MUSIC

Kalita are excited to unveil the first ever reissue of one of – if not the – strongest South African kwaito/bubblegum albums in existence, Jivaro’s 1989 masterpiece ‘Saturday Fever’. Originally released on Maurice Horwitz’s Music Team label at the turn of the decade, the album features various heavy hitting tracks that perfectly encapsulate the post-boogie/proto-house movement that had taken over the country’s airwaves and clubs at the time. Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, this definitive release by Kalita is a truly essential piece of musical history and one sure to set any discerning dance floor on fire.

The album also includes the new age anthem "O Sol Na Janela" from "Outro Tempo", one of Music From Memory's flagship compilations of Brazilian obscure electronic music. He was also a member of Carmo, a prestigious label that Egberto Gismonti ran under ECM. The original "Caminho Do Interior" was sold for over 30,000 and now it's been reissued in a deluxe edition. A long-awaited analog reissue! This is another important reissue in the current trend of reevaluating Brazilian obscure music. This is a divine realm of spirituality and folklore. A true miracle piece, full of acoustic nourishment, stewing jazz, bossa nova, and even classical music! Gismonti also makes a guest appearance. The bonus track is "Idade Média" from the extremely rare 7" "Quase Meio Dia / Idade Média" from 1974. 180G heavyweight vinyl & remastered. A must have for Carmo fans. Highly recommended for all Balearic and New Age fans!

Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan by Nashenas In Wishlist view supported by Frank Schmidtsdorff thumbnail Michał Wieczorek thumbnail James Endeacott thumbnail Dirk Damaschun thumbnail lkrory21 thumbnail midi53 thumbnail rufdog thumbnail Franz thumbnail Sinya thumbnail Mark van Dijk thumbnail Patrick Principe thumbnail phillip nerestan thumbnail Darius Butkus thumbnail Faisal Jewell thumbnail ernestlavventura thumbnail kabul_qasem thumbnail samuel stackhouse thumbnail twhigg thumbnail Eli Nosdivad thumbnail justinefr thumbnail talbg thumbnail Flower Had a Thorn 05:17 / 07:42 Record/Vinyl + Digital Album package image package image A1 The Way I Love My Beloved A2 Your Sorrow Is Killing Me A3 Flower Had A Thorn B1 I Am Happy Alone B2 Life Is A Heavy Burden B3 O Beloved, The Sorrow Of Your Love Destroyed Me B4 The Author Of Destiny Includes digital pre-order of Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. shipping out on or around February 24, 2022 €18 EUR Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album package image 1. The Way I Love My Beloved 2. Your Sorrow Is Killing Me 3. Flower Had A Thorn 4. I Am Happy Alone 5. Life Is A Heavy Burden 6. O Beloved, The Sorrow Of Your Love Destroyed Me 7. The Author Of Destiny Includes digital pre-order of Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. shipping out on or around February 24, 2022 €12 EUR or more Streaming + Download Pre-order of Life Is a Heavy Burden: Ghazals & Poetry From Afghanistan. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. releases February 24, 2022 €11 EUR or more 1. The Way I Love My Beloved 2. Your Sorrow Is Killing Me 3. Flower Had a Thorn 07:42 info buy track 4. I Am Happy Alone 5. Life Is a Heavy Burden 6. O Beloved, The Sorrow of Your Love Destroyed Me 7. The Author of Destiny about Strut present the first compilation of legendary Afghan Ghazal singer Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat a.k.a. Nashenas, recorded at the Radio Afghanistan Studios and later released on singles by the Royal label in Iran. Nashenas first made his move towards music aged 16 in 1951 when he approached Afghanistan’s national radio station, Radio Kabul, with an idea for a broadcast and, impressed with his language skills, they offered him a permanent job. “I was in close contact with some of the big names in Afghan music like Jalil Zaland,” Nashenas explains. “My father had a gramophone and we listened to other singers like Ustad Qasim Khan and Kundan Lal Saigal.” After unsuccessful initial forays into singing sessions for the station, he honed his skills as a writer, singer and musician, playing the harmonium. Inspired by a movie he had seen at the cinema, Nashenas wrote a new poem and sang on air again after the evening news, using the name ‘Nashenas’ (meaning ‘unknown’) for the first time. Following a wave of positive feedback from the public, he was given a new weekend slot and built his reputation through film song interpretations, famous poems set to music and his own compositions sung in Dari and Pashto. Nashenas would witness turbulent times as Afghanistan found itself caught up in the Cold War and the early ‘90s civil war until it became too dangerous to stay in the country. Through a friend in the U.N., he was able to seek asylum for himself and his family and take up residence in London, continuing to work as a musician and giving concerts globally.

