World music (Awards) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Various awards have been presented in recent years to musical artists for their contributions to the genre of world music

World music

World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

. This article provides a partial list of these awards and their recipients.

BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music

The BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music was an award given to world music

World music

artists between 2002 and 2008, sponsored by BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...

. The award was thought up by fRoots magazine's editor Ian Anderson

Ian A. Anderson

Ian A. Anderson is an English magazine editor, folk musician and broadcaster.-Country blues and The Village Thing:...

, inspired by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....

.

Award categories included: Africa, Asia/Pacific, Americas, Europe, Mid East and North Africa, Newcomer, Culture Crossing, Club Global, Album of the Year, and Audience Award. Initial lists of nominees in each category were selected annually by a panel of several thousand industry experts. Shortlisted nominees were voted on by a twelve-member jury, which selected the winners in every category except for the Audience Award category. These jury members were appointed and presided over by the BBC.

The annual awards ceremony was held at the BBC Proms and winners were given an award called a "Planet," designed by Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n sculptor Anita Sulimanovic in 2003.

In March 2009, the BBC made a decision to axe the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music.

2003 winners

The Awards concert took place on the 24th March 2003. The award recipients were as follows:
Africa

Winner: Orchestra Baobab

Runners-up: Orchestra Baobab, Bembeya Jazz

Bembeya Jazz

Bembaya Jazz National is a Guinean jazz group that gained fame in the 1960s for their infectious Afropop rhythms. They are considered one of the most significant bands in Guinean music. Many of their recordings are based on traditional folk music in the country and have been fused with jazz and...

, Kasse Mady Diabate, Tony Allen

Tony Allen (musician)

Tony Oladipo Allen is aNigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter who currently lives and works in Paris. He is currently writing his autobiography "Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat" with author/musician Michael E...

Asia/Pacific

Winner: Mahwash & Ensemble Kaboul

Runners-up: Mahwash & Ensemble Kaboul, Te Vaka

Te Vaka

Te Vaka is an Oceanic music group that performs original contemporary Pacific music or "South Pacific Fusion". The group was founded in 1995 by Opetaia Foa'i in New Zealand...

, Trilok Gurtu, Alka Yagnik

Alka Yagnik

Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards...

Americas

Winner: Los de Abajo

Los de Abajo

Los de Abajo is the official supporters group of Universidad de Chile. They are one of the biggest groups of supporters in Chile.-History:...

Runners-up: Los de Abajo

Los de Abajo

Los de Abajo is the official supporters group of Universidad de Chile. They are one of the biggest groups of supporters in Chile.-History:...

, Susana Baca

Susana Baca

Susana Esther Baca de la Colina is a prominent Peruvian singer-songwriter; two-times Latin Grammy Award winner. She has been a key figure in the revival of Afro-Peruvian music within Peru....

, Yusa

Yusa

Yusa is a Cuban singer and songwriter, born in the Buena Vista district of Havana, Cuba. Her music is recognised worldwide : in 2003, she was nominated at the prestigious BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards in two categories...

, Lila Downs

Lila Downs

Lila Downs is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music...

Europe

Winner: Mariza

Mariza

Mariza is the stage name of a popular fado singer. She was born Marisa dos Reis Nunes on 16 December 1973 in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique. At the time, Mozambique was known as the Portuguese Overseas Province of Mozambique....

Runners-up: Mariza

Mariza

, Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo is a nine-piece band from Barcelona, Spain, who describe their style as "jipjop flamenkillo"...

, Kimmo Pohjonen

Kimmo Pohjonen

Kimmo Pohjonen is a Finnish accordionist who is involved in a number of projects.- Uniko :Kluster meets Kronos Quartet in the Uniko project featuring music composed by Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen, commissioned by Kronos. Concerts in Helsinki, Moscow and Molde Jazz Festival were major successes...

, Sergey Starostin

Middle East and North Africa

Winner: Samira Said

Samira Said

Samira Said is an Egyptian-Moroccan singer.-Early career:Samira Said was born and raised in Rabat. She began singing at the age of 9 and she was discovered on a music program on Royal Moroccan TV, "Mawaheb," alongside another popular singer, Aziza Jalal, when she was 17. She was quickly...

Runners-up: Samira Said

Samira Said

, Kayhan Kalhor

Kayhan Kalhor

Kayhan Kalhor , born 24 November 1963, is an Iranian kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Kurdish and Persian music.-Youth and studies:...

