Doumtekestan (Darbuki Kings Records, 2007)

Lawrence Of Suburbia  (Darbuki Kings Records, 2008)

Two multi-instrumentalists, Robin Adnan Anders and Antonio Albarran, are behind the Darbuki Kings. Inspired by the music of the countries that were part of the ancient Silk Road, the Darbuki Kings combine good humor with folk-inspired instrumental pieces, as well as as modern fusions. The majority of the influences are Middle Eastern, although there are elements of Greek music and Indian dance music.

¡Globalquerque! 08 will present Lila Downs  and her band at this year's festival on Friday September 19th. ¡Globalquerque! New Mexico's 4th Annual Celebration of World Music & Culture takes place September 19 & 20 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the presenting partner, in Albuquerque, NM

Lila Downs  gained international attention for her musical role in the award-winning 2002 film Frida, starring Selma Hayek as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Her song “Burn It Blue,” from the film was nominated for Grammy and Academy Awards. In 2005 Lila was awarded a Latin Grammy for her album Una Sangre (One Blood).

Many of Downs’ songs carry contemporary messages that promote respect for human rights and dignity bringing a new social awareness to her rich repertoire of original and native Mesoamerican songs. She effortlessly blends indigenous Mixtec traditions with all manner of styles including cabaret, ranchera and spoken word augmented by multi-media presentations. Lila's performances have captivated audiences around the globe.

TransGlobal Underground, winners of the Club Global Category in this year's BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music will not be playing at the Winners' Concert due to take place on July 30th as part of Radio 3's Proms season of concerts broadcast from London's Royal Albert Hall. 

The announcement has disappointed fans as well as members of the Awards Jury and is in contrast with last year's concert in which the Club Global Category winners, Gotan Project, played a full 40 minute set.

TransGlobal Underground are regarded as pioneers of global dancefloor music, starting in the early days as a club night with live performances, fusing western dance floor beats with Arabic, African and Asian sounds. TransGlobal Underground's personnel and collaborations read like a who's who of the global dance floor scene which also helped launch a number of solo projects and careers.

Aruna Sairam

Divine Inspiration (World Village 468074, 2008)

Aruna Sairam is a renowned Indian singer who specializes in the music of southern India, which is known as Carnatic music. Divine Inspiration  features exquisite vocal performances based on sacred music traditions that are found in Hindu temples.

Sairam combines poetry, language, and music from various parts of India. She treats the listener to nine songs and invocations from the Bhakti Movement. This movement was started in southern India and spread to the rest of the country. The followers of this Hindu religious movement practice the loving devotion to God, called bhakti. They are generally devoted to the worship of Shiva, Vishnu, Murukan or Shakti.

Paris, France - ‘Akh Issudar’ (Tapsit), the latest album from the Tuareg blues group Terakaft, is hitting stores across the world in the next few months. Sharing much with the famous group Tinariwen – including two guitarists – Terakaft’s vocal lines and electric guitar melodies will be instantly recognizable to fans of the genre, even if we can’t quite say what that genre is! Unmistakably founded in the musical traditions of the region but undoubtedly modern in its instrumentation and execution, Terakaft’s songs reflect not only the sounds, but also the history and struggle, of the Tuareg people.

Roger Steffens and Peter Simon - Reggae Scrapbook (Insight Editions, 2007)

I don’t get hooked on many books, but two that caught my attention and remain favorites are 1977’s Reggae Bloodlines and 1983’s Reggae International, both of which were collaborated upon by writer Stephen Davis and photographer Peter Simon. Simon’s photographs are likewise part of what makes this new examination of reggae as classic as that earlier pair and Davis provides an eloquent introduction, but the bulk of the text this time was penned by Roger Steffens.

Steffens is a Los Angeles-based author, actor and lecturer (his multimedia presentations on Bob Marley are amazing) who possesses the largest private collection of reggae memorabilia in the known world. It’s his decades-long love for reggae that led to his amassing such a collection, and that affection is evident in every word and image the Reggae Scrapbook contains. The book’s perspective is both heartfelt and historical, with Steffens and Simon outlining the story of Jamaican music from the pre-ska era to now. They spotlight key figures and personal favorites, comprehensively tying in such factors as politics, cultural identity, ganja, and of course the Rastafarian faith.

Dengue Fever

Unni Løvlid

Rite (Grappa GRCD4223, 2008)

Unni Løvlid creates a dreamy sound that comes from the lands of the north that combines folk and chamber music, minimalism and ambience, generating a hauntingly beautiful sound. Norwegian singer Unni Løvlid, who is also a member of the trio Rusk, uses her voice in several different ways, mixing traditional style vocals with processed vocal sounds, creating fascinating effects.

On Rite, Lovlid presents a new set of ethereal musical poems in which she is accompanied by accordion, synthesizers and samples, percussion, various wind instruments, hardanger fiddle, and the Norwegian National Opera Children’s Choir.

Paris, France - Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré is releasing her newest album, Tchamantche, this month, and will be touring Europe and North Africa. Ever since she was declared the “African Discovery of 1997” at the Angoulême Festival in France, Rokia Traoré hasn’t looked back. Now, more than ten years later, this fantastic singer and guitarist from Mali is releasing her fourth full-length album Tchamantche (Universal Jazz France) on May 19th in France, and will be available throughout May and June in Belgium, Holland, the US, Canada, the UK, Italy and Japan. The release of this newest album will coincide with a tour across North Africa and Europe – see dates below.

The daughter of a diplomat, living in the US, Europe and the Middle East before studying in Brussels, Rokia Traoré hasn’t just traveled all over the world – she has lived all over the world, and the perspective she achieved coupled for her love for music has led to a style famous for its unique tendencies and unapologetic themes. Her new album aims to impress both critics and audiences – Rokia’s last album, Bowmboï, sold 200,000 copies worldwide.

Biomusique

The 10,000 Steps  (Kosmic Music, 2008)

Combining the talents of singer/songwriter Lisbeth Scott, known for her musical collaborations on such movies as The Chronicles of Narnia, Munich  and The Passion of the Christ, and percussionist/songwriter Greg Ellis, member of the ensemble Vas and musical contributor to The Matrix, 300 and Fight Club, is a surely a ticket to the ethereal. Affixing the name Biomusique to their collaboration, Scott and Ellis will offer up the debut recording The 10,000 Steps on the Kosmic Music label, set for release on May 13th.

Pairing Eastern and Western musical traditions, along with a wide cinematic feel, The 10,000 Steps is an enchantingly persuasive lure into a world of wonder. Opening with soothing bells, “Ananda” spirits away the listener to a magical world hung on the elegance of Ms. Scott’s vocals. Shot through with piano, harmonium, trumpet, guitar, frame drum and tabla, the musical tapestry of The 10,000 Steps creates wonderlands of sound like the dreamy “Caeli et Terra” and the wildly rushing beauty of “The Tender Green.”