Rodrigo Leão is a Portuguese musician and composer. He was born in Lisbon in 1964. He became known for his musical compositions and participation in portuguese bands such as Madredeus and Sétima Legião. He co-founded the band Sétima Legião in 1982 and Madredeus in 1985. As his solo records started to receive increasing attention, he suspends his colaborations with these two groups in 1993 and 1994.
Faiz Ali Faiz (born 1962 in Sharaqpur, Pakistan) is one of the main singers of qawwali, a devotional musical expression of the Sufis, a mystical offshoot of Islam. Faiz Ali Faiz comes from a family of qawwals from seven generations in Pakistan. He started his professional career in 1978, at age 16, creating at the same time his own qawwali ensemble. Though Faiz is from Lahore, he practices the doaba style from eastern Pakistan. He stated in recent interviews he has been influenced by Sham-Chaurasi, a famous Khayal singing school where Ustad Salamat Ali Khan belongs to.
Mulatu Astatke (var. Astatq
Born in Nijmegen (The Netherlands) on the 30th of September, 1984, he became interested in dance music around the age of 13. Early inspirations were the soundtracks to the WipeOut series on the playstation, featuring artists like Paul van Dyk, Sasha, the Chemical Brothers, FSOL and the Prodigy. Around 2000 Tiesto, Push and others came into the picture. Thomas released his first record in 2003 - a collaboration with Greg Murray who took care of the technical aspect of producing while Thomas wrote the themes.
Blackwater may refer to at least 3 artists:
1) a French group of Celtic music caracterized for its energic sound and accurate control over the instruments. See http://www.lesonotone.com/blackwater/ and http://www.myspace.com/blackwateririshconnection. 2) a deathmetal band from the cold north. Inspired by bands like Kataklysm, Hate Eternal, Bloodbath, Behemoth etc... 3) A London-based classic rock band comprising Tommy Balaam (vocals/guitar), George McKenzie (Guitar), Rory Murphy (Vocals/bass) and Bryce Dunn (Drums).
Maria Farantouri (Greek: Μαρία Φαραντούρη), born in Athens on 28 November 1947 is a Greek singer. She has collaborated with prominent Greek music composers such as Mikis Theodorakis (Μίκης Θεοδωράκης), who wrote the score for Pablo Neruda's Canto General, which Farantouri performed. During the military junta which ruled Greece until 1975 she colloborated with Mikis Theodorakis by recording protest songs in Europe.
Solipsism is Craig Murphy, an Experimental Musician and Recording Artist from Glasgow in Scotland. His cross-genre style incorporates elements of Ambient, Techno, IDM, Electro and Experimental Music and his releases have been featured on various Radio Stations from across the Globe, including BBC Radio 1, BBC6 Music, XFM London and Digital Nimbus (U.S.A).
He is also a member of the Psychedelic/Folk band Shoosh, alongside Ed Drury and Neil Carlill. The latter who had several Top 40 hits in the UK with his band Delicatessen (Rough Trade, Big Life).
Rizwan and Muazzam are Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's nephews, sons of Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan. They have been performing together as Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali since the 1990s.
Alim Qasimov (Born in 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician. Over the course of nine album releases, Alim Qasimov has managed to become the foremost Mugham singer in Azerbaijani, winning the UNESCO International Music Prize in 1999 (considered one of the highest international accolades a musician could hope for).