Sergio "Checo" Alonso is a master of the Mexican folk harp traditions from the southern coast of Veracruz and the western states of Jalisco and Michoacan, the jarocho and mariachi traditions, respectively. Alonso began studying and researching Mexican folk music in 1993 in the ethnomusicology department at UCLA, studying with Jesus Guzman of Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano and other Mexican and Latin American master harpists including Alberto de la Rosa, Delfino Guerrero, Ivan Velasco and others. A teacher at San Fernando High School and instructor for the Mariachi Master Apprentice Program, Alonso also performs regularly with Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano (with whom he’s received a Grammy), Mariachi Nuevo Cuicatlan, and Grupo Aves.
Listen to Sergio Alonso's "La Bikina"
Mehrdad Arabi plays and teaches the kamanche, the chief bowed instrument in Persian classical and folk music dating back to antiquity. A very popular instrument, the kamanche is almost always present in the make-up of all sizes of classical Persian ensembles. Arabi has been playing his instrument for more than 25 years. He studied the instrument as well as the Persian radif at the Center for the Preservation of Music in Tehran with master musicians Mohammad Moghadassi, Davoud Ganjeie and Reza Rahimi Jafari. In addition to the kamanche, Arabi plays the tombak, daf, and violin. Arabi has performed extensively throughout the world and has made over 20 recordings. www.neyreez.org (teaching website) www.tombak.biz (performance site)
Listen to Mehrdad Arabi's "Avaz Esfehan"
Charles Kaimikaua Jr. comes from a family of legendary Hawaiian musicians and has learned to play several instruments. He is a master of the Hawaiian slack key guitar, a unique style of picking and tuning a guitar that was created by the early Hawaiians sometime after 1850. Kaimikaua has been playing and teaching the slack key guitar for the past 59 years, including extensive tours with the USO. The author of several definitive books on playing the instrument, he is dedicated to the preservation of this Hawaiian art form. In addition to the slack key guitar, Kaimikaua is also accomplished on the ukulele.
Listen to Charles Kaimikaua's "Medley in G"
Kineya Kichikazu holds shihan status on the Japanese shamisen. Born in Japan, Kichikazu began to study the shamisen in 1947 with Master Kineya Goso. The shamisen is a 3-stringed instrument played with a large pick and is used to perform a type of music called nagauta, a form of Japanese classical music using the shamisen and a style of singing developed with kabuki dance 300 years ago. Kichikazu is one of two musicians fluent in nagauta in the Los Angeles area and is dedicated to keeping the tradition alive.
Listen to Kineya Kichikazu's "Kishi No Yanagi"
Carlos de Oliviera has been playing the Brazilian pandeiro for over 50 years, primarily with the renowned samba school of Mangueira. The pandeiro is a frame drum played with the hands and is one of the most important instruments in Brazilian folkloric music: samba, chorro, forro and the more modern pagodge. It is also an important instrument in the bateria (drum corps) for the samba school. De Oliviera has played with almost every notable artist in Brazilian music and returns to Brazil each year to lead the Mangueira samba school during Rio’s carnaval. In addition to the pandeiro, de Oliviera plays all the percussion instruments in the Brazilian samba tradition.
Listen to Carlos de Oliviera's "Quanto Tiempo"
Sambath Pich first trained on his instrument, the takhe, in a Thai refugee camp after fleeing the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Pich had studied other instruments and learned many songs from his grandfather, Dr. Los Sourn Mar, a teacher and musician in the royal palace, until the war separated him from his family. Passed down by memory from the few remaining survivors of the tradition, Pich has been painstakingly reconstructing this art form. Takhe means alligator or crocodile, as the instrument resembles the shape of one, and is a freestanding instrument with strings played with a plectrum. It is an integral part of traditional Cambodian music and is played at the New Year, weddings, and other ceremonies.
Listen to Sambath Pich's "Flute Piece"
Pirayeh Pourafar began her musical life at the age of nine when she entered the Royal National Music Conservatory of Tehran. In addition to her study of the radif, the basis for traditional Persian music, Pourafar chose the tar as her instrument. Made of mulberry wood with a double-bellied body, its two and a half octaves are played with a plectrum. Pourafar has traveled widely throughout the East and West, and in America has played with a number of classical Persian ensembles as well as fusion groups. Her group, the Lian Ensemble, has also made a number of recordings. www.lianrecords.com
Listen to Pirayeh Pourafar's "Enfants Du Monde"
Jagan Ramamoorthy is a violinist in the North Indian classical style called gaayaki-ang (singing through the instrument, a playing technique which emulates the flexibility of the human voice). Both his father and grandmother taught him the violin at an early age and then he began studying with Dr. N. Rajam, the foremost violin virtuosa in North Indian music. A graduate of CalArts, Ramamoorthy has performed and collaborated with a number of musicians in various traditions both in the U.S. and in India. www.fiddlemaestro.com
Listen to Jagan Ramamoorthy's "Track 1"
Frank Simpson plays the Irish tin whistle, an instrument which has been a part of Celtic traditional music from its inception and which has played a significant role in the developing and sustaining of the genre of traditional Irish music throughout its history. Simpson has been playing the tin whistle for 25 years and began as a student of Mary Bergin, a well-recognized Irish master of the instrument. Traditionally part of the music at cruinnithe (gatherings) and festivals, the tin whistle’s repertoire is comprised of many regional styles. Simpson has made several recordings in an ongoing effort to document the many tunes that exist but have not been notated.
Listen to Frank Simpson's "Jigs"
Ivan Varimezov was born and raised in a small town in eastern Bulgaria. As a young child he began to play the most important traditional folk instrument of the country, the bagpipe, called the gaida. It consists of a melody pipe, a drone pipe, and a blow pipe, all tied into a goatskin bag. Varimezov was a gaida soloist in Bulgaria’s most prestigious professional folk ensemble and participated in many international tours before being invited to come to the US. In addition to performing, he also teaches at UCLA.
Listen to Ivan Varimezov's "Long One of All"
