In celebration of ARC Music's 35 years of dedication to world music, Hossam Ramzy presents Rock the Tabla. 10 years in the making, this explosive musical journey brings together musical genius from all corners of the globe. Featuring world renowned artists including Oscar winner & Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman, famed percussionist & drummer Billy Cobham, Manu Katche, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Jimmy Waldo, Chaz Kkoshi, Phil Thornton, John Themis and others. Rock the Tabla is an album that is sure to get your feet tapping, heads nodding and body swaying to this diverse combination of electrifying rhythmic collaborations.

“Sosa and Keita deliver a work that variously ebbs, flows and sparkles.” (Jane Cornwell, Jazzwise)

SUBA is the second album from the collaboration between one of Cuba’s most prolific Jazz Artists, pianist Omar Sosa, and Senegalese kora master Seckou Keita. Omar and Seckou’s debut album Transparent Water has toured worldwide since 2017 to enormous critical acclaim. They are again accompanied on this tour and album by Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles. Seven-time Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Omar Sosa has been passionately interested in exploring African musical cultures and their connections with his Afro-Cuban roots throughout his career, subtly blending traditional and contemporary sounds on many of his recordings. Seckou Keita has arguably become the most influential and inspiring Kora player of his generation, an exceptional and charismatic musician and a modern global citizen, with seven centuries of tradition and heritage expressed through his music.

Watch Sosa and Keita's Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music!

REVIEWS:

With a lighter, lyrical, improvisational approach, the two musicians create something artistically special and pull it off with aplomb. With its sympathetic sensitivity to human condition, SUBA’s mesmerizing music is a hymn to courage, strength and perseverance in a post-pandemic world. Each relaxing track, whether emphasizing piano, kora or vocals, presents itself a prayer for health, unity and sunnier skies ahead.

-- Roots Music Report

A colorful collection of songs and instrumental pieces from the Spanish speaking countries of the Americas, starting from Mexico to Panama, Costa Rica to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, then Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, down to Chile and Argentina and back up to Brazil.

The singer-songwriter tradition of any country reflects the hearts and thoughts of the people, and in Russia this is no different. In quiet, often acoustic settings, the artist performs his music, making the song and it's words the focus above all else. Through vivid lyrics, metaphorical language, and soulful melody, the singer-songwriter can mask controversial and difficult topics to bring his message home, or simply convey his most personal thoughts through music. During the days of the Soviet Union, artists like Vysotsky, Vertinsky, and Okudjava pioneered the Russian singer-songwriter style. All wrote on themes central to Russian life, sang with heartfelt passion, popularized a genre for the people and about the people, and, through their individual and unique styles of performances, ensured the lasting popularity of the singer-songwriter.

This beautiful collection of Sufi music comes from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt. This eclectic mix of songs consists of raw field recordings, and modern renditions of traditional songs, performed on both traditional and modern instruments. This devotional music is largely inspired by Sufi poets such as Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.

Everything is possible on stage. At least that’s our impression upon hearing the members of the young, award-winning brass ensemble 10forBrass. On their new (third) GENUIN release, no woodwind run is too fast for them and no string pianissimo too soft: they are both witches and kings, mermaids and jesters, angels and huntsmen. From Carl Maria von Weber to Sergei Prokofiev, no music theater work is safe from the brass virtuosi – whatever isn’t bolted to the floor is fair game for the sizeable brass ensemble. Each opera scene is more beautiful than the next: simply ravishing! The brass ensemble 10forBrass was founded in 2010 by young musicians from across Germany. They have all been members of highly regarded international orchestras such as the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Festival Orchestra of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Classical Music

A soul-stirring collection of some of Celtic Thunder's most inspirational recordings, combining contemporary classics such as "Both Sides Now" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" with traditional favorites including, "A Place in the Choir" and "My Land." Celtic Thunder has been hailed as Billboard's Top World Music Artist, along with Top World Music Imprint and Top World Album four times. With over 800 shows to date, the group has performed live for well over a million fans worldwide.

