European Artists

Celtic harpist Alan Stivell, 56, has never felt awkward or inauthentic about recording his chosen instrument over hip-hop beats and samples ñ both in the name of musical progress as well as to pique ...

A brass band in London that plays Bollywood - Indian filmi - music might seem unlikely. However, there's a strong Indian brass tradition - a legacy of the Raj- and there is such a band, called, ...

On his recent album, Os Amores Libres (RCA Victor), Spanish piper Carlos Nunez has more than 81 guest players, ranging from singer Jackson Browne and ex-Waterboy Mike Scott to flamenco star J.M. ...

Charlie Gillett is, without doubt, the dean of world and roots music radio presenters. Since 1983, before the genres even had names, he's been presenting this material, and now that his weekly Radio ...

At 28, Portuguese singer Cristina Branco has already established herself as one of the leading singers in the national fado style, a genre akin to Greek rembétika or blues, where the weight of life ...

Fiamma Fumana's debut was something of a revelation and revolution in Italian roots music. Their mix of traditional music and electronica was startling at the time. But on their new album, Home, ...

Most artists don't release 80 albums in a lifetime. Greek singer and guitarist Yiorgos (George) Dalaras has put out that many in 32 years, including the recent collection The Very Best of George ...

Ilgi might not have huge international fame - at least not yet - by they're certainly one of the biggest names in the Baltic, banner carriers for the Latvian sound. The five-piece group, who last ...

Sometimes you think you have a band pegged, and they take you by surprise. Instinkt did just that when they issued their second album, Grum (Go! Danish Folk Music) last year. Their 2002 debut, Hur!, ...

In his native Turkey, Burhan Öçal is a media star, as widely know for his numerous fashion spreads in magazines and his collection of vintage American automobiles as for the music he makes. Beyond ...

Rock'n'roll comes in all shapes and styles. But one thing that's apparent is that it can cross all manner of borders. That was all too apparent at the annual Womex conference. Not only did Robert ...

The first thing to understand about the French band Lo'Jo is that they work and live communally. No one person in the organization is more important than any other, be it band member, manager, ...

The debut album from Portugal's Mariza found her hailed as the great hope of fado music, the heir of the legendary fadista Amália Rodrigues. Good as it was, it wasn't world-class. But with her ...

Mercedes Peón has burst on the international music scene with her debut, Isué, a record of traditional and original Galician music that both reveres the past and also picks it up by the scruff of the ...

You might well have noticed how, in the wake of Buena vista social Club, there have been a number of Cuban albums released - the words flood and deluge spring to mind, really. Some of it is very ...

The area of Naples called Spaccanapoli no longer exists. It was dangerous, but it had life. Now it's become a gentrified shopping area. But the name lives on. Spaccnapoli, the five-piece Neopolitan ...

One of the most interesting albums of 2003 is from a country that's barely featured on the world music scene - Poland. It's been a country in change for 20 years now, but there's plenty of music ...