Laura Bedoya

"The Caminos del Inca, or Inca Trails, is a road network that traverses South America connecting lands and peoples. The area's musical traditions are ancient and varied, taking in indigenous sounds as well as European influences, and the composers represented on this album have all been inspired by this musical legacy, the people of their homeland, and the land itself. The interconnections include late-Romanticism, folkloric dances, reinterpretation of popular music, mestizo ('hybrid') elements, Stravinsky-like primitivism, and music of simplicity and beauty that both captures and celebrates village life."

Laura Branigan was a Grammy-nominated pop singer/songwriter and actress. Her cinematic, synth-driven, club-friendly dance pop and groundbreaking music videos sent her singles and albums to the top rungs of the charts and made her a huge concert attraction. From her clear-throated, fist-pumping post-disco singles like "Gloria" to the sultry, Roland 808 vamps and drum machine loops in "Self-Control" and beyond, Branigan was a singles artist whose career arc coincided with the rise of the MTV era. Her chart successes mirrored those of other '80s female icons such as Sade, Kim Wilde, and Kim Carnes. Her place in pop culture was so prevalent, two of her songs were selected for the soundtracks of a pair of the decade's most iconic films, Flashdance and Ghostbusters. Before her chart success dried up, Branigan placed five singles in the upper reaches of the Hot 100, six albums in the Top 200, and two-dozen songs split between the dance music and adult contemporary charts. She continued to work in theater and film, and to record with other artists, until her death due to a brain aneurysm in 2004.