EM Records again shines the spotlight on legendary Thai producer Surin Phaksiri in this second edition of his classic productions from the 1960s-80s. The first edition, released in 2019, focused on his innovative productions in the luk thung (*1) style. This 2022 release features his stellar, glowing molam (*2) gems from the 60s-80s, drawn mainly from his golden era in the late 70s and early 80s. Surin Phaksiri is a highly esteemed figure in Thai music, rooted deeply in his native region of Isan in northeast Thailand, a producer with a deep respect for the traditional artistry of his culture, yet always moving forward, looking outward, listening ahead. The molam style of Thai music showcases the voice; indeed, the genre’s name means “expert singer”, and Thailand is blessed with an abundance of experts, singers with amazing control, grace, vitality and finesse. This collection of 22 songs (18 only for digital download) features 15 singers, ranging from venerated legends to unjustly unheralded masters of the art. These songs were recorded and released after the era of the 7-inch single; with the advent of the cassette boom in Thai music, most producers adopted a quantity-over-quality conveyer belt production style, churning out soundalike material to fill the expanded length of cassette tape. Phaksiri resisted these tides and continued to work with a single-song mindset, tailoring each production’s instrumentation and arrangement to precisely fit each singer and song. This care and integrity can be clearly heard in this sweetly groovy collection. These gems, originally released on 7-inch vinyl, are all first-time official reissues, a project years in the making. Compiled by Soi48, who also provide liner notes. Cover art by Shinsuke Takagi (Soi48). 

Footnotes: 
1) Luk thung: A musical genre whose name means ʻcountry personʼs songʼ or ʻchildren of the fieldʼ . The name became established in the latter half of the 1960s and now has the status of a national genre of popular song unique to Thailand. The lyrics of luk thung songs deal mainly with the rural idyll, comparisons between the city and the countryside, life in the big city and current affairs. There are certain typical traits to the music, but no official musical form. 

2) Molam: "mo" is an expert and "lam" is a kind of performance art where the artist tells a story using tonal inflexions. In other words, the term molam refers to both the singer and art form. Molam pieces are not strictly speaking "songs". 

A double LP with 42 pages of full color 12" X 12" liner notes bound into a gatefold LP with a shiny silver foil front cover. Printed inner sleeves and 180 gram vinyl. "Strange World" is a compilation of cosmic and earthly doo wop and R&B from Jamaica and America. The songs are mostly sparse, beautiful and spacey. Features unreleased demos as well as hard to find songs found only on 45's from the 1950's. The liner notes feature unseen photos and cosmic art. Pyramid Records is a new label focusing on deluxe very small pressings. The goal is to make "dream records" that speak of an alter destiny better than what we got going these days.

Prog Rock & Obscure Groove from Indonesia...! Djauhar Zaharsjah Fachruddin Roesli (1951-2004) was a singer-songwriter from Bandung, Indonesia, who played rock and blues in his early years, dreamed of becoming a writer like his grandfather, the famous writer Marah Roesli, and left behind many unpublished poems, and even wrote acoustic protest songs inspired by Bob Dylan. Djauhar Zaharsjah Fachruddin Roesli (1951-2004), a singer-songwriter from Bandung, Indonesia, who even wrote acoustic protest songs inspired by Bob Dylan. This is a miraculous reissue of a 1976 cassette album by Harry Roesli, the legendary rock band he led!

