “The Italian taiko group KyoShinDo is very unique in their approach to taiko music. They are not only taiko drummers, but also karate experts. Their mentor, former karate champion Luciano Parisi, has influenced them enormously. I met the group in 2003 when they came to see my concert at Genoa’s Mediterranean Music Festival. They were fascinated by taiko music as an ensemble, both its sound and its movements. I have been teaching them for over ten years in the techniques of both traditional and contemporary Japanese taiko music. Their skills as karate experts adds a unique flavour to the technique I teach: taiko with a martial arts touch. I trust that their drive and ambition to develop further makes them one of the great and most unique taiko groups. I am proud to present KyoShinDo to the world.”

India is a country of a great variety of cultures, both in traditional customs and in music. There are two major systems in Indian classical music: North Indian classical music (Hindustani Sangeet) and South Indian classical music (Carnatic Sangeet). There have been many families dedicated to Indian classical music for many generations. The Sabri family is one of the few families who have served North Indian classical music for the last eight generations. The Sabri family come from an important gharana (school of music), the Moradabad Gharana. This gharana brought forth many great musicians and vocalists such as Ustad Chhajju Khan, Ustad Nazeer Khan, Ustad Aman Ali Khan, Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa Khan, Ustad Maseet Khan, Ustad Keramtaullah Khan and Ustad Sabri Khan.... The Sabri Family are known for their virtuosity in playing a very important and difficult musical instrument, the sarangi. Ustad Sabri Khan is responsible for introducing the sarangi to the world through his successful world tours accompanied on tabla by his eldest son Sarvar Sabri. He introduced the world’s first sarangi duo with his son Kamal, the world’s first live ‘three generations of sarangi playing’ (Ustadji, Kamal and Suhail) and the world’s first sarangi ensemble, consisting of five sarangis. His achievements have been highly praised by the listening public as well as critics, musicians and scholars around the world. This is the first actual recording of “The Sabri Family” with three generations of sarangi players plus tabla from one family, all coming together to create a soulful musical experience for their listeners.

Part of ARC Music’s ‘low price’ range, this album is specially designed to be accessible to the casual or novice world music listener; those who wish to experience the music of a certain part of the world, but perhaps aren’t ready to pay the regular price for standard or deluxe albums. The present release is an amiable, deliciously delicate and inspired album with mellow tones, smiling vocals, relaxed earthy, rich vibes and sauntering summer grooves, featuring Ceumar Brazil, Marta Gómez Colombia, Trio Pantango Argentina, Catarina Dos Santos Portugal, Patricia Salas Chile, AKA Trio Fusion and more.

Oscar Benito had his 36-string harp custom built in his home town of Asuncion. The Paraguayan harp differs in sound and playing method from the concert harp. The sound depends on the wood used. The wood (from local forests) is carefully selected and then has to be stored for a certain time in order to get the desired full sound. In the past people used to store the wood for decades in order to provide their children's children with the proper material to build a harp. Some of this magic still remains in the Paraguayan harp. Oscar Benito's timeless Paraguayan harp is presented here with a clear, appealing cover design and liner notes detailing his life and musical journey. This release features melodious and relaxing music from the wilderness of South America. It is truly beautiful music that will appeal to a wide variety of musical tastes.

Recorded inside the Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim of Grand Canyon in Arizona, this collection of American Indian songs celebrates the most ancient sounds to emerge from ongtupqa (the traditional Hopi name for Grand Canyon). Vocals are accompanied by a 1,500-year-old Hopi long flute and clay pot percussion. This is a powerful soundtrack for one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Clark Tenakhongva was raised in the Third Mesa village of Hotevilla. Clark is a respected traditional cultural practitioner and has a lifetime of experience singing Hopi songs. He has been invited to sing on stages around the world, and has won numerous awards for his music and katsina carvings. Gary Stroutsos is a master flute player whose contemplative music and time-honored stories evoke the lands and cultures he has studied over his 35-year career. Gary's talents flow through a variety of world flutes, but his mastery of the Hopi long flute transports listeners to a spirit of place unlike any other. Gary was a founding artist for Makoche Records, dedicated to the music of American Indian artists, and was the only non-native invited to record on that label. Matthew Nelson is an ethnomusicologist who has studied a variety of drumming traditions. He became interested in the ceramic tradition of the Southwest, and combined with his love for indigenous music, began an exploration of clay pot percussion.

Perfect for the Festive Season, this is a choral album with light instrumentation from Ensemble Kereoni in Georgia. Beautiful, liquid harmonies blend beautifully with an almost liturgical quality. The name of the ensemble Kereoni refers to a traditional candle used in the Orthodox Church symbolizing the harmonization of the Trinity. Ensemble Kereoni has performed professionally around Europe, and especially in The Netherlands where the Stichting Kereoni, a foundation created on the island of Texel, provides support by arranging promotional concert tours and sale of albums. The artists are Soso Zurabauli, Levan Samkurashvili, Levan Goliadze, Jemal Museridze, and Merab Samkurashvili.

Marrabenta is music from the beautiful country of Mozambique, situated on the African east coast. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony from 1505 to 1975, and its music reflects many cultures. It also reflects the struggle for independence, the ravages of a long war, and portrays the many faces of this beautiful country, from its spectacular coastline on the Indian Ocean, to its rugged and evocative mountains and countryside. The present release is a dazzling representation of Mozambique’s very own musical tradition. A dash of exotic fun, and the heady spirit of Mozambique’s nightlife. These are exciting songs with lyrics in Shangaan, Ronga, and Portuguese. Travel to the sunny southeast of the African continent for this enjoyable summer music.

After their successful first album ‘Old Tunes, Dusted Down’ – a concept album devoted to the impressive fieldwork of folklorist Hubert Boone – MANdolinMAN dug even deeper into Flemish folk music with the album ‘Unfolding the Roots’. Played on four mandolins, the music took on new forms and the historic melodies were injected with a modern and contemporary vigor. Instrumental Flemish Folk music had never sounded so exotic! For their next project, they decided to again breathe new life into tradition, but this time looking a little further afield than Flemish Brabant and Flanders. With this new album – ‘MANdolinMAN plays Bossa Nova’ - the foursome explores the bossa style of Brazil and gives the sound of South America a new original touch.

The era of the Maharajas was a time of bejeweled kings, opulent palaces filled with the finest art, and a rich cultural tradition of Rajasthan- the land of the kings. The DHOAD Gypsies of Rajasthan take us back to these times, recreating the experiences of the public spectacle of palace life. These are ancient melodies that were handed down to DHOAD's musical director, Rahis Bharti, over several generations from his courtier-musician ancestors, who would sing in the presence of Maharajas at public events like births and marriages and religious ceremonies, or just for entertainment. 'Sona ra button Banna' celebrates the birth of a prince; 'Dhanra Saheba ji,' the arrival of the wedding party, and 'Janwariyo (Romantic Peacock)' announcing the coming of the rainy season, a symbol of wealth and the return of a lover.