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.

Serbia is a land-locked country in the southeastern European Balkans region, bordering on Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. The Branko Krsmanovic National Folk Ballet was founded in 1945 as one of the departments of the Artistic Association of the University of Belgrade. The Folk Ballet acquired its first recognition at the Yugoslav Youth Festival in 1948. In 1949, with the arrival of Mr. Branko Markovic, leading dancer and choreographer of the Belgrade Opera House, the ensemble started to work on the artistic elaboration of the rich national folk heritage. The Branko Krsmanovic Folk Music Orchestra was founded two years later in 1951. This album is a superb, lively and vivacious album of traditional music from the different regions of Serbia.

This album takes the listener for a musical journey across the Middle East. Works from Armenia, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Kurdistan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen are featured. Styles and genres included on this recording vary from 1950s raw Bedouin field recordings, to spiritual Sufi and gypsy music, to today’s catchy modern compositions.

Enjoy an hour of gorgeous summer sun with this very enjoyable, laid-back and relaxed island music. This album travels from the Caribbean to the Pacific Islands and Hawaii, the Marquesas Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, and Micronesia. This lineup is comprised of both studio recordings and field recordings which were gathered by musicologists over the last few decades. Especially notable is the Tahiti recordings by David Fanshawe. The song was recorded by Fanshawe at “Heiva I Tahiti,” the biggest annual cultural event of the year in Tahiti. It presents four weeks of traditional competitions, reenactments and nonstop performance in the annual dance and singing competitions. The song is an Aparima, which is often performed in the kneeling or sitting position and every gesture in the dance is symbolic and has very great meaning.

This release is an album of blissful relaxation music specifically curated for meditation, yoga, and stress relief in a busy lifestyle. Award-winning artists are included, such as Jason Carter who “builds relationships across borders,” (British Council, Iran), Gary Stroutsos, who performed at the White House upon invitation from President Bill Clinton, and Baluji Shrivastav, who holds the honor of OBE, awarded by the Prince of Wales. Crossing oceans and cultures, the music on this release comes from all over the globe including traditional music from Nepal, Russia, Egypt, Native America, India and the United Kingdom.

Isla st Clair is one of Scotland's most popular traditional singers and has gained international acclaim for her pure and distinctive voice. Arc Music releases a fine selection of popular and treasured songs performed by an accomplished singer and quite possibly the voice of Scotland.

Music from different regions of Turkey played on traditional instruments, with the exotic sound of the ney (flute) particularly prominent. Features the Baglama (lute), ney (flute), zurna (shawm), zil (finger cymbals), davul and darbuka (drums) and kasik (wooden spoons). Striking traditional Middle Eastern and Persian beats and melodies will transport listeners to the bustling marketplaces and tea houses of Turkey. Fans of Joseph Tawadros and the oud will be captivated by this album.

Divanhana perform traditional and urban music from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire Balkan region, with influences from the early Ottoman Empire, newly arranged and fused with jazz, pop and 20th-century classical music. "... Divanhana builds large swirling tones of mystery before turning slyly romantic and hurling the track down a rockier flight of stairs... Some tracks are bleary and boisterous with plenty of roots charm, others a beautiful lament full of heartache and defiant resignation..." - Irish Times

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

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.

Valentina Ponomareva's renderings of Gypsy music from Russia sparkle with all the forgotten romance of that culture. Ponomareva, accompanied by traditional guitars and violins, performs with sweetness and romance. She draws on her own Gypsy heritage and long experience as a Gypsy musician to this impressive recording, where Wanderlust notes that "the passion in her voice shines through."

David Fanshawe (1942-2010) was a composer, ethnic sound recordist, photographer and TV personality. His ambition to record indigenous folk music began in the Middle East in 1966, and intensified on subsequent journeys through North and East Africa (1969-75).David's legacy is cemented in the Fanshawe Collections, some 3000 tapes and 60,000 images recorded on his travels in Arabia, Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific between 1967-94. This colorful album of exotic and beautiful music from Thailand and Laos, recorded by Mr. Fanshawe, is enchanting, hypnotic and full of charisma.

