Hassan Hakmoun is a powerful,soulful and charismatic "Master" musician who has been performing since childhood on the streets of Marrakech, Morocco. Hassan started performing in his homeland as an entertainer for Gnawa Ceremonies. These ceremonies are known for spiritual healing and trance. He soon became the "Lead Musician" of his group, learning all the music and instruments by heart.

Not before long, Hassan became a Master of the Santir,(a three string,long necked lute). His music has been called prayer, a celebration of emotions, a mixture of happiness and sorrow. Trance is a brilliant fusion of traditional Moroccan healing music, funk, rock, jazz, and reggae. Hassan first made his debut in 1987 at Lincoln Center,New York. Since then, Hassan and his music have been selected by Rolling Stone as one of the "Hot Picks of ..94", topped the charts with his albums "The Fire Within", "Gift of the Gnawa", and "Trance" on the World Music Albums, World Music Charts Europe, New World,and CMJ Radio Top 150 and more. He won "The Album of the Year" in 2003 from the AFIM Indie Awards for the album, "The Gift". He performed at WOODSTOCK 94, WOMAD 94 tour with Peter Gabriel. Hassan Hakmoun has performed and recorded with Randy Weston Don Cherry, Richard Horowitz, Adam Rudolph, Paula Cole, Bob Telson, Peter Gabriel, Ittal Shore,and many more.He has appeared on the Tonight Show and David Sanborn's NBC Sunday Night Music.

Hassan is currently working on his new album which will be a new riveting and sensational collaboration between inspirational singers around the world. Overall, Hassan Hakmoun has truly shined to many people around the world bringing them together, and intertwining the diversity of music. Hassan can hold a crowd in a constant motion of enthusiasm with both him and his bands energy. " I love his extraordinary voice. He has a fantastic way of blending his Moroccan roots with a variety of western and African styles to produce music that is very fresh,modern yet familiar. As a performer he is charismatic, energetic and a spectacular dancer. I'm very happy to be able to work with him." -Peter Gabriel, Rolling Stone

is widely recognized for a rare ability to seamlessly blend a signature modern inventive rock style with a formidable Indian classically-shaped vocal talent.

In her early years in Bombay, singer Falu (aka Falguni Shah) was trained rigorously in the Jaipur musical tradition, honing her talent for up to 16 hours a day at times. She later continued studying under the legendary sarangi/vocal master Ustad Sultan Khan - a mentorship that continues to drive and inspire her to this day. While pursuing a degree in North Indian classical vocal music she won gold medals in three national-level competitions centered around rising young classical talent.

Falu later moved to the States, and in 2001 began recording extensively with Boston-based band Karyshma as well as with Asian Massive leader Karsh Kale, subsequently hitting the nationwide university, club and festival circuits. Falu then formed her own New York-based band of the same name, and started performing at music venues throughout the city including Lincoln Center at a special Healing the Divide performance for the Dalai Lama in 2003. Falu's recordings were soon featured on multiple albums and compilations include on the compendium CD to Deepak Chopra’s The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire.

In 2004 Falu was invited to perform as a soloist with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. In 2005 she was asked to serve as one of Carnegie Hall's Musical Ambassadors to New York City – a position she continues to cherish with great enthusiasm. In May of 2006 she became the youngest South Asian vocalist to deliver a solo performance at Carnegie Hall (Zankel). Also in 2006 she joined the Born Into Brothels Ensemble (from the Academy-Award winning film), and in 2007 she collaborated with Wyclef Jean, lending her distinctive vocal style to the score of Angelina Jolie's directorial debut A Place in Time.

In August of 2007, Falu released her self-titled debut CD, produced by Palmyra Delran and engineered by Grammy winner Emery Dobyns. Soon afterward, Falu and her genre-defining hybrid "Indie Hindi" musical style made a splash in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal and Times of India, India’s premier national daily newspaper.

More recently, Falu and her band were featured on National Geographic Channel's Geo Sessions broadcast internationally, as well as on Fox TV's Fearless Music, where the hit single Rabba became the first Hindi song ever performed on the national network.

