Sharki was a new form of poetry created in the 18th century refelecting the Europeanization of the culture of the Ottoman empire. A lament or love song in four lines, sharki challenged composers to conceive melodies that would accompany each line of the poem.
Nesrin Sipahi’s bewitching soft voice made her one of the leading figures in the renaissance of Turkish classical music in the 1950s.
This collection of songs recorded in Istanbul in May 1991for the CMP label captures this traditional music form and preserves it forever for generations to come.
Featuring Kudsi Erguner and his ensemble, Erguner has dedicated himself to preserving traditional Turkish music

As BOLLYWOOD, and its diverse music becomes increasingly acknowledged and accepted all over the world, so does the desire of adventurous musicians, DJs, producers, re-mixers etc. to experiment with the music. In STREETS OF BOLLYWOOD, some of the popular film music and folk music forms of India are remixed with a street-wise, Hip-Hop edge. It showcases productions by young talent, as well as stalwarts like A.R.Rahman, and the legendary late great Nusrat Fatehali Khan.

Singer/songwriter Sara Tavares belongs to a second generation of Africans on the rise in the Portuguese and international musical panorama. Her new album, Balancê's artistic sophistication transforms this Cape Verdean star into one of the most distinctive representatives of musical hybrids as expressed in Lisbon. Stripped of the superfluous, these songs are expressly organic and emotionally pure. Special guests are Júlio Pereira, Melo D, Boy Gê Mendes, André Cabaço, and Ana Moura.

By any criteria, A.R.RAHMAN is the most important popular musician in India today. His immediately identifiable and totally addictive soundtracks can be heard throughout the world. He has become an International Icon, having collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the Broadway Hit, BOMBAY DREAMS, and currently back in the Media Eye, having co-written the score for the stage production of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. This compilation album is a passionate introduction, covering Music from his early Tamil language films which catapulted A.R.RAHMAN to the stature of the most important Bollywood Music Composer/Producer of our times, being affectionately dubbed by the Indian media as THE MOZART OF MADRAS.

Nephew of Ravi Shankar....Sitar teacher of Jimi Hendrix...a resident of 60's California when the words "flower power" really meant something....is it any wonder that the work Ananda Shankar created is unique, vital and exciting?.. Long unavailable, and too often bootlegged, the recordings on this specially-priced 2CD-set were originally released by the then EMI-owned Gramophone Company of India, and now known as SAREGAMA India Ltd. From collector's cult vinyl to the digital bytes of today, Times Square Records in collaboration with SAREGAMA is proud to present an official release of some of Ananda Shankar's most cherished recordings, including Dancing Drums, Streets of Calcutta etc.

Pandit Ravi Shankar is probably the most successful Indian musician of modern times. His pioneering work over the last five decades has maintained a consistency in quality that few can match. His name is synonymous with that best-known of Indian string instruments - the "sitar". In this album, from the archives of India's oldest and most respected record companies, Saregama, is a selection of some of Raviji's (as he is respectfully called) finest recordings representing two facets of his career.

Asha Bhosle - the grand dame of Bollywood - is one of the most recorded artists in the world. Over the last four decades she has established herself as a major force in the Indian film industry, known as Bollywood. Her versatility is self-evident in the fact, that besides her Indian colleagues, she has collaborated with a spectrum of musicians from various genres in the west, including Boy George, Michael Stipe (REM) and most recently "The Kronos Quartet" on the album "You've Stolen My Heart" which has just been nominated for a "Grammy". In this new solo album, "Love Supreme", Asha Bhosle lends her skills at contemporising eight classic "ghazals" (love poems set to music). Many folks view "ghazals" as the blues of Indian music. at the age of 73, she scales new heights on this album, her voice sounding as young as ever.

As a teenager Michael Shrieve shot to fame as the power-house drummer with Santana, capturing the festival mood at the close of the 60s with his extended drum solo at Woodstock on the benchmark outing Soul Sacrifice. His performance was given prominence in the subsequent record and film. Originally released in 1996 as a 2CD set and now reissued as a single CD "Two Doors" includes recordings by two trios. "Deep Umbra" is eight tracks by Shrieve with Shawn Lane, guitar and voice, and Jonas Hellborg, bass, while "Flying Polly" is 11 tracks by Shrieve, Bill Frisell on guitar and Wayne Horvitz, organ.