You favourite

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Tinariwen, Habib Koite, Issa Bagoyogo... Mali stuff is just amazing.

On the other hand DJCheb/Sabah, Tabla Beat Science... wow some more... so much good music out there...

:) listening,

Ed

Sigur Ros from Iceland

Although he many times uses English language in his music, the Japanese genius Riuichi Sakamoto is pretty amazing.

Check out a group called 'Tinariwen' hailing from the Southern Sahara Dessert. Rather tasty.

Thanks for your responses. Lots to research and listen to.

"Your favourite World Music artist"
I wonder what happened to my title. Half of it disappeared.

Yo Mike: Since you like the ambient, ethnic stuff, i think you would love Gigi. She's from Africa ( I forget which country), and is very rich and sounds great, too.
As far as I know, she only has 2 CDs out, so she should be easy to find on the web. I found her at my long lost love: Tower Records, at one their listening stations.
Sigh...........
I hope you find her. Amazing.

I like to listen to Cesaria Evora. She is from Republic of Cape Verde. Great singer. I recommend her greatest hits if you want to have an idea of her style. I also enjoy Ibrahim Ferrer's recordings. He's from Cuba.

One favorite? My favorites change all the time...

Currently, I'm enjoying a CD by a Japanese musician improvising on a 17-string bass Koto. It's called Seventeen, by Michiyo Yagi, The tunes are accessible, involving, and resonate unusual frequencies and timbres on my system. Tough to find, but a gem for the ears!

Michiyo Yagi
Seventeen
(Zipangu Products, ZIP-0019) (Japan) (CD)

Further review here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=25002

Geoffrey Oryema. Ugandan music although he now lives in France (in exile). Incredible voice. Started with Real World Records and now with Sony International

There's a ton of stuff out there, but starting with Mali there is:

Toumani Diabate is a kora player, absolutely beautiful music. His Djelika album is a great starting point. Also one of the biggest selling CDs and most famous groups from Mali was from Amadou and Miriam's Dimanche a Bamako, they're a blind couple that make the most infectous music. They won a British World music award in 2006. These two are a great starting point and no brainers.