Afro Celt Sound System are a European and African group who fuse electronic music with traditional Gaelic and West African music. Afro Celt Sound System were formed in 1995 by producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and feature a wide range of guest artists. In 2003, they temporarily changed their name to Afrocelts before reverting to their original name.
Bhangra is a type of non-traditional music of Punjab originating in Britain, specifically Southall and Birmingham. It is a type of upbeat popular music associated with the Punjabi diaspora in Britain. The style has its origins in the folk music of Punjab as well as western pop music of the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to this musical fusion, Bhangra existed only as a dance form in the native Punjab. This Punjabi music was unique in that it was not traditional nor did it seek any authenticity. While the traditional folk music of Punjab has a set of melodies that are used by various singers, Bhangra was a form of strict "band culture" in that new melodies were composed for each song. Therefore, the musicians were as important as the singers.
Dhol can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such as the Jammu, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Kashmir, Sindh, Assam Valley, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. A related instrument is the dholak or dholki. Dhols are amongst other events used in Indian wedding ceremony processions such as Baraat or Varyatra.
WOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.
Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) is an English electronic music band that combines musical styles including rap rock, dub, dancehall, ragga, and South Asian music. The group also includes traditional rock instruments such as electric bass and guitar, which acknowledges a punk rock influence. Their music is known for its dub-inspired basslines, guitar parts inspired by the traditional Indian instrument the sitar, and fast rapping.
Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at Real World Studios, in Box, Wiltshire, England.
Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock. They contributed to Afro Celt Sound System's 1996 album Volume 1: Sound Magic. The band have performed in countries including Australia, Austria, Cuba, Belgium, France, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, New Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa, Lebanon, Spain, the US, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, India, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Switzerland, Portugal, Mexico and the UK. They have performed for a number of notable fans, including Prince Charles, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela, and Emperor Akihito of Japan.
The Dhol Foundation is both a dhol drum institute in London and a musical group. The dhol school was founded in 1989 by former Alaap member Johnny Kalsi when several musicians asked him to be their teacher, and a first album was released by Kalsi and his students in 2001.
Big Drum Small World is the first studio album from Johnny Kalsi and his students from the Dhol Foundation institute in London. It was released in 2001 by Shakti Records and produced by Johnny Kalsi.
Volume 3: Further in Time is the third studio album from Afro Celt Sound System, released on 19 June 2001 through Real World.
The Bollywood Brass Band is a brass band playing Bollywood and traditional Indian music, based in London, England.
Harcharanjit Singh Rupal, known professionally as Channi Singh, is a British-Indian bhangra musician, known as the "godfather" of bhangra in the West.
Sidestepper is a Colombian band formed in 1996 by English DJ/producer Richard Blair. Several of their albums were co-written and co-produced with Colombian singer-songwriter and producer Iván Benavides, including their influential 2003 album 3AM . The group is one of the originators of the Colombian "electro cumbia" sound, influenced both by Afro-Colombian popular music styles like salsa and cumbia as well as electronic dance music such as drum and bass and dub. Over the years Sidestepper has included a number of vocalists and musicians who have since become well-known artists in their own right in Colombia, such as Gloria "Goyo" Martínez of ChocQuibTown, drummer Kike Egurrola, and Humberto Pernett. Since 2000 they have played all over the world, including festivals such as Glastonbury, Coachella, Roskilde and Womad.
Long Walk Home: Music from the Rabbit-Proof Fence, released in June 2002, is the fourth soundtrack album and twelfth album overall by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Devised as the soundtrack to the Australian film Rabbit-Proof Fence, it was the first release of new music by Peter Gabriel since OVO, a commissioned work for the Millennium Dome Show in 2000. The soundtrack contains elements from and references to songs which Peter would release on his album Up. The track "A Sense of Home" samples the drum loops used on "No Way Out". "Running to the Rain", "Crossing the Salt Pan", and "The Return" are reworked arrangements of "Signal to Noise", track nine of Up. "Ngankarrparni" and "Cloudless" are reworked arrangements of track three, "Sky Blue".
Gangs of New York: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture is a soundtrack album for the 2002 film, Gangs of New York. The score is by Howard Shore. The rest of the selections are a mix of contemporary pop and world music compositions and tunes from mid-nineteenth century Ireland.
Transglobal Underground is an English electro-world music group, specializing in a fusion of western, Asian and African music styles. Their first four albums featured Natacha Atlas as lead singer, and their single "Temple Head" was used in a Coca-Cola advertising campaign for the 1996 Olympic Games. In 2008 they won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music after the release of their seventh official album, Moonshout. Their most recent release is 2020's Walls Have Ears, marking Atlas' return as a guest with the group. Their work has been described as "a collision of tradition and innovation."
Sunny Jain is an Indian American dhol player, drummer, and Indo jazz composer. He is recognized as a leading voice in the burgeoning movement of South Asian-American jazz musicians. His albums have received international acclaim for their "groundbreaking synthesis", as he brings together the ancient sounds of his cultural heritage, jazz and a host of other sounds.
The Imagined Village is a folk music project founded by Simon Emmerson of Afro Celt Sound System. It is intended to produce modern folk music that represented modern multiculturalism in the United Kingdom and as such, featured musicians from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The name of the project came from the 1993 book The Imagined Village by Georgina Boyes.
Alejandro Toledo is a composer, saxophonist, and ethnomusicologist. Born in Argentina, he is now based in the United Kingdom. He has received various awards including the Evo Music Rooms award for one of the best upcoming artists in the UK. He has also been featured on various TV shows including The Rob Brydon Show.
