World music is an English phrase for styles of music from non-Western countries, including quasi-traditional, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's inclusive nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a universal definition, but its ethic of interest in the culturally exotic is encapsulated in Roots magazine's description of the genre as "local music from out there".
The music of Niger has developed from the musical traditions of a mix of ethnic groups; Hausa, the Zarma-Songhai, Tuareg, Fula Kanuri, Toubou, Diffa Arabs and Gurma and the Boudouma from Lac Chad.
Andy Vivian Palacio was a Belizean punta musician and government official. He was also a leading activist for the Garifuna people and their culture.
Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 375 albums and 275 singles, working with artists from all over the world.
Colin Bass is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 1979, he has been a member of the British progressive rock band Camel, who, after a ten-year hiatus due to the ill health of bandleader Andrew Latimer, returned to active touring in 2013. From 1984 to 1992, he was also a core figure in the pioneering World Music group 3 Mustaphas 3. He has also made two solo albums under his own name and three albums recorded in Indonesia under the name Sabah Habas Mustapha. The title track of the first, "Denpasar Moon", became a hugely popular song in Indonesia in the mid-1990s and has been covered by over 50 Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese and Filipino artists. As a record producer he has worked with a diverse range of international artists including: the Klezmatics (USA), SambaSunda (Indonesia), Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird (USA) Krar Collective (Ethiopia), Etran Finatawa (Niger) and 9Bach (Wales) amongst others. As a guest artist he has appeared on albums by a number of internationally acclaimed artists including top Malian singing star Oumou Sangare, playing on all tracks of her 1993 Ko Sira album.
Various awards have been presented in recent years to musical artists for their contributions to the genre of world music. This article provides a partial list of these awards and their recipients.
Songlines is a British magazine launched in 1999 that covers music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from around the globe.
Debashish Bhattacharya is an Indian classical musician, singer, composer and educator. He is said to have introduced the first Slide Guitar Syllabus in the world. Bhattacharya redefined Indian classical music on slide guitar through the introduction of a new playing technique and sound, as well as a blending of traditional and uniquely contemporary approaches in designing his music. A music producer who plays lap slide guitar, he has taught more than a thousand students, created a new genre, designed his own instruments and performed in more than two thousand concerts and workshops, with Grammy nominations and several world music awards. His latest guitar creation, the Pushpa Veena, is perhaps the first slide instrument in the world with a top made of animal skin. For Hindustani Raag music he has composed three new Raag, set to evening time: "Raag Palāsh Priyā," "Raag Shankar Dhwani" and "Raag Chandra Mālikā". Recipient of World Music Hall of Fame 2022. Grammy nominee 2009, BBC award 2007, Asiatic Society Gold Medal 2005 and President of India Gold medal 1984.
WOMEX is an international world music support and development project based in Berlin, whose main event is an exposition held annually in different locations throughout Europe. It integrates a trade fair, showcases, conferences, film screenings, networking sessions, and awards. Musicians and their labels have the possibility to make contacts for international touring and album distribution.
Ramon Goose is an English guitarist, singer and producer, known for his work with the West African Blues Project and the hip hop blues band NuBlues, for his mastery of the slide guitar, and for producing albums for American blues artists. As a solo artist he has toured across the world performing concerts and released several albums to critical acclaim.
Chrisavgi (Kristi) Stassinopoulou is a Greek singer, lyricist, and fiction writer. A native Athenian, she is an internationally known artist of the world music circuit. She is accompanied by composer, arranger, co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Stathis Kalyviotis. Their music combines traditional Greek rhythms and sounds, Byzantine vocal lines, rebetiko music, psychedelic rock, ambience and electronica.
Etran Finatawa is a Niger-based band, formed in 2004 during the Festival au Désert near Timbuktu, Mali. The music of Etran Finatawa blends the traditional music of the Wodaabe and Tuareg people with western instruments such as the electric guitar.
Mames Babegenush is a Danish Klezmer band formed in 2004 in Copenhagen.
Mames Babegenush is the East meeting the North. Strong Scandinavian roots merging with the vibrant dance music of Eastern Europe. From the great ambience of Nordic pine trees to lively weddings in Romania the music of Mames Babegenush gives a sense of both melancholy and ecstatic joy. In the beginning doing quite traditional klezmer music—with inspiration from artists such as Naftule Brandwein, Abe Schwartz and Dave Tarras—but has increasingly developed their own sound.
Invisible System is the pseudonym for the UK & Africa producer Dan Harper whose music involves a fusion of Ethiopian, dub, reggae, techno, trance, drum and bass, jungle, acid, psychedelic, folk, post-punk, goth and rock.
The WOMEX Awards also known as World Music Expo Award is an established award for World music. It was first introduced in 1999 to honor the high points of world music on an international level and to acknowledge musical excellence, social importance, commercial success, political impact and lifetime achievement. Every October at the WOMEX event, the award figurine - an ancient mother goddess statue dating back about 6000 years to the Neolithic age - is presented in an award ceremony to a worthy member of the world music community.
Monsieur Doumani is a three-piece Cypriot band formed in Nicosia in 2011, winner of the "Best Group" award in the Songlines Music Awards 2019. Monsieur Doumani have performed in major festivals and venues in Europe, including WOMEX, WOMAD Charlton Park, Konzerthaus Vienna, Rudolstadt-Festival, Havana World Music Festival etc.
The Rough Guide To Desert Blues is a world music compilation album originally released in 2010. Desert blues refers to the music of the Mandinka and related nomad groups of the Sahara, who perform a style of music considered the root of the American Blues genre. This was first popularized in the West by Ali Farka Touré and has more recently been carried by a new wave of artists such as Tinariwen.
The Rough Guide to the Music of Morocco is a world music compilation album originally released in 2012. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, the release contains two discs: an overview of the music of Morocco—featuring such genres as Chaabi and Malhun—is found on Disc One, while Disc Two features the modern rural-urban fusion band Groupe Mazagan. The compilation was curated by Andy Morgan, former manager of Tinariwen and organizer of the Festival in the Desert. Brad Haynes and Rachel Jackson coordinated the project, and Phil Stanton, co-founder of the World Music Network, was the producer.
The Rough Guide to Bhangra is a world music compilation album originally released in 2010. Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, the release features bhangra, a form of Punjabi music. Disc One highlights artists from the 1980s to 2000s, and Disc Two features the British band Achanak. The album was compiled by DJ Ritu, a British-born musician, BBC Radio 3 host, and co-founder of Outcaste Records. Brad Haynes coordinated the project, Laurence Cedar mastered the work, and Phil Stanton was the producer. The release was preceded by a first edition a decade earlier.
Shiyani Ngcobo was a Maskandi guitarist and teacher from South Africa. He toured Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom during the early 2000s in support of his album Introducing Shiyani Ngcobo becoming a major influence in taking Maskanda music to international audiences. In addition, he taught maskandi guitar at the School of Music of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He died near Durban on 18 February 2011.