, Omar Faruk Tekbilek

Omar Faruk Tekbilek

Ömer Faruk Tekbilek , also known as Omar Faruk Tekbilek, is a Turkish flautist. He is known for his performances with the ney in a Sufi style...

, Yair Dalal

Yair Dalal

Yair Dalal is an Israeli musician of Iraqi-Jewish descent.His main instruments are the oud and the violin, and he also sings as accompaniment. He composes his own music and draws on Arab and Jewish traditions, as well as European classical music and Indian music...

Newcomer

Winner: Gotan Project

Gotan Project

Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal , Eduardo Makaroff , and Christoph H. Müller .-History:...

Runners-up: Gotan Project

Gotan Project

Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal , Eduardo Makaroff , and Christoph H. Müller .-History:...

, DuOuD, Mariza

Mariza

, Yusa

Yusa

Source: 2003 winners, 2003 nominees

2005 winners

The hosts for the BBC Awards for World Music 2005 Poll Winners' Concert were Eliza Carthy

Eliza Carthy

Eliza Carthy is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.-Life and career:...

and Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is an English writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008....

. The award recipients were as follows:

Africa

Winner: Tinariwen

Tinariwen

Tinariwen is a band of Tuareg-Berber musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. The band was formed around 1979 in refugee camps in Libya but returned to Mali after a cease-fire in the 1990s...

Runners-up: Thandiswa Mazwai

Thandiswa Mazwai

Thandiswa Mazwai is a multi-award winning South African musician, and is also the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bongo Maffin.-Early life:...

, Rokia Traore

Rokia Traoré

Rokia Traoré is a Victoires de la Musique award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group, her father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited such countries as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was...

, Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

, Amr Diab

Amr Diab

Amr Abdol-Basset Abdol-Azeez Diab is an Egyptian singer and composer of geel music; the contemporary face of Egyptian el-geel pop music, according to World Music. Diab is the best-selling Arab recording artist of all time, according to Let's Go Egypt...

Asia/Pacific

Winner: Kaushiki Chakrabarty

Kaushiki Chakrabarty

Kaushiki Desikan is a prominent Indian classical vocalist.Chakrabarty was born 1980 in Kolkata, India. She is the daughter of Chandana Chakraborty and the renowned Indian classical singer Ajoy Chakraborty...

Runners-up: Faiz Ali Faiz

Faiz Ali Faiz

Faiz Ali Faiz is a Pakistani qawwali singer.Faiz was born into a family of seven generations of qawwals. He studied classical music with Ustad Ghulam Shabir Khan and Ustad Jafat Khan, and qawwali music with Muhammad Ali Faridi and Abdur Rahim Faridi Qawwal...

, Sainkho Namtchylak

Sainkho Namtchylak

Sainkho Namtchylak is a singer originally from Tuva, a small autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing or Khöömei.-Style:...

, Sevara Nazarkhan

Sevara Nazarkhan

Sevara Nazarkhan is an Uzbek singer, songwriter, and musician. She was born 1978 in Andijan city, Uzbek SSR....

Americas

Winner: Lhasa

Lhasa de Sela

Lhasa de Sela , also known by the mononym Lhasa, was an American-born singer-songwriter who was raised in Mexico and the United States, and divided her adult life between Canada and France...

Runners-up: Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque...

, Bajofondo Tango Club, Lila Downs

Lila Downs

Lila Downs is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music...

Europe

Winner: Amparanoia

Amparanoia

Amparanoia is the pseudonym of Spanish singer/guitarist Amparo Sánchez combining her first name with the word 'paranoia'. It was also the name of the band she fronted from 1996 to 2006. Debut album, El Poder de Machín, has been described as being "bright, exuberant.....

Runners-up: Enzo Avitabile & Bottari

Enzo Avitabile

thumb|280px|Enzo Avitabile.Enzo Avitabile is an Italian saxophonist and singer-songwriter. He plays a fusion of World music and jazz fusion music....

, Ivo Papasov, Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo is a nine-piece band from Barcelona, Spain, who describe their style as "jipjop flamenkillo"...

Middle East and North Africa

Winner: Khaled

Khaled (musician)

Khaled Hadj Ibrahim , better known as Khaled, is a raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi El Houari in Oran Province of Algeria...

Runners-up: The Chehade Brothers

The Chehade Brothers

Farid and Rami Chehade, who perform professionally as the Chehade Brothers, are Palestinian musicians and singers.Natives of the Old City of Jerusalem, Farid and Rami Chehade started studying music at a very young age and have come to master the oriental musical and poetical art forms of zajal,...

, Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede , also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America...

