As a tribute to WORLD MUSIC DAY… Here are five of the most influential artists and groups from across the globe you may not have heard of.
Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo
Commonly known as Angélique Kidjo, is a Grammy Award–winning Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist, Time Magazine called her Africa’s Premier Diva.
Mory Kanté
A vocalist and player of the kora harp. Kanté is best known internationally for his 1987 hit song Yé ké yé ké. The first ever African single to sell over one million copies.
The Buena Vista Social Club
A members club in Havana, Cuba that held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s. The recording, named Buena Vista Social Club after the Havana institution, became an international success, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary feature.
Ernest Ranglin O.D.
A Jamaican guitarist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska genre in the late 1950s with the invention of the core style of guitar play (sometimes known as “scratching”) found in nearly all ska music.
Francesca Caccini
An Italian composer, singer, lutenist, poet, and music teacher of the early Baroque era. One of the best-known and most influential female European composers between Hildegard of Bingen in the 12th century and the 19th century. Her stage work, La liberazione di Ruggiero, has been widely considered the first opera by a woman composer.