After releasing an album with the band, he studied at the Jakarta Art Educational Institute and went on to the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands. After returning to Indonesia, he started an avant-garde project that mixed the sounds of Xenakis, Cage, and Stockhausen with the poetry of Indonesian writer Yudhistira ANM Masardi. The group's activities have been multifaceted, including international performances in collaboration with such luminaries as novelist Putu Wijaya and filmmaker/actor Nano Riantiarno. With nearly 20 performers, the album is a miraculous blend of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, funk, and other sounds with Indonesia's unique grooves, using not only traditional Indonesian instruments such as gamelan and choir, but also western instruments such as synthesizer and guitar. It's a miraculous balance of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, funk, and unique Indonesian grooves!

Sublime Frequencies finally unleashes it’s ESSENTIAL compilation from 1970’s Egypt. Modal instrumental tracks from Baligh Hamdi - one of the most important Arabic composers of the 20th Century (writing for legends Umm Kalthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Sabah, Warda, and many others). Features his legendary group the “Diamond Orchestra” with Omar Khorshid on guitar, Magdi al-Husseini on organ, Samir Sourour on saxophone, and Faruq Salama on accordion. All of these musicians were discovered and recruited by Hamdi to interpret his vision of a modernized, hybrid Arabic music. Under Hamdi’s direction, this orchestra charted a new melodic direction and created a new musical language. This compilation is culled from a specific era of Hamdi’s long career, a decade where he fully realized an international music which incorporated beat driven Eastern tinged jazz, theremin draped orchestral noir, tracks that feature searing guitar solos from none other than Omar Khorshid, and a selection of buzzing, sitar driven, Indo-Arabic tracks establishing a meeting of mid-east and eastern psychedelic exotica, and a vision that created some of the hippest music coming out of the Middle East from the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s.

Following the incredible (and successful) compilation Taiwan Disco, the master minds behind Aberrant Records present this delicious record. Subtitled Disco Divas, Funky Queens and Psych Ladies from Asia from the 70s to the Early 90s you don't have to take a wild guess to figure out what you'll find here, a treasure trove filled with exotic jewels from Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and South Korea, from Asian funk to psych-tinged awesomeness, disco madness and much more. Features Chailai & Sawanee, Chantana Kittiyapan, Lei Si Si, Ding Dai, Yasmin, Wong Foong Foong, XYZ, Fatimah Razak, Chen Qiong Mei, Sum Sum & Pan Pan, Grace Simon, and Hit Girls.

Bola Sete - Samba in Seattle : Live at the Penthouse, 1966-1968 is the first official release of the legendary and influential Brazilian acoustic guitarist BOLA SETE's live recordings at the Penthouse jazz club in Seattle, WA featuring bassist SEBASTIÃO NETO and drummer PAULINHO MAGALHÃES. Produced by Grammy-nominated jazz detective ZEV FELDMAN, and remastered from the original tape reels in cooperation with THE BOLA SETE ESTATE, this deluxe 3-CD set includes an extensive 40 page booklet with rare photos from THE PENTHOUSE; essay by music critic GREG CASSEUS (aka GREG CAZ); new interviews and statements by guitar icon CARLOS SANTANA, legendary composer/pianist LALO SCHIFRIN, Sete's friend, pianist and producer, GEORGE WINSTON, and Bola Sete's widow ANNE SETE; plus an effusive tribute by the late guitar great JOHN FAHEY. Samba in Seattle is a significant addition to the recorded legacy of an oft–sampled musician (A Tribe Called Quest, J Dilla and Dan The Automator) whose career straddled bossa nova, jazz–pop and early New Age.

55 Historical Recordings Of Traditional Music From Greenland 1905-1987 features historical recordings of traditional Greenlandic music recorded between 1905 (by the British ethnologist William Thalbitzer) to 1987 and collected by the Danish ethnomusicologist Michael Hauser. It was published in Greenland by Ulo. Sub Rosa took the decision to enlarge the distribution of this tribute to traditions and roots of the Inuit culture. This is more than an hour of ultra-rare documents, the testimony of a century of Inuit recordings. As a guide through this abundant material, included is a 24-page booklet with notes, comments and photos. Voices recorded in Greenland almost hundred years ago on wax glader cylinders, a lost shamanic story, a duel-song, a mournful melody and a unique collection of drum dance and songs. Hope, happiness and mournings - all of humanity is right here.

