Before the term world music was a twinkling in anyone's eye, 3 Mustaphas 3 were doing it, mixing up different cultures into a gleeful grab bag of music and leaving a heritage that has influenced musicians all over the world. Legend -- their own legend -- has it that the Mustaphas were smuggled out of their mysterious Balkan hometown of Szegerely... [+] Read More

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Bahia Black was a short-lived band featuring Brazilian singer, songwriter, percussionist, guitarist and vocalist Carlinhos Brown and his ten-piece drum ensemble, Olodum. Joined by American jazz musicians including Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Bernie Worrell, Henry Threadgill and producer Bill Laswell, the group recorded one memorable album,... [+] Read More

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Gabriel Yacoub was one of the spearheads of the folk revival that swept through France. The founder and leader of influential French trad rock band Malicorne during the 1970s and early '80s, Yacoub has continued to explore the full spectrum of French music as a soloist. According to Vanity Fair, Yacoub's "voice is liquid and ready, his guitar... [+] Read More

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Most popular in the West as the lead singer for the Hungarian group Muzsikas (three albums are available from Hannibal Records), Marta Sebestyen has also released several solo albums. among them Apocrypha (1992), which collects songs from three Hungarian-only traditional albums recorded with Karoly Cserepes (Love, Christmas and Emigration). High... [+] Read More

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Some of the most unusual sounds in contemporary Celtic music were created by Edinburgh-based band, Mouth Music. Combining the mouth music (puirt-a-beul) tradition of Gaelic Scotland with African rhythms, the group fused the two musical cultures into a truly unique sound. According to Entertainment Weekly, "Mouth Music's combination of... [+] Read More

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Long one of Israel's most popular singers, Ofra Haza broke through to international recognition during the mid-1980s when her traditional music found favor on the U.K. club circuit, its success leading to a series of unlikely pop projects. Born in Tel Aviv on November 19, 1959, Haza was the daughter of Yemenite parents forced to flee from their... [+] Read More

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Chanteuse Patricia Kaas was born in France's Lorraine region, where she began performing as a youth; by age 11, she even held a residency at the Rumpelkammer Club in Sarrebrucken, Germany, over time honing a distinct style updating the French chanson tradition with elements of pop, blues and jazz. Scoring her first national hit in 1987 with... [+] Read More

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Fusing trip-hop beats with chant-like vocals, Pilgrimage was the creation of French composers and producers Simon Cloquet and Eric Calvi, along with singer Catherine Bott. Their debut LP Land of Ecstasy appeared in 1997. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

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The Reptile Palace Orchestra is an eclectic worldbeat outfit based in Madison, Wisconsin, and consisting of vocalist/trumpeter/percussionist Anna Purnell, guitarist/vocalist Bill Feeny, cellist/vocalist Seth Blair, string player/vocalist Bill Blumfumgagnge, accordionist/woodwind player Doug Code, and drummer/vocalist Siggi Baldursson (formerly... [+] Read More

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