violin

Yair Dalal (born 1955) is a composer, violinist and oud player and is probably the most prolific Israeli ethnic musician today, with global recognition (WOMAD appearances from Seattle to Sydney).
Over the last decade he has put nine albums, covering wide and varied cultural territory. Much of Dalal's output reflects the strong affinity he has for the desert and its habitants. Dalal's family came to Israel from Baghdad and he has included much Iraqi material in his work to date.

Janine Jansen (Utrecht, 1978) is a Dutch solo violinist. Janine Jansen is internationally recognised as one of the great violinists and a truly exciting and versatile artist. Her London debut in November 2002, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, was quickly followed by invitations from some of the world

Planxty was an Irish folk music band consisting of soon-to-be-legendary musicians Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitars), Andy Irvine (mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), and Liam O'Flynn (uilleann pipes, tin whistle). The band was formed in 1972, and quickly revolutionized and popularized Irish folk music, touring and recording to great acclaim. The band broke up twice; first in 1975 and again in 1983. The band re-united again in 2004. Their final performance (to date) was in 2005.

Read more about Planxty on Last.fm.

Blowzabella produce an inimitable, driving drone-based sound played with a fabulous sense of melody, rhythmic expertise and sheer feeling. Originally formed in 1978 they have played everywhere from the main stage at Glastonbury Festival to the outer reaches of Brazil and West Africa and innumerable places in between. They compose their own music which is influenced by British and European traditional dance music. Many bands across Europe who experiment with the boundaries of folk music cite Blowzabella as a major influence.