This release presents Irish fiddle music performed by musical virtuoso Florie Brown, a fiddle player who has toured the world and cultivated her own flair and unique playing style. She performs Celtic, Bluegrass, Cajun, Country, Blues and Swing. Here she presents traditional Irish classics that will be loved by all fiddle music fans. After successfully begging her parents to allow her to play the violin, Florie Brown began her studies. Years were spent in private study working on technical skill and gaining performance experience. First travels as a musician began at 15 years of age with her local Youth Symphony, an award-winning group who traveled to Mexico, Germany, and Japan under the direction of Eugene Stoia. Celtic fiddling was the first departure from her classical path. Many albums and years later, Florie now has a family of her own and teaches fiddle.

Hossein Farjami has long been one of the most respected and best-loved Iranian musicians. He combines natural talent with rigorous discipline, and musicianship with professional ethics. Born in Teheran, Iran, in 1944, he started his musical studies at the age of 13, and his life has been devoted to music ever since. For the past five decades he has been based in London, where he has achieved a high reputation, not only among the large Iranian community living in the West, but throughout the Middle East. Anxious to pass on his skills and experiences to the next generation, Farjami is also an inspiring teacher, at once patient and rigorous. Apart from santur, ud and percussion he teaches classical Iranian singing and musical theory, while still finding time for composing, arranging, and recording. The present album is dedicated to Iranian traditional folk music. The simple, soulful melodies are rich in emotional nuances which Farjami conveys with his subtle arrangements and masterly playing. Like all genuine folk music these tunes have a universal appeal- to the heart, which is our natural home.

Rooted in tradition this recording of Yoruba (Nigerian) percussion and chant features 'incredibly beautiful rhythms and drumming patterns, each track with it's own unique story and vibe. The aspect of spirituality and the supernatural is strongly evident throughout' (Blogger News Network). English translations of the poems are available.

This album features lively and soulful songs from Costa Rica, presented by Grupo Quelite. Founded in 2008, Grupo Quelite is a traditional Costa Rican music group from San Carlos, in the northern part of Costa Rica. They have performed countless concerts in many communities in Costa Rica and abroad. Their repertoire consists of songs in various traditional musical genres of Costa Rica, such as the tambito, considered a national rhythm, the calypso of the Caribbean area of the country, as well as boleros, corridos and others. Quelite's songs tell stories, and express thoughts and feelings of the peasant and rural life of the Costa Rican people. They play instruments common to traditional Costa Rican music, such as guitar, accordion, flute and clarinet, as well as more contemporary instruments such as electric bass, keyboards and drums.

Throughout Africa, the drum is the most ancient and certainly the most widely played instrument in African history. Having a far deeper bearing on life than the Western concept of percussion, the drum and all its offshoots and variations is an integral part of the heritage of all African cultures. There is a huge variety of such instruments. The sacred big drums were the most valuable property of any tribe. Conquering kings would make such drums a priority to capture, as this would break the spirit of the conquered. In many creation stories, the drum plays a vital role. Gods and chiefs, wise men and those who can talk to the ancestors, all use the drum as a medium. These recordings are performed by master African drumming groups; the El Hadj Ensemble, Ipelegeng Group, African Works, Soweto Ensemble and Tirani Club. All tracks are performed in the differing styles of cultures and communities from all over Africa, in some cases with added instruments appropriate to those cultures, making for an exemplary percussive exploration of Africa.

• An album of compositions for Egyptian dance, featuring “Egypt's Ambassador of Rhythm”, Hossan Ramzy, a well-known figure in Western music circles. • Mr. Ramzy's partner, Prof. Maged Serour, is a Qanun virtuoso. • The history of the Qanun, a plucked box zither, dates back over 1000 years."

Go on safari with this captivating audio slide show of superb African wildlife photography. These picturesque landscapes are all accompanied by atmospheric, relaxing African music by Malape Motloung, D.T. Antill, R. Hogart, Mara Louw, N. Mkhokeli, Vallsou. (ARC Music)

The Pulse of Persia: Iranian Rhythms, Global Influences

• A collection of Brazilian samba tunes offering a welcome crosscurrent of stimulating and relaxing music. • Varied in style and instrumentation.

This release features Christmas songs from Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Argentina accompanied on guitars, pan flutes and percussion.

“This album is a must for the pipes and drums enthusiast as it contains an excellent variety of original material superbly arranged and played by the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Queen’s Own Highlanders…. The overall tone and execution is of the highest caliber. This could well introduce a new approach to pipe and drums representation.” - Captain John Allen, Director of Army Bagpipe Music. (ARC Music)