In 1981, Ilga Reizniece formed the folk ensemble Ilgi. Like other folk musicians, the members of Ilgi spent time seeking out their elders – the…
Artist Profiles: Ilgi
Category: Artist Profiles
Artist Profiles: Bassam Saba
Bassam Saba was a native of Lebanon, where he studied ‘ud, violin, and nay (Arab flute) at the Lebanese National Conservatory. In 1976, he moved…
Artist Profiles: Charbel Rouhana
Charbel Rouhana, one of the finest ud (also spelled oud) players in Lebanon. Born in 1965 in Aamchit (a town north of Beirut), Charbel pursued…
Artist Profiles: Claude Chalhoub
Born in 1974 in Lebanon into a family of musicians, Claude Chalhoub was introduced to the violin by his father who played the rebec. At…
Artist Profiles: Fairuz
Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon in 1935, Nouhad Haddad, better known as Fairuz, is an Arabic music superstar. She began her musical career as…
Artist Profiles: Dozan Fujiwara
Dozan Fujiwara studied shakuhachi under Yamamoto Hozan. A graduate of Tokyo University of Fine Arts in 1995, Fujiwara participated in the International Shakuhachi Festival held…
Artist Profiles: Gocoo
Gocoo is an 11-person (7 women, 4 men) drumming group that captures the audience with original grooves woven with Japanese drums, taikos. The group was…
Artist Profiles: The Meditations
Ansel Cridland, Danny Clarke and Winston Watson collectively known as The Meditations, recorded their first hit single “Woman is Like a Shadow” in 1974 at…
Artist Profiles: The Melodians
Bridging the gap between Ska and Reggae, the soulful Rocksteady style dominated the Jamaican music scene for more than a decade. Formed in 1965 by…
Artist Profiles: Third World
In 1973, a teenaged guitarist, cellist, and singer named Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore, then with the Inner Band left the safety of the ‘Circle’ to pursue…