Jordi Savall i Bernadet (born 1941, in Igualada, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish-Catalan viol player and composer. He is one of the major figures in the field of early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for bringing the viol (viola da gamba) back to life on the stage. His repertory ranges from medieval to renaissance and baroque music. Savall's musical training started in the school choir of his native town (1947-55).
Richard H. Kirk is a British musician specializing in electronic music. He first came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the seminal industrial band Cabaret Voltaire. His first release as a solo artist, Disposable Half Truths, came in 1980 and he maintained a career as a solo artist alongside Cabaret Voltaire until the band's dissolution in 1994. It was during the 1990s that his solo output increased considerably.
Calling Leo Genovese a "pianist" just doesn't do him justice. Even the term "musician" is rather limiting. Sure, he's a great musician and a great jazz pianist but Leo's goals are more existential. Armed with 88 keys, Leo writes and performs music that feeds off of dissonance and unconventional improvisation all under the guise of "jazz." But what Leo really wants to do is exist between the notes, in a state of musical enlightenment.
In Haiti, the most "African" country in the Caribbean, the drums are the guardians of voodoo, while the rhythms and songs of the local troubadours keep the Black heritage alive. Ti-Coca and his musicians take us to the roots of the Merengue, a high-tech variation of which is played in the neighbouring Dominican Republic. The Haitian version is smoother and less jittery. Other local dances evoke the music of voodoo ceremonies, bringing them to the dance halls. Simbi the sea god and Dambala the serpent god celebrate a party together.
Andre Williams (born Zephire Andre Williams in Bessemer, Alabama, on November 1, 1936) is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit. Some sources believe that Williams is the long-lost brother of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, a blues musician whose song "I Put A Spell On You" landed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll charts.
The Brunettes were formed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1998 by musical couple Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield. They were a paradox from the beginning - creating boy/girl melodramatic pop inspired by 70s New York punk and 60s girl groups but surrounded in an Auckland scene of opiate-infused garage rock 'n' roll. Inspired by his dreams of domestic bliss while a teenager living in rat infested junkie flats, and in direct rebellion to the messy hair...
Influenced by their punk upbringing, avant-garde schooling, and no wave surroundings in early 80s NYC,- but not beholden to any genre - Ike Yard managed to create a new sound.
By tapping into equal parts the krautrock experimentation of Can, the Neue Deutsche Welle of DAF and the UK post-punk dub of PiL and Joy Division they created sounds and songs unique enough to catch the attention of Factory Records, who made them their first American signing.
Oliver Chesler (born January 20, 1970), better known by his stage name The Horrorist, is an American electronic music artist. His singles and albums have charted in Germany. He is the owner of Things to Come Records. He appeared in Depeche Mode's concert film "101". He is also a member of the DJ Skinhead hardcore gabber act.
The Klezmatics are an American klezmer band based in New York City. Formed in New York's East Village in 1986, the band plays an updated form of the music, mixing it with other musical traditions, singing in English and Yiddish. They have also participated in cross-cultural collaborations, most notably with the Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen.
Sally Timms (born 29 November 1959 in Leeds, England) is a singer and songwriter. Sally is best known for her long involvement with The Mekons whom she joined in 1986. She recorded her first solo album, Hangahar (an experimental improvised film score), at the age of nineteen with Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks. She has released several other solo CDs, Someone