Lutz Cassel came in touch with the culture of his ancestors for the first time in the early 1960s. This was during song contests at the Castle “Waldeck” in Germany. Although he had no idea of his background (he had been raised in the Christian faith) the music touched him deeply and from this time onwards he began to collect everything connected with Jewish culture and especially with Jewish music and to adapt it for his performances in folk clubs. Step by step he developed a repertoire of songs and also the idea to describe the history of the Jewish people and its music and culture. By and by Lutz started to season his performances with jokes, anecdotes and stories from the thousands of years of history of this people, which consists of more than just the Bible, the Roman Empire and the Holocaust. Lutz was often dissatisfied with the fact that singers of Yiddish songs in Germany generally only described the modern history of the Jews. The origins of the songs were not explained and therefore only a few people understood their meaning. His successes in many small cabarets encouraged him to combine history, stories and music. He did this not in the then popular way of many singer/songwriters, with a moralizing undertone, but with humor and irony- the typical self-irony of Jewish humor. This release is a live recording of a concert which took place in the Hamburg Music Hall for the Hanukkah Celebration of 1986.

Hossam Ramzy presents very danceable renditions of six of the most popular songs of Abdul Halim Hafiz, who was beloved and revered by everyone throughout the Arabian world in his time and whose music is still immensely popular today and played by radio stations and listened to throughout the Middle East every day.

Classical Music

In the spirit of Paul Simon’s epic, this new release from ARC features a collection of African songs. A potpourri of music has been chosen, from a capella to instrumentals, these songs hail from all over the great continent, including tunes from Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, and more. The songs are sung in a variety of native African languages, showing the immense diversity that exists throughout the African countries.

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.

Hugo D�az counts as one of the greatest bandoneon players of his or any generation. On this album he plays tangos as well as baroque classics by the likes of Bach and Frescobaldi, all with the brilliance and flair that became his hallmark. D�az was an outstanding technician and through determination and discipline, together with profound feelings, he was able to feel and convey all the facets of the tango in all it's multicolored nuances. He played the music with an extraordinary depth of expression and temperament - even the softest notes and the silences. The bandoneon is the soul of the tango. In Hugo Diaz's hands it lends itself to expressing a rainbow of feelings and emotions in a brilliant variety of styles.

Field Recordings from the archives of the late Deben Bhattacharya from various temples of the Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu religions, recorded on location between 1954 and 1973. Discover the roots of much of India's music in their purest and original form. Extensive information about India's religious music and each of the pieces.

The tracks on this new release come from Zimbabwe and South Africa, and feature a variance of inspiring traditional songs and exciting new compositions.; This music is known worldwide for its rhythmic intricacies, driving energy, and unrivaled enthusiasm.; These pieces are sung some a capella, some with instrumental accompaniments, but all with beautiful close harmonies.

Celtic Visions is a captivating and beautiful collection of yearning laments, traditional folk songs and instrumentals from Scotland, woven together into a stunning tapestry of sound with piano, harp, bagpipes, violin and song. Tales of the druids and seers, visionaries and prophets are shared by award-winning artists, from one of the world's most mystical lands, Celtic Scotland. Songs in both English and Gaelic are featured, as are both folk tunes passed down over centuries and new compositions. The artists featured are well-known in their home country, and include Alasdair MacCuish and the Black Rose Ceilidh Band, Allan Henderson, Gillebride MacMillan, and many others.

A Celtic Journey is an album of music and song from Scotland and further afield, with pipes, fiddle, choir, courting songs, lullabies, humorous stories of whiskey smuggling and sad laments for love lost. The music comes from the Isle of Skye, Nova Scotia, Glasgow, Stornoway, Inverness, and the Scottish Highlands. With award-winning musicians and singers including Cliar, Author Cormack, Blair Douglas, Ceolraidh Gaidhlig Ghlaschu, and many others, whose tracks were selected for this album by Mary Ann Kennedy, this is an album that simply cannot be missed by lovers of Celtic music.

Celtic music is the collective name given to the native folk music of the Celtic nations. The Seven Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Galicia and the Isle of Man share a common tradition of folk music and songs. Each musical tradition includes lively dance-tunes, melancholic airs, and songs both serious and comical. The worldwide popularity of Celtic music has blossomed over the last decade or two and it has found a place as a worldwide musical language. Behind its popularity lies a tradition o fmusic and songs passed down through centuries and generations. This collection is a snapshot of the living reality of Celtic musical traditions in today’s world, presenting music from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Asturias, Wales, and Galicia in a variety of sung and instrumental pieces.