When Rey Sapienz was eight years old, the Democratic Republic of Congo was plunged into the Second Congo War. The conflict lasted five years and was the bloodiest since World War II, leaving an indelible mark on East Africa and creating mass displacement and loss of life. But Sapienz endured, cutting his teeth as a young rapper at twelve, first performing to celebrate Congo's independence day. When he finished school, he headed to nearby Kampala to hone his craft and collaborate with local producers. But civil war broke out back home and he was forced to extend his stay in Uganda. Since then, Sapienz has established himself as a force to be reckoned with, co-founding the Hakuna Kulala label, teaching his Ableton Live skills to Kampala's young producers and releasing two acclaimed EPs. 

For his debut album, Sapienz embarks on an ambitious project that travels beyond the avant beatscapes of his early material. Alongside traditional percussionist, vocalist and dancer Papalas Palata and rapper Fresh Dougis, he has formed The Congo Techno Ensemble, utilizing their skills and experience to offer a statement that speaks to the past, present and future of the DRC. On "Na Zala Zala", the trio channel rich musical traditions and historic tension, evolving electronic and traditional forms into boundless sci-fi mutations. 

These tracks break open the stories all three artists accumulated in the DRC, augmenting radioactive techno-dancehall beats with radical, open-hearted words and rhymes. "I'm sick, I want to heal," Fresh Doughis raps on "Posa Na Bika" over a sparse, minimal syncopated beat. The track sits in a dream space, with haunting vocal loops dancing around Doughis' powerful Lingalan words. "I have become stupid, I have become useless, listening to everyone's advice." 

Elsewhere on the clattering 'Dancehall Pigme', Sapienz's metallic beats burn underneath Papalas' rousing chants. "I'm here trying to survive," he mourns. "What do I do to get what I deserve." The songs paint a tragic picture, yet reveal the hope and passion of three creative minds recounting difficult truths. 

"Na Zala Zala" is a heady cocktail of stylistic futurism and harsh reality that could be compared with Zazou Bikaye's seminal "Noir et Blanc or Denis Mpunga & Paul K.'s genre-breaking electronic experiments. But marked by the DRC's recent scars, it's a critical work that stands painfully alone.

These 28 tracks, 72 minutes in total, cover a wide range of musical styles and eras, from the 60s to the present, urban to rural, primarily by Thai vocalists and musicians, with contributions from Japan and the Philippines. 60s-America-style pop by Suri Yamuhi and the Babylon Band as well as contemporary EDM, trap and hip hop sounds are all present, but the core of this soundtrack are luk thung and molam classics from the 70s and 80s by Angkhanang Khunchai, On-uma Singsiri, Dao Bandon, Khwanta Fasawang and “The Countryside is Great” by Rungphet Laemsing, a pivotal song in the film. All tracks are complete versions, some incorporating dialogue from the film. This CD-only OST features English lyrics, and liner notes by the film’s directors Katsuya Tomita and Toranosuke Aizawa, plus Iwao Yamazaki, Young-G and MMM of the Kuzok team, and Soi 48. This is the first soundtrack release by EM Records. 

TRACKS: 

01. Pai Tuktuk Dwai - DJ Pai Dwai 
02. Pai Massage Dwai - Young-G (stillichimiya/ Omiyuki CHANNEL) 
03. The Smell of Money - Suri Yamuhi & The Babylon Band 
04. You've Left Me Alone - Suri Yamuhi & The Babylon Band 
05. Porra - XXXSSS Tokyo 
06. Only Som Tam - On-uma Singsiri 
07. The Countryside is Great - Rungphet Laemsing 
08. Isan Radio 
09. Bong Ja Bong (Pipe, oh Pipe!) - Dao Bandon 
10. Burn! Burn! Burn! ~ Surfin' Dien Bien Phu - Suri Yamuhi & The Babylon Band 
11. I Will Buy You Back - Bar Nong Khai Band 
12. Samet Love - DJ Pai Dwai 
13. That Goddam Motorsai - Khwanta Fasawang 
14. The Stench of Night – from Chit Phumisak's poem - Surachai Jantimathawn 
15. Saramanda - DJ Pai Dwai 
16. Tamarind Leaf (molam) - Angkhanang Khunchai 
17. Bahn Swairon - Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band 
18. Khaen Whistle Reprise (JRP Tondo mix) - DJ Kensei feat. Tondo Tribe 
19. Vang Vieng Bank (Change Yen to Lao) OST mix - DJ Kensei 
20. Xieng Khouang's Daughter - Thong Boonma (lam), Le Boonma (khaen) 
21. Get Em - XLII 
22. Paun's House - Suri Yamuhi & The Babylon Band 
23. Xanadu - Young-G (stillichimiya/ Omiyuki CHANNEL) 
24. Kanom Party - Young-G (stillichimiya/ Omiyuki CHANNEL) 
25. The Song of an Angel - Suri Yamuhi & The Babylon Band 
26. Ying's Story - Subenja Pongkon 
27. Isan Lam Phloen - Angkhanang Khunchai & The Ubon Phatthana Band 
28. Full Moon (Atsani Phonlachan) - Yuzo Toyoda, Takeshi Yamamura 

