The Sydney Opera House and the mist-strewn heather of Donegal. Jigging Japanese and Bill Clinton. Lonely lighthouse keepers and Dolly Parton. The roar of the Celtic Tiger and eerie fiddle tunes inspired by forest birds.

These moments and milestones capture the quarter century-long journey of Altan, one of Ireland’s most striking and reputable groups. Leaping like their homeland from earthy and moving tradition to world-wide notoriety, the acclaimed sextet celebrates a quarter century with Altan: 25th Anniversary Celebration (Compass Records), a new recording of lush, sensitive orchestrations by renowned Irish composer Fiachra Trench performed by the RTE Concert Orchestra, as well as a spring tour of North America.

It all started when singer and fiddler Mairéad Ni Mhaonaigh was still in the cradle in her strongly traditional native region of Donegal, listening and trying desperately to sing to the songs her parents used to soothe her. Her family’s home was a hub for poets, musicians, and writers who would share their work into the wee hours. “People would come and stay at our house and tell stories and play songs,” Ni Mhaonaigh recalls fondly. “Sometimes it would end up like a party, with people playing outside the house until late at night. We were in the country, though, so we weren’t bothering anybody.”

The homes, fields, and forests all around were populated by traditional singers—and traditional songs. “People would say that a song was composed by a local person, and we would see the house where they lived. So there was a lot more involved than just learning tunes; we learned the social history, too.”

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There aren’t many people who can claim to have cut their musical teeth while traveling worldwide as a fisherman, been blasted onto national television as part of a taxi-driver’s collective of musicians, and had a government agency land them a gig playing for one of the top Cuban son bands of their era. Tito Gonzales spent his young life walkabout, picking up guitar licks around the rim of the sea thanks to a Cuban-run company that sent fisherman like him far and wide to find the catch. The open water swept him into the urban narrows, and, back on dry land, he traded up for the sound of the tres (small Cuban guitar) and the Cuban son, yet his talent only led him to ordinary labor. Fate had in store for him a different destiny, a rapid ascendance from cabbie to celebrity and star of the Cuban music scene. Now, with a new life in San Francisco and the songwriter’s freedom to experiment and story-tell, Tito, a consummate master of Cuban traditional music, brings a fresh sound to a lifetime of experience. His new album, Al doblar la esquina, features a fresh take on classic Cuban son backed up by exile talent in his band, the “Son de Cuba.”

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"A Voice For AYITI"
When Indian Classical Maestros join forces with African & Haitian Musicians for an Incredible BENEFIT CONCERT for HAITI on Monday MARCH 8 in New York
http://harmonyom.org/highlights

MONDAY MARCH 8 (International Women's Day) @ 6:00 pm

HarmoNYom in association with Drom & WKCR 89.9 FM present
“A Voice For AYITI"
A Great Benefit Concert for the Women and Children in HAITI.

When Continents meet to support Haitian relief!
Amazing musicians from INDIA, AFRICA & HAITI will get together for a full evening of Music and Dance:

- Pandit Ramesh Misra on Sarangi
- Arun Ramamurthy, Carnatic Violinist
- Sitarist Ustad Ikhlaq Hussain
- Nitin Mitta on Tabla
- A.R. Balaskandan on Mridangam
- Singer & Song writer James Ruff
- Zing Experience (Paul Beaubrun & Cynthia Casasola)
- Drummer Percussionist Tiga Jean-Baptiste & Tchaka
- Source w/ Abdoulaye Diabate
& special Guest Yacouba Sissoko on Kora

After Party with super DJ Kamala (NYC)

Evening hosted by Hazelle Goodman, Actress & Comedienne.
Afro/Caribbean music by WKCR’s DJ David Ellenbogen
And Raffle to win many gifts! All proceeds to the cause.

@ DROM - 85 Avenue A (Between 5/6 Street) New York, NY www.dromnyc.com

Minimum Donation: $20 (Only at door)

100% of the donations will be channeled to Project Haiti (www.prohaiti.org) & MADRE (www.madre.org) 2 NGO helping Women & Children in Haiti.

Also on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#!/pages/HARMONYOM-Indian-Classical-Music-New-York/28667853381?ref=ts

For more details: Veronique@HarmoNYom.org

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Hungarian artist MARTA SEBESTYEN debuts "I CAN SEE THE GATES OF HEAVEN..." on World Village in January. Sebestyén is widely renowned for her authentic interpretation of traditional Hungarian folk music, as well as her Oscar®-winning contribution to the soundtrack of “The English Patient". A GRAMMY winning collaborator with artists such as Deep Forest, Muszikás and Peter Gabriel, Sebestyén's "I Can See The Gates Of Heaven..." is a collection of folk and religious songs from the Carpathians, featuring Hungarian artists Balazs Dongo Sokolay on bagpipes, flutes, saxophone and tarogato, and Matyas Bolya on lute and zither.
http://worldvillagemusic.com/anglais/album.php?album_id=151

This month, World Village is also pleased to present "SUBE AZUL", the latest from “one of the most versatile and in-demand singers on the New York music scene” (All About Jazz), SOFIA REI KOUTSOVITIS. A native of Buenos Aires, Koutsovitis sings in Spanish, Portuguese and English, and her music is rich with traditional South American rhythms such as chacarera, zamba and vidala from Argentina, Afro-peruvian festejo and lando, and Afro-Uruguayan candombe, all combined with jazz harmonies and improvisations.
http://worldvillagemusic.com/anglais/album.php?album_id=163

Lastly, World Village welcomes mento favorites GILZENE & THE BLUE LIGHT MENTO BAND with "SWEET SWEET JAMAICA". Founded by Lanford Gilzene in 1986, The Blue Light Mento Band has performed at major festivals across Jamaica, carrying on the tradition of mento: the first recorded indigenous Jamaican music, born during the colonial period. "Sweet Sweet Jamaica" consists of folk favorites and Gilzene's originals, as well as a mento adaptation of Toots and the Maytals' 'Sweet and Dandy', with Toots playing the harmonica.