World

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As the worldwide success of artists such as Shakira, Björk and Baha Men proves, world music is not antithetical to pop music, or to dance music, or to any other music form. For artists like India’s Ravi Shankar, the music of their world is classical music; for many Latin musicians, it is jazz; for others, such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, it is the equivalent of gospel. So, if world music ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer
1129 Words Read More

Al Di Meola (b. 1954) rose to the top tier of contemporary jazz guitarists through his work with Chick Corea’s Return To Forever in the Seventies. In addition to a prolific solo career, he has collaborated on projects with bassist Stanley Clarke, keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and guitarists John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía. Al Laurence Dimeola was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
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Alex Skolnick (b. 1968) is best known as a metal guitarist with thrash pioneers Testament, but metal is just one facet of the talented guitarist’s abilities. Skolnick was born in Berkeley, California. At the age of nine, he discovered Kiss and subsequently decided to learn guitar. He was later inspired by the highly technical work of Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads. At the age of 16, he joined a ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
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Spanish guitar legend Carlos Montoya (1903–93) helped propel the flamenco style of music from accompaniment for gypsy folk dances and songs to a serious and internationally popular form of guitar music. Montoya was born into a gypsy family in Spain. He studied guitar with his mother and a local barber, eventually learning from professionals and becoming an expert on the history of flamenco. His uncle, Ramon Montoya, was a successful ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
347 Words Read More

Derek Trucks was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1979. Trucks bought his first guitar at a yard sale for $5 at age nine and became a child prodigy, playing his first paid performance at age 11. Trucks began playing the guitar using a ‘slide’ bar because it allowed him to play the guitar with his small hands. By his thirteenth birthday, Trucks had played alongside Buddy Guy and gone on tour ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
450 Words Read More

(Vocals, b. 1961) Born Eithne Patricia Brennan in County Donegal, into the Clannad musical dynasty, Enya trained as a classical pianist, and remains a major innovator in ambient music. Her first solo endeavour was a 1986 BBC soundtrack, The Celts. Her trademark luxuriant soundscapes and melodic mysticism are present and correct. These elements washed through her follow-up, Watermark (1988) – which produced the UK No. 1 ‘Orinoco Flow’ – and all ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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John McLaughlin (b. 1942) led the Mahavishnu Orchestra and a series of other bands that stretched the boundaries of jazz-rock fusion and world music, as he inspired guitarists worldwide with his inventiveness and devotion to exotic sounds and spirituality. McLaughlin started on guitar when he was 11 and was initially inspired by blues and swing players. McLaughlin worked with Alexis Korner, Graham Bond, Ginger Baker and others in the 1960s and ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
775 Words Read More

Juan Cristóbal Martín (b. 1948) was born in Málaga, Spain, and started learning the guitar at the age of six. In his early twenties he moved to Madrid to study under Nino Ricardo and Paco de Lucía. Martín was influenced by classic flamenco and the Spanish classical guitar tradition. His major influences included de Lucía, Tomatito and Andrés Segovia. But Martín’s work evokes jazz guitarists like Joe Pass as well, ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
365 Words Read More

Blues-rock guitarist Mike Bloomfield was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1943, to an affluent Jewish family. He possessed an innate ability on guitar, which he began playing at the age of 13, initially influenced by Scotty Moore. Despite his background, Bloomfield quickly became a devotee of Chicago’s indigenous blues scene, frequently visiting clubs on the city’s South Side. He often jumped on to the stage, asking to sit in on guitar. Bloomfield’s ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
401 Words Read More

For 35 years Mike Oldfield (b. 1953) has created work that melds progressive rock, folk, world music, classical music, electronic music, new age and dance. He is best known for his hit 1973 album Tubular Bells, which provided a theme for the movie The Exorcist, broke new ground as an instrumental concept album, and launched Virgin Records. Oldfield began his career playing acoustic guitar in folk clubs. In 1967 he and ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
371 Words Read More

(Multi-instrumentalist, b. 1953) A prodigiously talented musician, Oldfield played all the instruments on 1973’s Tubular Bells. This symphonic work was a transatlantic best-seller, helped by the use of its main theme in the movie The Exorcist (1973). Hergest Ridge (1974) was a British No. 1 whilst Ommadawn (1975) and Incantations (1978) displayed African and folk influences. Platinum (1979) marked a change of direction to individual songs. Oldfield has since reworked Tubular ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
90 Words Read More

(Vocals, b. 1978) Portuguese/Canadian singer Furtado is a shining exponent of feelgood modern pop. After a musical youth spent with DJs and rappers instead of musicians per se, her debut album from 2000, Whoa, Nelly!, accordingly fused the more palatable ingredients of music of the streets with an upbeat pop approach that garnered success for singles like ‘I’m Like A Bird’. Later albums, Folklore (2003) and Loose (2006), the latter including ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
102 Words Read More

A true pioneer and musical visionary, Pat Metheny (b. 1954) is one of the most important voices in the history of jazz guitar. Winner of countless ‘Best Jazz Guitarist’ polls and 12 Grammy Awards – including an unprecedented seven consecutive wins for seven consecutive albums – Metheny’s impact on jazz guitar is on a par with that of Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
356 Words Read More

(Guitar, vocals, b. 1941) Paul Simon (1972) was an eclectic affair followed a year later by the more straightforward There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. His third solo album Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) featured a reunion with Art Garfunkel on the duet ‘My Little Town’. The singer’s most popular and influential work was Graceland (1986), which utilized African musicians, helping popularize what would be dubbed ‘World Music’. Styles & Forms | ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
85 Words Read More

(Singer-songwriter, b. 1950) Gabriel left Genesis in 1975. His first solo album produced the intriguing hit ‘Solsbury Hill’, telling of that departure. In 1980, the avant-pop of ‘Games Without Frontiers’ began a run of accessible art rock albums and singles including the political ‘Biko’, 1982’s Peter Gabriel (Security in the US), and 1986’s triumphant world-music influenced So and its mega-hit ‘Sledgehammer’. Gabriel now spends much of his time on his influential ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
90 Words Read More
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An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...

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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.

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Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers his life, music, art and movies, with a sweep of incredible photographs.