A collection of stunning Persian-tuned piano pieces cut from Iranian national radio broadcasts made for the Golha programmes between 1956 & 1965...

Morteza Mahjubi (1900-1965) was a Iranian pianist & composer who developed a unique tuning system for the piano which enabled the instrument to be played in all the different modes and dastgahs of traditional Persian art music. Known as Piano-ye Sonnati, this technique allowed Mahjubi to express the unique ornamental and monophonic nature of Persian classical music on this western instrument - mimicking the tar, setar & santur and extracting sounds from the piano which are still unprecedented to this day.

An active performer and composer from a young age, Mahjubi made his most notable mark as key contributor and soloist for the Golha (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry) radio programmes. These seminal broadcasts platformed an encyclopaedic wealth of traditional Persian classical music and poetry on Iranian national radio between 1956 until the revolution in 1979.

Presented here is a collection of Morteza Mahjubi's stunningly virtuosic improvised pieces broadcast on Golha between the programme's inception until Mahjubi's death in 1965 - mostly solo, though at times peppered with tombak, violin & some segments of poetry.

The vast collection of Golha radio programmes was put together thanks to the incredible work of Jane Lewisohn & the Golha Project as part of the British Library's Endangered Archives programme, comprising 1,578 radio programs consisting of approximately 847 hours of broadcasts. 

A one-sided 7” single! A great and rare song, never before reissued, an early 80s electric molam classic produced by Surin Phaksiri. This release celebrates “Classic Productions by Surin Phaksiri 2: Molam Gems from the 1960s-80s”, an upcoming EM Records compilation spotlighting this legendary producer; however, this song will not be available on the compilation, so get the vinyl or DL, and don’t miss this groovily swaying paean to the pick-up truck share taxi, performed by Chabaphrai Namwai and molam queen Banyen Rakkaen. Remastered and lacquer cut by D&M Berlin, with English and Japanese lyrics translations. Hop in and let’s go! 

Footnotes: 
‘Songthaew’ is a passenger vehicle in Thailand and Laos adapted from a pick-up or a larger truck and used as a share taxi or bus. This molam tune “Lam Phloen Songthaew Fan Club” is about the period in which Songthaew began to appear as a new means of transportation for people in Thailand.

Ultra-positive consciousness from Afro-Caribbean London, circa 1979. Members of the legendary 20th Century Steel Band (one of Grand Master Flash's favourites) sailing Trinidad-wise over gratifyingly intricate African ritual rhythms. Strong vocals compliment reggae, funk, disco and soul influences to form a relentless groove machine. 

Steel an' Skin, a unit composed of young nightclub musicians born in Ghana, Nigeria, St. Kitts, Trinidad and the U.K., who once performed with Ginger Johnson's Afrikan Drummers, a highlife band under the tutelage of the late Ginger Johnson and played at Johnson's Iroko Country Club in Hampstead, London. Steel an' Skin began activities giving concerts and workshops in London schools, expanding nationwide to schools, prisons, psychiatric hospitals and summer festivals, including the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival. The group combined an admirably brave, open and unironic mix of musical forms with community outreach, non-cynical and untainted by preachiness or "social work." Good feelings from good hearts. 