, Souad Massi

Souad Massi

Souad Massi , born August 23, 1972, is an Algerian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She began her career performing in the Kabyle political rock band Atakor, before leaving the country following a series of death threats...

Newcomer

Winner: Chango Spasiuk

Chango Spasiuk

Horacio "Chango" Spasiuk is an Argentine chamamé musician and accordion player.Of Ukrainian grandparents, El Chango had a strong Polka music influence from his early days; Eastern European musical influences were also already present in the chamamé music of the region...

Runners-up: Ba Cissoko

Ba Cissoko

Ba Cissoko is a Guinean world music band, featuring four members, two of which are playing the traditional Kora harp. The other two band members play percussions and bass, respectively...

, Amparanoia

Amparanoia

, Yasmin Levy

Yasmin Levy

Yasmin Levy , born on December 23, 1975 in Jerusalem, is an Israeli singer-songwriter of Judaeo-Spanish music.-Career:Her late father, Isaac Levy, was a composer and cantor, pioneer researcher into the long and rich history of the Ladino music and culture of Spanish Jewry and its diaspora, being...

, Amr Diab

Amr Diab

Boundary Crossing

Winner: Bebo Valdés

Bebo Valdés

Bebo Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, led two famous big bands, and was one of the 'house' arrangers for the Tropicana Club.Valdés started his career as a pianist in the night clubs of Havana during the 1940s...

and Diego El Cigala

Diego El Cigala

Diego Ramón Jiménez Salazar, known as El Cigala , is a famous Spanish Romani Flamenco singer...

Runners-up: Björk

Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, Clotaire K, Lhasa

Lhasa de Sela

Lhasa de Sela , also known by the mononym Lhasa, was an American-born singer-songwriter who was raised in Mexico and the United States, and divided her adult life between Canada and France...

Club Global

Winner: Clotaire K

Runners-up: Gilles Peterson

Gilles Peterson

Gilles Peterson , is a DJ, record collector and record label owner from London, UK. Through his labels Acid Jazz, Talkin' Loud, and latterly Brownswood Recordings, he has been associated with the careers of well-known artists of the 1990s such as Erykah Badu, Roni Size and Jamiroquai...

, Gotan Project

Gotan Project

Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal , Eduardo Makaroff , and Christoph H. Müller .-History:...

, Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede , also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America...

Critics Award

Winner: Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour

Runners-up: Lhasa

Lhasa de Sela

Lhasa de Sela , also known by the mononym Lhasa, was an American-born singer-songwriter who was raised in Mexico and the United States, and divided her adult life between Canada and France...

, Tinariwen

Tinariwen

, Andrew Cronshaw

Audience Award

Winner: Ivo Papasov

Runners-up: The Chehade Brothers

The Chehade Brothers

, Enzo Avitabile & Bottari

Enzo Avitabile

thumb|280px|Enzo Avitabile.Enzo Avitabile is an Italian saxophonist and singer-songwriter. He plays a fusion of World music and jazz fusion music....

, Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede , also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America...

2006 winners

Africa

Winner: Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the couple Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia . The pair, known as "the blind couple from Mali" met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind, and found they shared an interest in music...

Runners-up: Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal is a South Sudanese musician and former child soldier.-Childhood:Born in the village of Tonj in Southern Sudan, Jal was a young child when the Second Sudanese Civil War broke out. His father joined the Sudan People's Liberation Army and when he was about seven years old his mother...

, Ali Farka Toure

Ali Farka Touré

Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...

, Lura

The Americas

Winner: Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder

Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...

Runners-up: Omar Sosa

Omar Sosa

Omar Sosa is a composer, bandleader, and jazz pianist.-Biography:Sosa began studying marimba at age eight, then switched to piano at the Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana, where he studied jazz. Sosa moved to Quito, Ecuador, in 1993, then San Francisco, California, in 1995...

, Carlos Vives

Carlos Vives

Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.-Biography:...

, Seu Jorge

Seu Jorge

Seu Jorge is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter and actor. Born Jorge Mário da Silva, he was raised in a favela in the city of Belford Roxo in the Baixada Fluminense region of Rio de Janeiro state. He is considered by his fans a renewer of Brazilian pop samba...

Middle East and North Africa

Winner: Souad Massi

Souad Massi

Runners-up: Ilham al-Madfai

Ilham al-Madfai

Ilham al-Madfai is an Iraqi guitarist, singer and composer. al-Madfai's synthesis of Western guitar stylings with traditional Iraqi music has made him a revered and popular artist in his native country and throughout the Middle East...

