A child of the Ivory Coast & daughter of a master musician there, as a young adult Dobet teamed up with a French guitarist in music & in marriage. Still together, now in France, their music has a mostly acoustic sound with strong, beautiful female vocals. Nice!

This 2007 recording was just found in the booth, three years after its release. Dobet released a new CD in France in April - hopefully we'll be able to add that one to our collection in a more timely fashion.

He's back after a four year break, releasing some wonderful new music as well as three tracks that are new versions of classic material (Papa, Folon, and Seydou). Released near his 60th birthday, this descendent of Malian royalty who is also an albino sings about superstitious prejudices against albinos in Africa, & other social issues.

Music video, interview (in French), and recording studio footage here - well worth viewing (but you have to follow the link to YouTube).

This amazing collection surveys contemporary material from popular Russian Gypsy virtuosos. The music passionately fuses timeless Gypsy folk styles with romantic Russian themes, often starting quietly and building to a frenzy. CD2 is a fine guitar duo with a classical sound.

CD booklet with detailed information here (pdf).

With roots in the accordion-driven bal musette of 1880s Paris, this style remains the soundtrack to the city. But Paris is changing; the North African population is adding its musical flavors to the traditional mix - and the evolving style sounds great! Second bonus CD is by a great Paris quartet named Beltuner.

CD booklet with detailed information here (pdf).

Composer Turina, born in Sevilla in 1882,  incorporated fantasy into many of his piano works, desiring to  evoke picturesque images. There are elements of Latin American rhythms, Spanish traditional, impressionistic and modern elements. Evocative, energetic, lyrical.

Try 7, 9-11,16-18, 20

File: Classical composer: Turina

Brahms embraced the lively and passionate "Hungarian" style and incorporated it into his "home" pieces--works written for 4 hands to be performed at home for entertainment. Lovely!

File: Classical composer: Brahms

Anton Reicha,( 1770-1836) often considered to be the father of woodwind compositions was extremely prolific. These pieces reveal the composer's strong knowledge of all of the instruments in the wind family and his 24 woodwind quintets are Reicha's beautiful legacy. Play all!

File: Classical composer: Reicha