Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire). They combine three electric likembé (a traditional lamellaphone similar to the mbira) with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator.
Rully Shabara is a frontman and vocalist of Zoo, a math-rock/experimental band based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In Zoo’s latest trilogy album he develop the music direction with traditional music approach by using javanesse language and traditional instrument but still in the vein of punk music. Meanwhile, Wukir Suryadi devoted his life into traditional music even in his teen he also listening to rock and heavy metal (musical genre that very popular in Indonesia back in the ’80s). He is best known when he create his own instrument named Bambuwukir by himself.
Omar Souleyman is a Syrian musical legend. Since 1994, he and his musicians have emerged as a staple of folk-pop throughout Syria, but until now they have remained little known outside of the country. To date, they have issued more than five-hundred studio and live- recorded cassette albums which are easily spotted in the shops of any Syrian city. Born in rural Northeastern Syria, he began his musical career in 1994 with a small group of local collaborators that remain with him today. The myriad musical traditions of the region are evident in their music.
<a href="http://www.last.fm/music/%E9%BC%93%E7%AB%A5" class="bbcode_artist">鼓童</a> (Kodō) is one of the elite taiko drumming groups today. Based in Sado Island, Japan, they have been a major force in the post-World War II revitalization of taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad. They regularly tour Japan and the United States. Although the main focus of the performance is taiko drumming, other traditional Japanese musical instruments such as fue and shamisen make an appearance on stage as do traditional dance and vocal performance.
Dead Can Dance is a band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1981 by Brendan Perry (baritone) together with Simon Monroe and Paul Erikson later to be joined by Lisa Gerrard (contralto). They disbanded in 1998, and temporarily reunited to do a highly successful world tour in 2005 with a view to recording another studio album together. In order to concentrate on their solo careers and due to ongoing personal differences between Perry and Gerrard, the project was, however, put on hiatus.
Te Vaka is a unique group of ten musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands, and New Zealand brought together under the inspired leadership of Opetaia Foa'i. They have been wowing international audiences since 1997, presenting a rich, luscious mix of Polynesia's ancient culture, to the modern world and in 2008 won the “Best Pacific Group” award. The language they sing in is usually Tokelau but more recently they have been singing in Samoan and Tuvaluan too.
Juzzie Started playing the harmonica at 13. By 23 he had won the coveted Golden Harmonica at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and the Byron Bay Blues Blowout twice. He has in the course of his musical journey embraced and mastered a range of instruments, and absorbed influence from some diverse musical styles. Juzzie has played in a lot of bands, some fantastic and some forgettable, and performed with some of Australia's best musicians, including John Butler, Damon Davies, Jodi Martin and Jeff Lang.
Gold Coast based world music band A FRENCH BUTLER CALLED SMITH have been performing their high energy Latin, funk, instrumental fusion over a 2 year period to ever increasing audiences on Australia's East Coast. The initial creators behind this all organic dance music sound were acoustic guitar aficionado (Scott French), bass maestro (Jake ‘the Butler’ Martin) and respected world percussion artist (Brennan Smith).
Faiz Ali Faiz (born 1962 in Sharaqpur, Pakistan) is one of the main singers of qawwali, a devotional musical expression of the Sufis, a mystical offshoot of Islam. Faiz Ali Faiz comes from a family of qawwals from seven generations in Pakistan. He started his professional career in 1978, at age 16, creating at the same time his own qawwali ensemble. Though Faiz is from Lahore, he practices the doaba style from eastern Pakistan. He stated in recent interviews he has been influenced by Sham-Chaurasi, a famous Khayal singing school where Ustad Salamat Ali Khan belongs to.
"The swagger of a Balkan wedding band with the riotous energy of a Latin carnival." Based in Scotland, but taking in musical influences from far and wide, Orkestra del Sol inflect their music with a raucous enthusiasm. Blending the best of brass with the swinging sounds of samba, New Orleans street music or the rolling rhythms of Turkey and the Middle East, they charge through it all with full-blooded rock and roll speed. They make mincemeat of musical categories.