Vusa Mkhaya embodies the sound of the eclectic, pulsing, dusty streets of Tshabalala township in Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo. He captures the romanticism of the Southern African climes, his voice rich with the vibrations of a heritage that spans decades. Driven by an unquenchable thirst for sound, he has worked with a wide range of musicians and productions, amassing a hugely impressive body of work. Vusa has pushed the boundaries of world music, retaining a mind-bending, soul-searching, spiritually stirring sound that is inspired by life’s questions. It is in that depth he feeds, and is himself fed by the beauty of music. As part of the vocal trio Insingizi he has gained commercial and critical success since their 2004 debut album, Voices of Southern Africa / Spirit of Africa, which sold over 250,000 units in North America. His solo offerings The Spirit of Ubuntu (2006), Vocalism (2012) and now Umanyanyatha are emotive musical stories of love, heartbreak and everyday living; tales delivered in soulful, sometimes haunting, achingly beautiful pieces. Mkhaya gives life to the voice, and it is the voice that gives him life.

A potent cocktail of explosive footwork, haunting singing, virtuoso guitar playing and percussive handclapping from southern Spain with some of flamenco’s finest award-winning artists. This album was recorded live at a flamenco bar in the heart of Andalusia. JALEO began touring outside Spain in 1988, and ever since, their rigorous touring schedule has become more demanding each year including recording, theatre performances, workshops, TV and radio work. For three decades Jaleo have captivated the attention of audiences of all ages and walks of life with the universal appeal of their art. Their authentic and charismatic approach to performance – sometimes serious, sometimes humorous, but always sincere – has won them many followers and considerable critical acclaim from both press and public alike. Formed by award-winning flamenco artists from Seville who have each earned great recognition within their own country, Jaleo has now firmly established an international reputation as a very exciting and dynamic dance company with an innovative approach.

Recordings of percussion from around the world – an exploration of countries by their instrumental heartbeat: the drum. With Iranian rhythms on the tombak, a rich variety of tones and textures from Egypt on durbuka, advanced rhythms of Nigerian Yoruba folk music, Japanese taiko, Indian tabla, improvisations from Morocco and more… A fascinating journey into international beats and the culture and stories that lie behind them. The booklet contains in-depth liner notes provided by the artists that showcase the instruments used, the meanings behind the songs, and the cultural significance around the chosen rhythms.

Hilda Bronstein’s passionate dedication to Yiddish Song stems from her close connection to the language that she learned as a child. She sees these songs as a cultural storehouse of Jewish history and identity. Her early training as a singer at the Royal College of Music in London, and her later work as an academic in English Language and Literature together inform her expressive interpretation of the music and words of these evocative songs. Since 2004, when she made her tentative return to the music of her childhood, she has become one of Europe’s leading interpreters of Yiddish Song. After the success of her previous album, Yiddish Songs Old and New, she competed in the International Jewish Music Festival at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in 2008 and was awarded the Mira Rafalowicz Prize for the ‘Best Interpretation of Yiddish Song’. For this album, Hilda has joined forces with a group of talented instrumentalists who share her love of Yiddish song as well as the exciting sounds of klezmer and swing. The collaboration has enabled Hilda to expand her repertoire of beautiful traditional Yiddish melodies and new songs from Eastern Europe. She has also added a number of exuberant up-beat numbers from the days of New York Yiddish Theatre, and demonstrates the resilience of Yiddish song by bringing this album firmly into the twenty-first century with the cool beat of ‘Yener Langer Zumertog’. As on her previous album, Hilda uses her original Polish dialect on some tracks and the standard ‘Litvish’ or Lithuanian dialect on others. While her natural tendency is to the native Polish Yiddish of her childhood, she prefers the Litvish in those songs where the meaning and rhymes of the lyrics seem to demand it.

The Samba is the most typical and recognizable music from Brazil. With roots in Africa stemming from the slave trade, samba as it is known today has it's origins in Rio de Janeiro. Samba isn't only a music, it has developed into an entire culture, with food, dances, parties, clothing, and paintings. Following on from one of ARC Music's best-selling samba album of all time, we present this appealing samba music with songs by the best of today's samba artists. This is an exciting festival of dance, rhythm and colors from Brazil.

The rich, folky music of the Celtic peoples is known far and wide for its sprawling melodies, upbeat rhythms, and compelling stories. From jigs that make it hard to stay in your seat to popular ballads that paint a romantic story that's easy to get swept up in, this release contains riveting performances by a range of fantastic Celtic musicians. Some of the Celtic artists featured on this release include Aryeh Frankfurter, Kieran Fahy, Florie Brown, Bagad du Moulin Vert, and more. This compilation was arranged by Julia Beyer.

This album begins its journey in Egypt, where the music has a distinctly Middle Eastern and Arabic influence, being at the crossroads of Africa and Asia. These influences stretch across much of the Sahara, through Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The call-and-response style, as is found in much of the gnawa music of Morocco, begins to introduce to the listener something more familiar to Western ears. As the album approaches Western Africa we uncover the ancestry of blues music, which became the foundation of most Western popular music. The Western African influences in blues music are unmistakable and are explored enthusiastically by these West African artists. Along the southern coast of Western Africa, and heading into central Africa, a noticeable percussive style takes over. Drumming in these parts of Africa is an ancient, often tribal, tradition that continues to this day. We travel next to Eastern Africa and Sudan, a country with a long and turbulent history that has seen its religion and politics influence its music in many ways. Sudanese music went through something of a renaissance in the early-mid 20th century and the song included here is from that period. Lastly, moving south, we hear guitar music, percussion, and above all vocals taking center stage.

