Bio: Cabo Verde Cretcheu plays the traditional music from Cape Verde – the islands 350 miles west of Dakar, Senegal in Africa. The range of material includes the up-beat “Coladeiras” and soulful “Morna” ballads as well as the Mazurka, Bolero, Batuque, Samba and contagious Caribbean and Zouk rhythms. Cabo Verde Cretcheu features the soulful Dilma Barros, a native of the city of Mindelo, Cabo Verde (known for its rich musical heritage and world music diva Cesaria Evora) and Mitchell Long who is well known in World, Brazilian and jazz idioms.
Instrumentation: vocals, guitar, bass, drums, violin, and the cavaquinho (Cape Verdean ukulele) piano, saxophone/clarinet
Number of Musicians: 2 - 6 Additional Equipment: P.A. System
Bio: Cusuco performs traditional Latin American music from across the Americas, singing and playing folk styles to bring alive the joy, beauty, and humor of Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, the Andes, early California, and Cuba.
Bio: A Gaelic Gathering plays a repertoire of jigs, reels, hornpipes and airs on acoustic instruments. Traditional tunes from Ireland are accompanied by rhythmic foot percussion and lilting (Irish mouth music).
Bio: INCA offers the music of the Incas from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and northern Argentina and Chile, from the Hispanics of coastal Peru, the Afro-Peruvians from the southern coast in Peru, and from the natives of the Bolivian and Peruvian Amazon jungle. INCA features a vast array of ethnic instruments from the Andean region including strings, percussion and winds, as well as vocals.
Instrumentation: Wind instruments from the Andes: quena, quenacho, zampoña, basto, toyo, etc. String instruments: classical guitar, charango, ronroco and mandolin. Percussion instruments: bombo, cajón, quijada, chakchas and cowbell. Vocals.
Number of musicians: 3-9 Additional Equipment Available: P.A. system
Bio: Made up of an international mix of performers, Klezmer Juice presents fresh renditions of traditional Jewish Soul music. They have performed locally at venues such as the Skirball Center as well as toured throughout South America.
Bio: Liän Ensemble is comprised of virtuosos specializing in traditional instruments and creating original compositions rooted in the ancient sounds of Persia. "The mystic poetry, the superb improvisations in Persian, Hindustani and World Jazz traditions - all of these elements converge, and the subtle alchemy begins to work its magic, generating sparks that have transported their huge audiences time after time." - John Schneider, Global Village KPFK
Bio: Musicantica performs music from the oral tradition of Mediterranean Italy. Musicantica believes in the continuation of the musical tradition as a living experience filtered and shaped by everyday life occurrences. Central to the music is the performance of the "pizzica," the ancient tarantella used to heal the malady of the bite of the tarantula spider.
Bio: Manoochehr Sadeghi, Greg Ellis and Mehrdad Arabifard perform a contemporary Persian classical improvisation created by Manoochehr Sadeghi. This rhythmic and non-rhythmic improvisation is called "Vision." Sadeghi is a recipient of the NEA's National Heritage Fellowship Award, the highest honor bestowed upon folk and traditional artists in the United States.
Instrumentation: Santur (Persian hammered dulcimer), udu (African percussion), and tonbak (Persian hand drum). Additional instruments include violin, oud (lute), Didgeridoo (African tribal wind instrument), daf (Persian percussion), flute, keyboard and guitar.
Bio: As an Argentine country-folk counterpart to the urban tango, "folclore" evokes the pure sounds of a music deeply rooted in South American culture. This trio delivers a fresh and vibrant version of a beautiful collection of traditional Argentine songs.
Bio: For 30 years, the Scottish Fiddlers of Los Angeles have performed the lively, energetic and uplifting music of Scotland, the Shetland Islands, Cape Breton Island and Ireland. Their playing is characterized by hard-driving reels and strathspeys, marches and jigs, airs and waltzes. The Scottish Fiddlers perform traditional tunes as well as compositions by up and coming Celtic artists.
Bio: Jim "Kimo" West is regarded as the one of the world's top purveyors of ki ho'alu or Hawaiian "slack key" guitar. Slack key is a gentle, relaxing acoustic guitar tradition that traces it's roots to the Big island of Hawaii in the 1830's, when Hawaiians first acquired guitars from Mexican vaquieros. Kimo is a veteran of Hawaii's famed slack key festivals as well as the recent So Cal Slack key Festivals. He is a winner of the Hawaii Music Awards, a two time winner of the LA Treasures Award and is currently nominated for a Na Hoku Hanohano award, the Hawaiian "Grammy". His show incorporates traditional slack key and steel guitar, his own contemporary ki ho'alu compositions and vocals in Hawaiian and English language.
Instrumentation: Slack key guitar, Steel Guitar
Number of musicians: 1 Additional Equipment Available: P.A. system
Bio: Kourosh has been recognized as a pioneer of this ancient Persian string instrument through his invention of the chromatic santour. His music combines Eastern mysticism with Western music. Kourosh plays multiple melodies with each hand, creating a rich, layered sound.
Instrumentation: Santour (both traditional and chromatic) and tonbak (Persian percussion.)
Number of musicians: 1-2 Additional Equipment Available: P.A. system