, Rachid Taha

Rachid Taha

Rachid Taha is an Algerian singer and activist based in France who has been described as "sonically adventurous." His music is influenced by many different styles such as rock, electronic, punk and raï.-Early life:Taha was born in 1958 in Sig , Algeria, although a second source suggests he was...

, Dhafer Youssef

Dhafer Youssef

Dhafer Youssef is a composer, singer and oud player. He developed an interest in jazz at an early age and clandestinely listened to it during his education at a Qur'anic school. He later left Tunisia to start a jazz career and has lived in Europe since 1990, usually in Paris or Vienna. He also...

Asia/Pacific

Winner: Sain Zahoor

Sain Zahoor

Saieen Zahoor or Saeen Zahur Ahmad is a leading Sufi musician from Pakistan. He has spent most of his life singing in Sufi shrines, and didn't produce a record until 2006, when he was nominated for the BBC World Music awards based on word of mouth.He emerged as the "best BBC voice of the year...

Runners-up: Faiz Ali Faiz

Faiz Ali Faiz

, Susheela Raman

Susheela Raman

Susheela Raman is an acclaimed British Tamil musician. Raman has released five albums since 2001. Her debut album Salt Rain was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2001.-Early years:...

, Yat-Kha

Yat-Kha

Yat-Kha is a band from Tuva, led by vocalist/guitarist Albert Kuvezin. Their music is a mixture of Tuvan traditional music and rock, featuring Kuvezin's distinctive kargyraa throat singing style, the kanzat kargyraa.-Biography:...

Europe

Winner: Fanfare Ciocarlia

Fanfare Ciocarlia

Fanfare Ciocărlia is a popular twelve-piece Romani brass band from the northeastern Romanian village of Zece Prăjini. The band began as a loose assemblage of part-time musicians playing at local weddings and baptisms. In October 1996, the German sound engineer and record producer Henry Ernst...

Runners-up: Armenian Navy Band

Arto Tunçboyaciyan

Arto Tunçboyacıyan is an Armenian-Turkish musician. A famous avant-garde folk artist , he appeared on more than 200 records in Europe before arriving in the United States, where he went to work with numerous jazz legends including Chet Baker, Al Di Meola, and Joe Zawinul as well as a semi-regular...

, Enzo Avitabile and Bottari

Enzo Avitabile

thumb|280px|Enzo Avitabile.Enzo Avitabile is an Italian saxophonist and singer-songwriter. He plays a fusion of World music and jazz fusion music....

, Mariza

Mariza

Club Global

Winner: DJ Shantel

Shantel

Shantel, real name Stefan Hantel , is a German DJ and producer of Bukovina German Romanian descent, known for his work with gypsy brass orchestras, DJing and remixing traditional Balkan music with electronic beats...

Runners-up: M.I.A

M.I.A. (artist)

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...

, Cheb i Sabbah

Cheb i Sabbah

Cheb i Sabbah , born Haim Serge El Baz in Constantine, Algeria, is a club DJ based in San Francisco, California....

, Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede , also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America...

Boundary Crossing

Winners: Nitin Sawhney

Nitin Sawhney

Nitin Sawhney is an Indian-British musician, producer and composer. His critically acclaimed work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz and electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics and spirituality...

Runners-up: Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...

and Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

, Kimmo Pohjonen

Kimmo Pohjonen

, Yasmin Levy

Yasmin Levy

Newcomer

Winner: Konono N°1

Konono N°1

Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...

Runners-up: Dobet Gnahore

Dobet Gnahore

Dobet Gnahoré is a singer from the Côte d'Ivoire. She settled in Marseille in 1999 due to the Civil War. Her father Boni is a percussionist who performs with her. She was a nominee at the 2006 World music for Newcomer and shared an award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance with India.Arie at...

, Daby Toure, Lura

Album of the Year

Winner: Amadou and Mariam - Dimanche à Bamako
Dimanche à Bamako
Dimanche à Bamako is the fourth album by Malian duo Amadou & Mariam featuring, and produced by, French singer Manu Chao. It was released on the Nonesuch Records label on 2 August 2005....

Runners-up: Thione Seck

Thione Seck

Thione Ballago Seck is one of Senegal's greatest singers and musicians in the mbalax genre, on par with Baaba Maal and Youssou N'dour although he hasn't achieved the same level of fame outside his country. Seck comes from a family of "griot" singers from the Wolof people of Senegal...

- Orientation, Salif Keita

Salif Keita

Salif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...

