Aga Khan Master Musicians

In Nowruz, their accomplished debut album, the Aga Khan Master Musicians (AKMM) draw on music from Central Asia, China, the Middle East, and North Africa to create a strikingly original body of work where living musical traditions meet and meld. Acclaimed virtuosos on their respective instruments, the six members of AKMM deftly blend pipa, qanun, dutar, viola d’amore, saxophone, and a panoply of percussion into a soulful new musical language that comes alive in these eloquent performances.

Ladilikan, the new album by Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet, represents a landmark in cultural cross-fertilisation that both parties rank among the most satisfying musical experiences of their careers. David Harrington, Kronos’ artistic director and founder, enthuses that the album is “one of the most beautiful Kronos has ever done.” On first hearing their griot grooves being played by violins, viola and cello, Trio da Kali’s musical director Fodé Lassana Diabaté said, “This is going to be the best collaboration of my life.”