This EM reissue consists of Steel an' Skin's 1979 debut 12 inch single "Reggae is Here Once Again", featuring "Afro Punk Reggae (Dub)", a fine disco-dub workout, plus some tracks from their 1984 recordings, as well as one unissued track.

Come join EM Records on another of their spatio-temporal musical journeys. This time, we're off to Madras, 1969 to hear legendary south Indian film music composer/director, T. K. Ramamoorthy's prescient Fabulous Notes And Beats Of The Indian Carnatic - Jazz, a daring fusion of Carnatic music and jazz. Although jazz musicians had been using Indian elements before this time, Fabulous Notes was the first recording in which accomplished Indian musicians adopted jazz elements. And these are accomplished musicians indeed -- veterans of the demanding Indian film music studios, trained in the strict discipline of the traditional Carnatic system, led by the visionary Ramamoorthy, a legendary composer who collaborated with M. S. Viswanathan in providing soundtracks for more than 700 films. The music here is a true Indian music, adhering to traditional Carnatic ragas with their varying ascending and descending modes, using a wide range of Indian instruments in an appealing fusion with jazz instruments, ideas and rhythms. The result is not a slavish imitation of modish Western styles, but a stimulating and surprising new entity; fans of later Ethio-jazz may well experience a frisson of familiarity at certain moments when listening to these recordings. Famed composer Ramamoorthy is also a masterful arranger and orchestrator, giving us surprising vistas of timbre, allowing instruments to come to the fore, supported in appealing combinations. But the true heart of both Carnatic music and jazz is improvisation, and T.K.R. allows these fine players space within relatively brief moments to make their own statements within the ragas, as detailed in the liner notes accompanying this reissue. What we hear is a new meeting of worlds, both sharing a respect for the primacy of improvisation, a love for the intricacies of ensemble-playing, and a fine understanding of the power of propulsive yet sophisticated rhythms. Fabulous Notes reveals a true Indian music, not merely Occidental music with hints of Indo-spice. We can picture the recording sessions, with the musicians seated on the floor of the studio, Indian musicians playing Indian music, playing jazz, playing Fabulous Notes And Beats Of The Indian Carnatic - Jazz. Indian instruments include: veena, gotuvadyam, flute, tabla tharang, tape, conch, ghatam, mridangam, chandai & sudha madhalam, tabla, jalra and bul bul thara, and Western instruments include: bass clarinet, saxophone, piano, guitar, double bass, trumpet, drums and bongos.

Mustapha Skandrani. Besides having an excellent name, this man, a luminary of Algerian music, possessed a unique musical sense, able to transcend the borders of musical cultures to create a distinctive fusion of Arabo-Andalusian and European styles.

"Istikhbars and Improvisations", recorded in 1965 in Paris, is a solo piano album presenting a trans-Mediterranean crossover based on traditional Algerian vocal pieces known as Istikhbars. Playing these istikhbars (which have roots in the Islamic Arabo-Andalusian culture which flourished in Spain) on the piano, that quintessentially European instrument, Skandrani was greeted with derision by some purists. Skandrani's powerful musical vision, however, perceives the European element involved in Arabo-Andalusian musical culture, a world of exchange and co-existence, and his decision to play this music on the piano reminds us of this European influence.

Skandrani's modus operandi on this release is to present each istikhbar, modal in nature, then to play an improvisation based on the istikhbar and its attendant mode. This A/B alternation continues throughout. The pellucid clarity of Skandrani's playing on this album may remind the listener of a modal Goldberg Variations, Bach and Glenn Gould transplanted to Andalucia. Other ears will hear the Arabic/Maghreb elements more strongly. Skandrani's precise touch and clear, symmetrical rhythmic sense links both worlds, assuring us that the Mediterranean is not a barrier, but a unifier, and that the differences between the cultures are not vast. This is an admirable acheivement, resulting in beautiful music of a rare charm.

Mustapha Skandrani was born in Algiers in 1920, and died there in 2005.  He mastered a number of instruments at an early age, and his musical prowess led him to work with the great singers and ensembles of his day, in live performances, recordings, and radio broadcasts. Later in his life, he devoted much energy to education.

"Istikhbars and Improvisations" is available on CD and LP vinyl, with English and Japanese liner notes.