Multilingual singer/songwriter Marta Topferova with Czech roots has been a creative presence on the music scene since her arrival in New York City in 1996.
Qanun, a sophisticated version of the European zither, is the key instrument of Middle East. Avshalom Farjun is a self-taught virtuoso and one of the most respected visionaries of the Israeli music scene.
The Inuit throat singing is one of the most expressive musical languages. Tanya Tagaq blends it with cello and electronics to create a breathtaking performance, which has brought her to collaborations with Björk and the Kronos Quartet.
The Iranian bagpipe player Saeid Shanbezadeh, performing also as a dancer and master of the ritual, shows that Iranian music is more than a mix of the mystical and melancholic: it is also an invitation to celebrate. His family band includes his son, a miraculous little drummer boy that was at the age of 6 accepted to study at the Paris conservatory.
The queen of Wassulou singers from Mali combines West African acoustic funk with European violin. Her albums are cult favorites of the same rank as Ali Farka Toure or Salif Keita.
Fronted by Cambodian female pop star Chhom Nimol, who sings in Khmer, the Los Angeles sextet blends the sounds of 60s Cambodian pop - heavily influenced by American surf, rock and early psychedelic garage bands. There are echoes of Bollywood soundtracks, Ethiopian soul, Spaghetti Western weirdness in the mix, but the resulting concoction is all their own.
Besh o'droM stands out between Balkan brass bands due to their almost punk attitude and wide range of influences, drawing from Greece, Middle East, gypsy styles and - thanks to their Hungarian-Israeli bandleader - also from Jewish music. The different types of music from nations which nowadays do not even communicate with each other appear together in peace and harmony.
"A splendid flight of wildeness and joyous exuberance that rarely pauses for breath.” – fRoots magazine, UK.