During 2008 Falu began an ongoing collaboration with Jason Miles and DJ Logic in the contemporary jazz collective Global Noize with whom she toured extensively, performing live with Meshell Ndegeocello, Bernie Worrell (P-Funk), John Popper and other talented musicians. She contributed three standout tracks to their self-titled album released in Spring 2008 – her vocals in the album were singled out by Billboard as “ethereal” and “transcendent”. Other 2008 collaboration highlights included with Philip Glass and with Blues Traveler.

In 2009, Falu was invited to perform at Lincoln Center together with Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman for the Time 100 Gala in front of the one hundred selection of Time Magazine's most influential people in the world of 2008, which not surprisingly included First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

Finally, Falu’s most stunning recent performance occurred at the White House in November of 2009, where she was invited to sing alongside A.R. Rahman again at President Obama’s first State Dinner in honor of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Falu's band brings together musicians who draw elegantly from Indian classical, alternative rock, contemporary pop, and electronic styles to create a tight mix of East and West, of ancient and modern. The band members are Gaurav Shah (vocals / harmonium), Mark Tewarson (guitars), Borahm Lee (keys), Justin Wallace (bass), and Ramsey Jones (drums).

Blending a psychedelic sensibility and a pan-Mediterranean sensuality, Basya Schechter leads her band, Pharaoh's Daughter, through swirling Hasidic chants, Mizrachi and Sephardi folk-rock, and spiritual stylings filtered through percussion, flute, strings and electronica.Her sound has been cultivated by her Hasidic music background and a series of trips to the Middle East, Africa, Israel, Egypt, Central Africa, Turkey, Kurdistan and Greece.

She began retuning her guitar to sound like a cross between an Arabic oud and a Turkish saz, with harmonic minor melodies, and odd time signatures. With the many amazing musicians, named below and others as well she has recorded four albums, three with Pharaoh's Daughter and one instrumental exploration with Persian santur player, Alan Kushan. PD also appears on three Tzadik label compilations: Voices in the Wilderness, the 10 year of anniversary of Zorn's Masada compositions; a collection of Sasha Argov music; and, a Brazilian Jewish composer from earlier in the 20th century, Jacob Du Bandolim.

Pharaoh's Daughter has toured extensively through America, Eastern and Western Europe, as well as Greece and the UK. This past summer, Pharaoh's Daughter had the honor of debuting at Central Park's Summer Stage series in August 2004, and has played such presigious stages as Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. When she's not touring or performing, Basya plays darbuka, riq and frame drum as part of the B'nai Jeshurun music ensemble that accompanies Friday night services.

Over the past two years, Basya was the recipient of numerous compositional and project grants from NYSCA (New York State Council of the Arts) American Composers Forum (for Trance, and multilayered sound and video installation collaboration with fillmaker Pearl Gluck) and the American Music Center. She hopes to record Pharaoh's Daughter's fifth album, Hagar, within the next year.

Born and raised in Harlem, New York, Luqmon Brown was brought up on the Blues, Jazz and Funk. His Family couldn’t afford a crib so he slept in the drawer below the stereo where his wailing cries couldn’t be heard over the sweet tunes of Funkadelic, James Brown, and Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. As he grew, his brother’s influence of Hip Hop & 80’s R&B dominated the household for years, until Luqmon’study of guitar at the Harlem School of the Arts. There, his detesting for classical style led to a discovery of Rock and Roll. Already an overly-animated, hyper-freak, High School offered an education in the frenzied world of Hard Core, Punk, Ska, new wave, and Dancehall, All of which Luqmon could emulate and blend as a vocalist.

It wasn’t until he encountered Fishbone and Bad Brains that he decided to instill Nietzchesque-Mind control Raving, uttered with political and sexual references. His Psychotic need to push the limits on stage makes him the ultimate front man. Just don’t stand too close to the stage!!!!

This wide-ranged vocalist command voice-over is a known New York City DJ, a competent Two-Step MC, and collector of comic, records & black super-hero action figures.

Moroccan/French vocalist and composer Malika Zarra is a multi-cultural shape-shifter, an enchantress who leaps subtly and powerfully between languages and traditions. Singing in Arabic, Berber, French and English. This exotically beautiful mezzo-soprano was recently heralded by CNN International as a “jewel,” who “redefines the word fusion.”

