For this, her second solo album, Azam Ali, lead vocalist of Vas and Niyaz, takes her patented polycultural blend of ancient and contemporary influences even farther beyond the stratosphere. That she is now a veteran of numerous film scores, including Children of Dune, Earthsea, and Matrix Revolutions, perhaps explains her present more cinematic direction. Born in Iran, reared in India and the US, and gifted with a voice of improbable tonal breadth, flexibility, and beauty, she is backed by collaborators like Trey Gunn (King Crimson), Chris Venna (Nine Inch Nails), Turkish DJ/composer Mercan Dede, the Japanese ensemble Kodo, and Grateful Dead drummer/world percussion enthusiast Mickey Hart. One of the more interesting conundrums inherent in Ali's work is that no matter how much electronic technology she employs, her immersion in her heritage unfailingly comes across loud and clear. Whether she is singing in English, which predominates on these sessions, Farsi, or another language, a prayerful sensuality informs every note. It's as though a sexy Tanagra temple figurine or silk-clad court lady from an antique parchment were to suddenly turn her lovely head and step daintily into the modern world, unfurling precisely the kind of voice one expected but never could have imagined.

"It’s hard to find your own voice because anything and everything is available. I think the idea of originality is very important even if it might be an old concept, but finding your own voice, in the largest sense of the word, is how we get to something new."

Singer, composer, filmmaker, and choreographer Meredith Monk is a pioneer in what is now called "extended vocal technique" and "interdisciplinary performance." Her early musical training included piano, some music theory, voice, and Dalcroze Eurythmics. This opera premiered in 1991 and was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera. Wayne Hankin conducts. Performers include James F. Wilson, Cynthia Powell, Robert Osborne, Kathleen Carroll, Bill Hayes, among many more talented artists.

Academy Award-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto has created one of his most spectacular and inspiring film scores for the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci's epic - Little Buddha. Sakamoto's fusion of electronic and organic instruments beautifully compliment the stunning scenery and powerful images of the film and reflect the awesome scope of the human soul.