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Michael Beach

Michael Beach is a San Francisco-based musician. The formative years of his musical career were spent in Melbourne, Australia where he released several EPs with Electric Jellyfish (Ecstatic Yod, Twin Lakes) as well as his debut LP, Blood Courses (2008). Michael has toured the USA three times with Electric Jellyfish (2007, 2008, and 2010) and once solo (2008). He has toured Australia twice with Electric Jellyfish (summer 2009 and winter 2009) and once solo (2009).

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Te Vaka

Te Vaka is a unique group of ten musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands, and New Zealand brought together under the inspired leadership of Opetaia Foa'i. They have been wowing international audiences since 1997, presenting a rich, luscious mix of Polynesia's ancient culture, to the modern world and in 2008 won the “Best Pacific Group” award. The language they sing in is usually Tokelau but more recently they have been singing in Samoan and Tuvaluan too.

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Taraf de Haïdouks

taraful haiducilor (a.k.a. Taraf de Haïdouks) are a troupe of Romanian Gypsy musicians, from the town of Clejani, the most prominent such group in Romania in the post-Communist Era. "Haiduc" or "haiduk" is a word of Balkan origin which means something like "outlaw"; in Romanian it has a rustic or archaic connotation. Most of those who know the band in the Western world know them by way of French-speaking areas, where they are known as "Taraf de Haïdouks", since French lacks a genitive case. They are known in their native Romania as "taraful haiducilor".

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Kodo

<a href="http://www.last.fm/music/%E9%BC%93%E7%AB%A5" class="bbcode_artist">鼓童</a> (Kodō) is one of the elite taiko drumming groups today. Based in Sado Island, Japan, they have been a major force in the post-World War II revitalization of taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad. They regularly tour Japan and the United States. Although the main focus of the performance is taiko drumming, other traditional Japanese musical instruments such as fue and shamisen make an appearance on stage as do traditional dance and vocal performance.

Afro Celt Sound System

The Afro Celt Sound System is a musical group which fuses modern dance rhythms (trip-hop, techno, etc.) with Celtic and African influences. It was formed by Grammy-nominated producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and is considered to be somewhat of a world music supergroup, often having a wide range of guest artists on their albums. Their albums have been released through Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, and they are also reportedly the best-selling band on the label...

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A French Butler Called Smith

Gold Coast based world music band A FRENCH BUTLER CALLED SMITH have been performing their high energy Latin, funk, instrumental fusion over a 2 year period to ever increasing audiences on Australia's East Coast. The initial creators behind this all organic dance music sound were acoustic guitar aficionado (Scott French), bass maestro (Jake ‘the Butler’ Martin) and respected world percussion artist (Brennan Smith).

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Juzzie Smith

Juzzie Started playing the harmonica at 13. By 23 he had won the coveted Golden Harmonica at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and the Byron Bay Blues Blowout twice. He has in the course of his musical journey embraced and mastered a range of instruments, and absorbed influence from some diverse musical styles. Juzzie has played in a lot of bands, some fantastic and some forgettable, and performed with some of Australia's best musicians, including John Butler, Damon Davies, Jodi Martin and Jeff Lang.

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Femi Kuti

Femi Kuti is an award winning Nigerian musician, and the oldest son of legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Femi was born in London on 16 June 1962 and grew up in the former Nigerian capital Lagos. Like his father, Femi has shown a strong commitment to social and political causes throughout his career, but he differs in his religious views. In 2001, Femi collaborated with a number of US musicians such as Common, Mos Def, and Jaguar Wright, on his Fight to Win album. This album was widely regarded as the most influential Neo-Afrobeat album of the early 21st century.

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Omar Souleyman

Omar Souleyman is a Syrian musical legend. Since 1994, he and his musicians have emerged as a staple of folk-pop throughout Syria, but until now they have remained little known outside of the country. To date, they have issued more than five-hundred studio and live- recorded cassette albums which are easily spotted in the shops of any Syrian city. Born in rural Northeastern Syria, he began his musical career in 1994 with a small group of local collaborators that remain with him today. The myriad musical traditions of the region are evident in their music.

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