Now, Moroccan vocalist Malika Zarra is arriving at this crossroads from the opposite direction, infusing the music of her native culture with jazz.
-Phil Freeman / GLOBAL RHYTHM

Employing all the flavors of her native continent. Zarra and her ensemble deliver a world music album of soothing and sultry rhythms buoyed by modal, Eastern grooves.
-Troy Collins – CADENCE

Haale (as in halle-lujah or jalepeno), is a Bronx-born woman of Iranian descent whose name means the 'halo around the moon.' Her songs are trance-inducing, rhythmically propulsive, and lyrically engaging tapestries that draws on both Persian mystical and American psychedelic musical traditions.

She released two mesmerizing EPs in January 2007: 'Morning' and 'Paratrooper' -- and spent the year touring across the country and in Europe, at venues such as the Bonnaroo Festival, SXSW, and the Mimi Festival in France. She performed at David Byrne's Nonesuch-sponsored series at Carnegie Hall, recorded with Sean Lennon (on 'Before the Skies'), and shared the stage with such diverse artists as the legendary Hugh Masakela and Odetta.

While back at home from touring, Haale and producer/percussionist Matt Kilmer went to work on their first full-length debut, 'No Ceiling.' It was released on March 18, 2008, to critical acclaim, hailed "one of the year's most memorable releases," by the Boston Globe. See press page for more 'No Ceiling' press . The album features players Shahzad Ismaily, Mike Gamble, Doug Wieselman, Chris Hoffman, and Johnny Gandlesman and co-writing by Matt Kilmer and Dougie Bowne.

On the breathtaking full-length debut, "No Ceiling" Haale explores themes of transformation and evolution, singing in English and Persian through a riveting soundscape of percussion, psychedelic guitars, and soaring strings.

Throughout his career, Bill Bragin has been devoted to breaking down barriers of genre, style and geographic borders with a particular interest in hybrids and artistic cross-fertilization. Bill is one of the United States' most influential presenters of international music in a live setting, having presented over 800 shows in the past 17 years, representing a who's who of the music world, from Brazilian, Latin, African and Asian artists to jazz, hip-hop, rock, country, electronic and American roots music, as well as modern and ethnic dance, solo theater/performance and spoken word events.

Bill was also the founding general manager of NYNO records, an independent label devoted to presenting the indigenous music of New Orleans, co-founded by legendary producer, songwriter and musician Allen Toussaint and radio syndication pioneer Joshua Feigenbaum. During four years at George Wein's Festival Productions (1989-93) Bill produced the 1992 and 1993 Boston Globe Jazz Festivals, managed marketing programs for American Express (around 1991-1993) and worked on many other festivals including the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, JVC Jazz Festival and others (1991-1993). Bill got his start in the live entertainment industry as co-chair of the Alternative Concert Series of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges.

In 1999, Bill founded Acidophilus: Live & Active Cultures, a music and performing arts consulting service devoted to exposing and developing outlets for cutting edge global culture in a variety of mediums. Projects have included: programming Caribbean, electronic and African music series for Lincoln Center Festival 2000-2001; booking international artists for the Abril Pro Rock Festival in Recife, Brazil; providing music supervision for choreographers, filmmakers and corporate clients; and consulting on sponsorship and new program development for various clients. As a music journalist, he has reported for CMJ New Music Monthly, SonicNet, CDNow, VH1.com and CBC Radio's Global Village.

Percussionist / Producer/ Educator.
Amon Drum has shared the stage with a wide-range of internationally acclaimed artists. He has performed with the mega group TOOL, Soulfly, The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Magbana Drum and Dance Co. and The Vissi Dance Theater. Amon has trained in West Africa and in the states with several famous and legendary West African master drummers including Famadou Konate and Mamady Keita and currently in NYC with Michael Markus and master drummer M'Bemba Bangora.

In addition to being an accomplished producer and studio musician, Amon is the resident percussionist for the high-energy dance party, Afrokinetic (DJ Chris Annibell). He has also accompanied many other celebrated DJs such as Nickodemus (Turntables on the Hudson), Rich Medina (Afro Disco /Jump n’ Funk) just to name a few. Amon is always in the studio recording with fantastic groups and musicians. Be sure to check out Amon’s remixes on Redbud Records, Modiba and Putumayo World Music. Give a listen to Amon’s collaborations with musicians from Brooklyn, West Africa, Brazil, The Balkans, and beyond. Stay tuned for new releases and a solo EP in the fall of 2008.