The two masters of the Japanese shakuhachi, Hidekazu Katoh (shakuhachi, nishaku-issun, nishaku-yonsun) and Richard Stagg (shakuhachi), present atmospheric shakuhachi duets ranging from ancient to modern pieces. Hidekazu Katoh began learning shakuhachi as a member of the Chikuto Group at Chuo University. He became a student of Katsuya Yokoyama, and graduated at Gedai, later completing a postgraduate course there. Hidekazu is a member of Pro Musica Nipponia and of the Bamboo Orchestra. He regularly accompanies the acclaimed enka artist Ayako Fuji in her concerts. Richard Stagg has been a professional orchestral flute player for the last thirty five years, working in the Scottish National Orchestra and then in the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, from which he recently retired. In the early nineteen-eighties he was a pupil of the late Iwamoto Yoshikazu, and has been studying the shakuhachi and performing on it for over thirty years. With Aiko Hasegawa and Kikuko Satoh he cofounded the Yamato Ensemble in 1988. He now teaches shakuhachi and also makes, repairs, and tunes instruments. He regularly performs on the shakuhachi in Japan

Enjoy rembekitos and syrtakis by the Athenians, songs from Crete by Romiosini, pieces by Mikis Theodorakis, and melodies from the Aegean islands and original compositions by Michalis Terzis, one of the most prominent Greek composers today. Michalis Terzis is one of the most important contemporary Greek composers. He started his musical career in 1973, playing songs by Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hatzidakis and New Wave as well as his own compositions at music theatres in the historical part of Athens beneath the Acropolis. In following years Michalis wrote and recorded many pieces including instrumental music, lyrical songs and traditional elegies, as well as music for theatre, TV and film productions, for which he won numerous awards at many Greek and international film festivals. His songs have been performed and recorded by the most famous Greek singers including: George Dalaris, Dimitra Galani, Lavrendis Machairitsas, Glykeria, Maria Dimitriadi, and more. The group The Athenians renders masterly interpretations o fGreek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Xarcharkos, Manos Hadzidakis, Manos Loisos, etc, as well as their own compositions. Their repertoire, which encompasses contemporary songs and Greek popular music that originated as folk music, has been enriched by modern elements and thus developed into a new genre.

This album features three types of the most popular Chines lutes: The tenor ruan, the bass ruan, and the pipa with Xu Pingxin providing accompaniment on the yangqin and drum. The Ruan are a family of long-necked, round-bodied, plucked lutes with four strings. The ruan is an indigenous instrument of China with a history of more than 2000 years. It is recorded in many ancient Chinese literary works. In recent decades it has developed into a family of three types: an alto, tenor, and a bass. Ms. Miao Xiaoyun is a musician of outstanding virtuosity and versatility. She plays several types of Chinese lutes, including tenor ruan, bass ruan, and pipa. Born in Beijing, Ms. Miao started to learn various plucked instruments at an early age with renowned teachers in China, among them Wang Fandi, Wang Zhongbing, and Pan Yuzhang. In 1978 she won a competition for the entrance examination to the Central Conservatoire of Music in Beijing. Upon graduation in 1982, she became the first teacher in the China Conservatoire of Music to establish the ruan as a major instrument. She has toured widely, both in China and abroad, giving many concerts.

Classical Music

Each of these tracks features fast, exciting and sophisticated Iranian and Middle Eastern Percussion. The intricate rhythms and intriguing interplays between the traditional tombak, daf, dhol, darbuka, and cajon are expertly performed by Ramin Rahimi. Ramin Rahimi (b. 1969) has been a professional drummer and percussionist for over twenty years. He has been teaching drums and percussion at the Golpa Music Institute in Tehran since 1996. He also played cello with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra for several years. His group Tapesh, featured on this album, was established in 1998. In the studio Ramin plays most of the instruments himself, but for live concerts Tapesh becomes a 25-member ensemble plus guest musicians.

Csurgo Zenekar: Music of Hungary