- M'Bemba, Ali Farka Toure

Ali Farka Touré

and Toumani Diabate

Toumani Diabaté

Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.-Biography:...

- In the Heart of the Moon
In the Heart of the Moon
In the Heart of the Moon is a 2005 record by Malian musicians Ali Farka Touré on the guitar and providing vocals and Toumani Diabaté on the kora. The album was recorded in the "Toit de Bamako" conference room on the top floor of the Hotel Mandé overlooking the Niger River in Bamako, Mali...

2007 winners

Africa

Winner: Mahmoud Ahmed

Mahmoud Ahmed

Mahmoud Ahmed is an Ethiopian singer of Gurage ancestry.-Biography:Born in Addis Ababa, Mahmoud shined shoes in that city before becoming a handyman at the Arizona Club, where he first sang professionally in the early 1960s...

Runners-up: Ali Farka Toure

Ali Farka Touré

, Bongo Maffin

Bongo Maffin

Bongo Maffin is a South African kwaito music group. The group became famous for its hit albums such as Thath'isigubhu. Its lead singer, Thandiswa Mazwai, has since gone solo, releasing two albums, Zabalaza and Ibokwe....

, Toumani Diabate

Toumani Diabaté

The Americas

Winner: Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello

Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...

Runners-up: Ben Harper

Ben Harper

Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...

, Fonseca, Lila Downs

Lila Downs

Lila Downs is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music...

Middle East and North Africa

Winner: Ghada Shbeir

Runners-up: Les Boukakes

Les Boukakes

Les Boukakes are a French rock group formed in 1999.It is with both ethnic and cultural mixture that Les Boukakes shape their original sound : stirring rock, groove, electronic, raï, and gnawa all in one melting pot....

, Natacha Atlas

Natacha Atlas

Natacha Atlas is a Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western electronic music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "cha'abi moderne" . Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabic, hip hop, drum 'n' bass and reggae.Atlas began her career as part of...

, Yasmin Levy

Yasmin Levy

Asia/Pacific

Winner: Debashish Bhattacharya

Debashish Bhattacharya

Debashish Bhattacharya is an Indian classical musician who plays the lap slide guitar.Bhattacharya was born into a musical family in Kolkata, it became apparent that Bhattacharya was skilled at a young age...

Runners-up: Anoushka Shankar

Anoushka Shankar

Anoushka Shankar is a British Indian sitar player and composer who lives between the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. She is the daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and Sukanya Shankar...

, Dadawa

Dadawa

Dadawa is the artist name of Zhu Zheqin , a singer/songwriter/indie producer, who is well-known for her vocalization. She was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Dadawa is sometimes referred as the "Chinese Enya" by fans...

, Fat Freddy's Drop

Fat Freddy's Drop

Fat Freddy’s Drop is a seven-piece band from Wellington, New Zealand, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by musicians from other bands in Wellington, Fat Freddy’s Drop...

Europe

Winner: Camille

Runners-up: Lo'Jo

Lo'Jo

Lo'Jo are a group of France-based musicians, performing and recording a blend of world music with strong North African as well as French folk elements....

, Mariza

Mariza

, Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo is a nine-piece band from Barcelona, Spain, who describe their style as "jipjop flamenkillo"...

Club Global

Winner: Gotan Project

Gotan Project

Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal , Eduardo Makaroff , and Christoph H. Müller .-History:...

Runners-up: Balkan Beat Box

Balkan Beat Box

Balkan Beat Box is an Israeli musical group founded by Tamir Muskat, Ori Kaplan of Firewater and Big Lazy, and Tomer Yosef . As a musical project they often cooperate with a host of other musicians both in the studio as well as live...

, Cheb i Sabbah

Cheb i Sabbah

Cheb i Sabbah , born Haim Serge El Baz in Constantine, Algeria, is a club DJ based in San Francisco, California....

, Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede , also known as DJ Arkin Allen, is a Turkish composer, ney and bendir player, DJ and producer. He divides his time between Turkey, Europe and North America...

Culture Crossing

Winner: Maurice el Medioni & Roberto Rodriguez

Runners-up: Aida Nadeem

Aida Nadeem

Aida Nadeem is an Iraqi musician living in Denmark.-Early career:As a child, Aida, began to sing, dance and write poetry. With interest in classical music, at the age of twelve, she began her studies at the prestigious Music and Ballet school Baghdad...

, Ska Cubano

Ska Cubano

Ska Cubano is a London-based group which combines ska and Cuban music such as son and mambo, with elements of other genres including cumbia and calypso.-History:...