Dance to the Full Moon is the latest Mali & UK collaboration from the imagination of producer Dan Harper (Invisible System). Combining the traditional with the modern, forging new styles in ethnomusicology. Recorded in Bamako, Mali, alongside the best local musicians and griots - the traditional storytellers of West Africa - Dan's production continues to take Malian music into new territory.

Audiences have been thrilled for years by Gregori Schechter's toe tapping renditions of Eastern European Jewish folk music. They have been invited to perform for the BBC on numerous occasions alongside the most famous names in the klezmer world, like Giora Feidman and Henry Sapoznik of the USA. A charismatic player and particularly gifted arranger, Gregori Schechter transports his listeners to realms of sheer delight.

Alpamayo (named after the most beautiful snow-covered mountain of Ancash, Peru) perform rhythms of South America that have been danced to in their country for generations. Alpamayo have gathered a huge repertoire of original compositions and traditional pieces from Peru and other countries of South America, with which they have successfully toured all over Europe. These songs are performed on pan flutes, shepherd's flutes, charango, guitar, bombo and percussion and the occasional touch of electronic instruments to create a new sound. "Beautiful... in less than no time you will become fond of this rich artistic evolution..." (Suono Italy)

The folk music tradition in Wales is among the richest in the world; centuries old, it is as vibrant today as it has ever been. This collection highlights the best of the current folk scene from ‘the land of song.’ The artists featured on this release are renowned for their folk performances. Lleuwen is known to combine acoustic, folk and jazz influences to create her own unique sound. Now living in Brittany, she performs in both Welsh and Breton. Welsh singer-songwriter Ryland Teifi has made a name for himself as a singer in his native tongue, as well as in English. Ar Log was formed in August 1976 specifically to represent Wales at the Celtic Festival in Lorient, Brittany. Following the festival, the band decided to continue to perform and earn their living through touring. Calan bring together the remarkable talents of five young musicians giving a fresh and vibrant sound to traditional Welsh music. With a contemporary approach, they breathe new life into old traditions. Other equally notable artists on the release include Lleuwen, Bob Delyn, a’r Ebillion, Gwenan Gibbard, Gwyneth Glyn, and more.

The YEKSAD folk ensemble perform popular traditional songs and instrumental pieces from the Turkish side of Cyprus, an island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria. The people of Cyprus enjoy a temperate climate with hot, dry summers and cool winters. The traditional music in this album includes laid-back folk tunes, more rhythmic and upbeat ancient melodies and beautiful ensemble pieces performed on violin, flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion and darbuka (drum). Enjoy the sound of Northern Cyprus.

This new release is an album of urban, classical Iranian music performed by cousins Mehdi Rostami and Adib Rostami, who present two 'melodic circles,' integrating influences from traditional Kurdish music and music from the Fars province. Rooted in ancient Iranian musical tradition, the pieces present a fresh, contemporary perspective. The Rostami duo have arrived at such a level of mastery, that in each performance they open a luminous window to musical discovery to any new listener. "... sheer magic that keeps the listener ultimately spellbound. Classical Persian music of the highest order... hauntingly beautiful music with enormous charm, as well as often high energy, tension and excitement that are just breath-taking. (Rainlore's World of Music) "... An enthralling collaboration between two highly-skilled musicians." (Folk and Honey)

This exciting quintet of young Scottish Gaels, DLÙ, are winners of the ‘Danny Kyle Open Stage 2018’, and were nominated for the MG Alba Scots Trad Award, ‘upcoming artist of the year’, in 2019. Their debut album Moch champions the Gaelic language and culture while blending progressive arrangements, eclectic musical influences and youthful energy. The result – face-paced traditional Scottish tunes with funk, rock and pop – a sound that is uniquely their own. “The greatest reward for those mostly unsung champions of Gaelic language, music and culture is that bands like DLÙ are in the world today.” -Mary Ann Kennedy

The first mention of calypso comes from a dance described by Abbe Masse in 1882. Otherwise, most scholars who have tried to trace the story of calypso agree that the word itself is not connected with the deity who lured Homer’s Odysseus to her island. The origins of the word are unclear and scholars debate this with no definitive answer. Quick wit, knowing observation of human behavior and comment on its absurd aspects are the bill of fare offered in calypso, which probably prompted the American periodical Time to label calypso “The Living Newspaper” in 1944. For eloquence and topical diversity, no other genre can approach the calypso of Trinidad and Tobago, for the calypsonian assumes a stance between reporter, editorialist, moralist and satirist as scandal, disaster, politics, self-praise, sexual indiscretion and everything from local to international events all prove as grist for the mill. The Mighty Duke asked in a song, “What is Calypso?” Well to start to get an idea, one has to merely listen to a song on this compilation. Let your schooling start here.