Mariachi is the name of a traditional Mexican street music with a style that has developed continuously throughout its history. While in earlier times only the vihuela and the gitarron were used, and sometimes also the harp, one finds today that many different instruments are involved. The trumpet, which gives Mariachi its characteristic sound, is a relatively new addition, coming along at the end of the 1950s. Mariachi music is lively, full of joy and can be very romantic. It is therefore very well suited to public festivals and weddings, and to the serenading of young women by potential suitors. This is a great introductory album to the genre, presented by the well-established Mariachi band, Mariachi Sol.

Mary Ann’s unique collection of contemporary Gaelic songs reflects a lifetime of musicmaking in the Scottish traditional music world, but also a hothouse classical music training and even a brief foray running the BBC’s Gaelic news service. She and producer-musician husband Nick Turner are based in Ardgour in the Scottish West Highlands where they run their Watercolour Music studios, home to her various roles as writer, TV and radio broadcaster, choral director, producer, and performer. A chivvier, an encourager, an in-the-mix partner all her musical life, including her time with the seminal Gaelic supergroup Cliar, Mary Ann is finally stepping forward- An Dan is her debut solo album. “It’s important to any living culture that new songs are composed and performed. An Dan, from one of Gaelic music’s most talented figures, may surprise some- in the best possible way. A very classy album.” (Arthur Cormack) “Scottish singing doesn’t get much better than this. A wonderful singer and excellent choice of songs in Scottish Gaelic.” (D. W.)

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.

This new release is both a valuable cultural document and a rare collectors' item. It features historical, unrehearsed live field recordings of traditional music made in Thailand in 1973 by ethnomusicologist Deben Bhattacharya. As in most countries of Asia, Thai music consists of two distinct features: the folk songs and dances which belong to the village traditions, and the piphat orchestra with it's complex structure, no doubt developed and played for the elite, both in villages and towns. The village music in the main is melodic, with songs and dances accompanied by woodwind and stringed instruments, as well as drums and metal percussion instruments for providing the rhythm. The piphat band, on the other hand, employs a rich collection of percussion instruments belonging to the metallophone and the xylophone families and played with drums, gongs, and cymbals. These are divided into two sections, one providing a melody and the other the rhythm. Sometimes the orchestra is led by a single woodwind instrument, the pi nai, which belongs to the oboe family, like the Indian shehnai. The music is played in a diatonic scale with seven equidistant notes but without any semitones between the steps of the octave. This album begins with the music of the piphat orchestra played for Ramakien, the epic which represents the political and the cultural history of Thailand since ancient times

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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.

Classical Music

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Draumsyn is the debut solo album of Norwegian hardanger fiddle player Anne Hytta. This album, now available as a 180g Vinyl LP, is a selection of her own compositions, rooted in the traditional Norwegian hardanger fiddle style, but truly unique and timeless in sound and expression. The music of Draumsyn is a travel into an unknown world, a world of ancient wisdom, emotions and colors, closely connected to the nature of Norwegian mountain landscapes, valleys and streams. Fans of Scandinavian music as well as open-minded listeners of any genre will be fascinated by this one-of-a-kind recording beyond common conventions of folk-, world-, or classical music. "Draumsyn also deserves to be praised as a sound product. Rarely have I heard a richer, truer and more detailed fiddle sound. May this album become school-forming as a sound product, as well as a composed and performed album." (Folkemusikk, Norway)

(2-CD set) Dreams of love... Dreaming of a better, brighter life or dreaming in search of the absolute. Love can take so many different forms - and can open so many doors!

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)

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.

In the history of Irish music, no group has created and maintained their calling as effectively as the Dubliners. They began their career in 1962. The original members were Ronnie Drew, Ciaran Bourke, Luke Kelly, and Barney McKenna. In 1963 they were joined by John Sheahan. In 1967 the band recorded “The New Dubliners.” The track “Seven Drunken Nights,” was released as a single. It was so bawdy that the official media decided to ban it. Luckily for the Dubliners it was picked up by the pirate station Radio Caroline and given saturation airplay. As a result, it stayed at the top of the charts in Ireland for two months and shot up to number five on the British Pop charts launching the Dubliners into stardom. More recordings followed and a performance in front of a capacity crowd in the Royal Albert Hall, London. By the early 70s, they were touring the world. This special compilation album includes the group’s biggest hits as well as several lesser-known but equally enticing songs.

The chansons are about human experiences, human emotions. About love, deep sadness, the fear of being abandoned, but also about the joy of relationships and love. These chansons invite us to dare to be real people. At first sight, the chansons do not seem particularly deep; they are generally not spiritual; they do not use complicated turns of phrase. They describe the ordinary events of life, the lives of ordinary people. But it is precisely this description of ordinary events and encounters that opens the shutters to reveal the greater themes of life such as selfless love, hope and thankfulness. We understand how these chansons are about our own lives and realize how they can unleash powerful human emotions.

Founded in 1926, the London Jewish Male Choir enjoys a reputation for its performance of the broad spectrum of Jewish music- cantorial/liturgical, Yiddish, Ladino, Israeli and Chassidic- to a wide range of audiences. Throughout its more than 90 years, the LJMC has travelled extensively throughout the UK and has performed in London’s most prestigious concert halls. It has also taken part in national and international television and radio broadcasts for the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4. This collection captures a snapshot of the choir over its 90-plus years. In selecting the pieces, we have attempted to show the character and reflect the diverse nature of the LJMC’s repertoire, soloists, conductors, accompanists and musical styles. Cantors featured include Moshe Korn, Steven Leas, and Robert Brody. Accompanists include Shir and Jeremy Limb.