, Think of One

Think of One

Think of One is an album by Wynton Marsalis, released in 1983 through Columbia Records. The album peaked at number 102 on the Billboard 200 and number one on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. The album takes its name from the Thelonious Monk composition "Think of One", which is performed on the album...

Newcomer

Winner: K'naan

K'naan

K'naan , born Keinan Abdi Warsame in 1978, is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter and instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most...

Runners-up: Etran Finatawa

Etran Finatawa

Etran Finatawa is a Niger-based band, formed in 2004 during the Festival au Désert near Timbuktu, Mali. The music of Etran Finatawa blends the traditional music of the Woodabe and Tuareg people with western instruments such as the electric guitar.....

, Nuru Kane

Nuru Kane

Nuru Kane is a Senegalese singer/songwriter who plays guitar, bass and guimbri, a three-stringed Moroccan bass in the band Bayefall Gnawa....

, Sara Tavares

Sara Tavares

Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares is a Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and brought up in Lisbon, Portugal, where she still lives. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent, she composes African, Portuguese and North American influenced world music. She...

Album of the Year

Winner: Ali Farka Touré

Ali Farka Touré

- Savane
Savane (album)
Savane is the final solo album by Malian musician Ali Farka Touré. It is the third and final part of the Hôtel Mandé Sessions, featuring Touré and Toumani Diabaté, recorded by World Circuit head Nick Gold...

Runners-up: Bellowhead

Bellowhead

Bellowhead are an English contemporary folk band originally brought together by John Spiers and Jon Boden. The eleven-piece band plays traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide diversity of musical styles and influences...

- Burlesque
Burlesque (album)
- Personnel :* Jon Boden - lead vocals , fiddle, tambourine* John Spiers - melodeon, anglo-concertina, backing vocals* Benji Kirkpatrick - guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, banjo, backing vocals* Andy Mellon - trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals...

, Lila Downs

Lila Downs

Lila Downs is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music...

- La Cantina Narada, Toumani Diabaté and the Symmetric Orchestra

Toumani Diabaté

- Boulevard de l'Independance

Audience Award

Winner: Ghada Shbeir

Source: 2007 winners, 2007 nominees

2008 winners

Africa

Winner: Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

Bassekou Kouyate

Bassekou Kouyaté is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba.He was born in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou in 1966. At the age of 12, he started playing the Ngoni. In the late 80's he moved to the capital Bamako.Kouyaté's album Segu Blue was released internationally...

Runners-up: Simphiwe Dana

Simphiwe Dana

Simphiwe Dana is a Xhosa pop singer in South Africa. With her unique combination of jazz, pop, and traditional music, she has been hailed as the "new Miriam Makeba"....

, Tinariwen

Tinariwen

, Toumani Diabaté and the Symmetric Orchestra

Toumani Diabaté

The Americas

Winner: Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective

Andy Palacio

Andy Vivian Palacio was a Belizean Punta musician and government official. He was also a leading activist for the Garínagu and their culture.-Biography:...

Runners-up: Bajofondo Tango Club, Hazmat Modine

Hazmat Modine

Hazmat Modine is a blues/folk/world fusion/jazz musical group from New York. "Hazmat" is a portmanteau of "hazardous material" and "Modine" is the name of a company that manufactures commercial heaters but may be used to refer to the heater itself...

, Maria Rita

Maria Rita

Maria Rita |São Paulo]], Brazil) is the performance name of Maria Rita Mariano, a Brazilian singer. She is the daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singing legend Elis Regina and sister to Pedro Mariano and music producer João Marcelo Bôscoli. Her...

Middle East and North Africa

Winner: Rachid Taha

Rachid Taha

Runners-up: Malouma, Nass El Ghiwane

Nass El Ghiwane

Nass El Ghiwane are a musical group established in 1971 in Casablanca, Morocco. Their song "Ya Sah" appears in the film The Last Temptation of Christ and on the associated album Passion – Sources. The group, which originated in avant-garde political theater, has played an influential role in...

, The Idan Raichel Project

Asia/Pacific

Winner: Sa Dingding

Runners-up: Anoushka Shankar

Anoushka Shankar

& Karsh Kale

Karsh Kale

Karsh Kale is an Indian American musician, producer and composer, and is considered one of the pioneering figures in defining the Asian Underground genre by mixing disparate genres of music such as Indian classical and folk with electronica, rock, pop and ambient music...

