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.

Khöömei Beat are five outstanding musicians who excel in khöömei - Tuva’s unique style of throat singing. They layer traditional and modern instruments with their distinctive vocals to create powerful arrangements with modern rhythms and electronic sounds. Exhilarating and foot-stomping - a musical art that stretches back to the dawn of humanity, while simultaneously reaching forward to new horizons. An exhilarating mix of khöömei singing with razor-sharp drumming and earthy cello sounds that rush through the soul like the wind from an eagle’s wing. With the authentic Tuvan sounds of the doshpuluur, byzaanchyand igil, Khöömei Beat layer traditional and modern instruments with their distinctive vocals to create powerful arrangements with modern rhythms and electronic sounds.

This recording is a modern portrait of the music that Swedish clavier-players might have carried to the organ in the latter half of the 1700s. Since hardly any Swedish music of the time was written exclusively for the organ, we must rely on historical sources for a sense of the possibilities. The selection offered here is largely a work of reconstruction, and except for the short movement by Roman, none of this repertoire has been recorded before, at least in this form for organ. Jonas Lundblad is an organist and musicologist. He studied church music in Malmö, Lübeck and Piteå, specializing in organ interpretation. A prolific freelance career performing both as an organ soloist and with choirs and orchestras has taken him to countries across Europe. When choosing repertoire, he looks mainly to the Romantic era and to new music, and enjoys delving into the sources to discover unknown or forgotten works. While a student for Hans-Ola Ericsson, he performed the complete works of Olivier Messiaen. Since then, the music and mental landscape of Messiaen have remained one his central influences.

Classical Music

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.

Classical Music

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Joji Hirota’s prolific career spans over thirty years and sixteen albums, sculpting dynamic landscapes of rhythm and haunting melodies with the themes of nature and the beauty in every-day life. Since receiving a commendation from the UK Japanese Embassy from Ambassador Orita in 2003 for his contribution to Japanese culture overseas through his musical activities, he has continued to work on a vast number of diverse projects, and with his recent Beyond the Requiem charity concert tours with the London Metropolitan Orchestra in the UK and Japan, has strived to make a difference by supporting the people affected by the Earthquake disaster of 2011 through music. The music featured on this release was used in the recent Martin Scorsese film “Silence,” released in 2017.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Esma Redzepova was a Macedonian Romani vocalist, songwriter, and humanitarian. Because of her prolific repertoire- which included hundreds of songs- and her contribution to Roma culture and it's promotion she was heralded as the "Queen of the Gypsies." These are the last songs she ever recorded- an album that will be truly cherished by her doting followers. Recorded in the studio with The Nune Brothers, the album is a blend of jazz, reggae, swing, salsa, and samba, all influenced by a range of Balkan sounds. "Beauty, charm, striking voice and performance skills." (The Guardian)

Csurgo Zenekar: Music of Hungary