, Faiz Ali Faiz

Faiz Ali Faiz

, Huun Huur Tu

Europe

Winner: Son de la Frontera

Runners-up: Manu Chao

Manu Chao

Manu Chao , is a French singer of Spanish roots . He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Galician, Arabic and Portuguese and occasionally in other languages...

, Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo is a nine-piece band from Barcelona, Spain, who describe their style as "jipjop flamenkillo"...

, Thierry 'Titi' Robin

Club Global

Winner: Transglobal Underground

Transglobal underground

Transglobal Underground is a London-based music collective who specialise in a fusion of western, oriental and African music styles...

Runners-up: Balkan Beat Box

Balkan Beat Box

, Bajofondo Tango Club, Gaudi

Gaudi (musician)

Daniele Gaudi is a musician, composer, record producer. and solo artist. Gaudi's music is a fusion of dub, worldbeat and electronica...

& Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Culture Crossing

Winner: Justin Adams

Justin Adams

-Biography:The son of a diplomat, Adams grew up in the middle-east and Egypt, before settling in the UK.He began his career in music in the 1980s with the band The Impossible Dreamers...

& Juldeh Camara

Runners-up: Balkan Beat Box

Balkan Beat Box

, Bole 2 Harlem, The Idan Raichel Project

Newcomer

Winner: Mayra Andrade

Mayra Andrade

Mayra Andrade is a Cape Verdean singer who lives and records in Paris, France.Andrade was born in Cuba but grew up in Senegal, Angola, and Germany. However, she spent around two months of the year in the Cape Verdean island of Santiago...

Runners-up: Balkan Beat Box

Balkan Beat Box

, Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

Bassekou Kouyate

, Vieux Farka Touré

Vieux Farka Touré

Boureima "Vieux" Farka Touré is a Malian singer and guitarist. He is the son of Grammy-winning Malian musician Ali Farka Touré.-Biography:Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981 to Ali Farka Touré...

Album of the Year

Winner: Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

Bassekou Kouyate

- Segu Blue

Runners-up: Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective

Andy Palacio

Andy Vivian Palacio was a Belizean Punta musician and government official. He was also a leading activist for the Garínagu and their culture.-Biography:...

- Wátina, Orchestra Baobab - Made In Dakar, Tinariwen

Tinariwen

- Aman Iman
Aman Iman
Aman Iman is a 2007 album by the Malian group Tinariwen, produced by Justin Adams.- Track listing :...

Source: 2008 nominees, 2008 winners

Songlines Music Awards

In response to the BBC's decision to end its awards program, the British world music magazine Songlines
Songlines (magazine)
Songlines is the name of a British based magazine launched in 1999 that covers music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from around the globe....

launched the Songlines Music Awards in 2009 "to recognise outstanding talent in world music".

WOMEX Awards

The WOMEX Award was first introduced in 1999 to honour the high points of world music on an international level and to acknowledge musical excellence, social importance, commercial success, political impact and lifetime achievement.

Every October at the WOMEX event, the award figurine - an ancient mother goddess statue dating back about 6000 years to the Neolithic age - is presented in an award ceremony to a worthy member of the world music community.

WOMEX Awards 99 - 10

In 2008 the Award concept was refined and two awards were offered: one for Artists and one for Professional Excellence.

2010 winners: Danyel Waro - WOMEX Award for Artists

Ian A. Anderson

Ian A. Anderson is an English magazine editor, folk musician and broadcaster.-Country blues and The Village Thing:...

- WOMEX Award for Professional Excellence

2009 winners: Staff Benda Bilili

Staff Benda Bilili

Staff Benda Bilili are a group of street musicians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They live around the grounds of the zoo in the countries capital city, Kinshasa, and play music which is rooted in rumba, with elements of old-school rhythm 'n' blues and reggae...

- WOMEX Award for Artists

Christian Mousset - WOMEX Award for Professional Excellence

2008 winners: Muszikás - WOMEX Award for Artists

Folk Music Department of the Sibelius Academy - WOMEX Award for Professional Excellence

2007 winner: Andy Palacio

Andy Palacio

Andy Vivian Palacio was a Belizean Punta musician and government official. He was also a leading activist for the Garínagu and their culture.-Biography:...

& Ivan Duran

Ivan Duran

Award-winning music producer and musician Ivan Duran is the founder and director of Stonetree Records, based in Benque Viejo del Carmen in Belize, Stonetree is one of the region’s leading independent record labels and music recording studios...

2006 winner: Totó La Momposina

Totó la Momposina

Sonia Bazanta Vides, better known as Totó la Momposina, is a Colombian singer of traditional mixed indigenous Colombian and Afro-Latin music. She was born in the northern Colombian town of Talaigua Nuevo near Mompox in the Bolívar Department...

2005 winner: Bi Kidude

Bi Kidude

Fatuma binti Baraka is a Zanzibari Taarab singer. She is considered the undisputed queen of Taarab and Unyago music and is also a protégé of Siti binti Saad. Bi Kidude was born in the village of Mfagimaringo, she was the daughter of a coconut seller in colonial Zanzibar...

2004 winner: Marc Hollander

Marc Hollander

Marc Hollander is a Belgian musician, producer and creator of the independent record label, Crammed Discs.Hollander was a founding member of the Belgian avant-rock group Aksak Maboul in 1977, which released two albums, Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine and Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits...

& Crammed Discs

Crammed Discs

Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released over 300 albums and 250 singles, working with artists from all over the world...

2003 winner: Freemuse

2002 winner: Jivan Gasparyan

2001 winner: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

2000 winner: Mahotella Queens

Mahotella Queens

The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...

1999 winner: Juan de Marcos & Nick Gold

WOMEX Top Label Award

The WOMEX Top Label Award was created as a joint project with World Music Charts Europe (WMCE) in 2006. The selection for the WOMEX Top Label Award is made using the charts of 47 radio broadcasters from 24 countries collected over 12 months from October to September.

2010 winner: world village / harmonia mundi

Harmonia Mundi

Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....

(France/USA/UK/Spain)

2009 winner: Crammed Discs

Crammed Discs

(Belgium)

2008 winner: Cumbancha (USA)

2007 winner: Stern’s (UK)

2006 winner: World Circuit

World Circuit (record label)

World Circuit is a world-music record label that specializes in Cuban and West African recording artists, among other international music stars. World Circuit celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2006 by releasing World Circuit Presents..., a 2-disc retrospective compilation album...

(UK)

Spin the Globe Best World Music CDs

Spin the Globe, a radio program on KAOS 89.3 FM

KAOS (FM)

KAOS is a hybrid college-community radio station licensed to The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. It broadcasts in HD Radio at a power of 1,100 watts and also streams live via the Internet. The station continues to offer free radio broadcasting training to any member of the...

in Olympia, Washington

Olympia, Washington

Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...

, compiles awards for the best global music releases each year since 2002:

2002 winner: Oliver Mtukudzi: Shanda Soundtrack (complete 2002 results)
2003 winner: Ojos de Brujo
Ojos de Brujo
Ojos de Brujo is a nine-piece band from Barcelona, Spain, who describe their style as "jipjop flamenkillo"...

: Bari (complete 2003 results)
2004 winner: Lila Downs
Lila Downs
Lila Downs is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music...

: One Blood / Una Sangre (complete 2004 results)
2005 winner: Gangbé Brass Band
Gangbe brass band
The Gangbé Brass Band is a 10-member Beninese musical ensemble founded in 1994. The word "gangbe" means "sound of metal" in the Fon language. They blend West African juju and traditional Vodou music with Western jazz and big-band sounds...

: Whendo (complete 2005 results)
2006 winner: Régis Gizavo
Régis Gizavo
Régis Gizavo is a Malagasy accordionist.He was born in Tuléar, Madagascar and began playing the accordion at a young age. In 1990 he won the Radio France Internationale "Prix découvertes"....

, Louis Mhlanga
Louis Mhlanga
Louis Mhlanga is a South African based Zimbabwean award-winning guitarist and producer. Mhlanga taught himself playing the guitar at a tender age and is considered one of the best Southern African guitarists....

, David Mirandon: Stories (complete 2006 results)
2007 winner: Kobo Town: Independence (complete 2007 results)
2008 winner: Ablaye Cissoko
Ablaye Cissoko
Ablaye Cissoko is a musician from Senegal, who plays the kora. His show is called "Le Griot Rouge" sounds about the legend of the man who has created the kora. During this performance, Ablaye Cissoko transmits with smoothness, grace and intelligence the values of a generous tradition and sings...

and Volker Goetze
Volker Goetze
is a German trumpeter. He toured West Africa, Europe and Asia. He is featured on numerous recordings, and recorded with international artists such as Nana Vasconcelos, Lenny Pickett and others. He has also performed with Steve Lacy, Brian Lynch, Peter Kowald, and Craig Handy.Mr. Goetze graduated...

: Sira (complete 2008 results)

External links

BBC World Music Awards official site
It is possible to listen to the sounds of all the nominees for the BBC Awards for World Music at the BBC website: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.