8-page CD booklet contains complete original songtexts, plus English translations. Mesmerising and exciting performances of medieval music - Joglaresa are leaders in the improvisational and cross-cultural fields of their repertoire. The artists in this unique ensemble are some of the most outstanding performers in the improvisational spheres of world music, jazz and classical music. Their infectious enthusiasm, combined with peerless skill, musicianship and extensive scholarly and field research, produces concerts that are lively, expressive, full of Mediterranean passion and colour - poignant, genuinely spontaneous and highly improvisational. Joglaresa's performances capture the audiences' imagination and draw them into a glorious, living world of medieval music. At the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music this extremely popular ensemble 'brought in one of the largest audiences at the festival'. This London-based ensemble have been playing since 1990. Their performances include the Aldeburgh Festival, York Early Music Festival; London's Lufthansa Festival, the Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), St David's Hall (Cardiff), London's Barbican Centre, Sana'a & Aden (Yemen), Brezice Early Music Festival (Slovenia), Istanbul, Amsterdam International Festival of Jewish Music, Chinchilla Early Music Festival; tours in Germany, Belgium, Italy and Holland. Numerous radio broadcasts - the world over... Other CDs include: Magdalena Medieval Song for Mary Magdalen (AV0026) Stella Nuova Italian Medieval Song (JOG001) Dreams of Andalusia Songs of Muslim Spain (METCD1062) JOGLARESA REVIEWS (British Press) “Joglaresa are at the forefront of singers and instrumentalists whose study of improvisation and ethnomusicology informs and shapes their imaginative re-creation of medieval music-making.” The Times “St. John’s Smith Square was packed with punters for Belinda Sykes’s spirited medieval ensemble” The Independent “Joglaresa kick medieval music out of the cloister and into the marketplace ... performances full of personality. Sykes’ voice has great emotional range, luxuriating in Arab eroticism, next hollering the Bulgarian style and tumbling into a jacuzzi of yodelling.” The Wire “Sykes’ study of voice and improvisation in North Africa, Spain and the Middle East was thrillingly evident“ The Times “A felicitous exchange of ideas between Christian Europe and the Middle East” The Guardian “A superior collection of first-rate musicians.” Songlines “irresistibly catchy tunes … Joglaresa's imaginative use of improvisation creates an exciting air of authenticity … compulsive rhythmic energy … luxuriantly ornamental solos” The Telegraph Director/lead singer Belinda Sykes was raised on a pure diet of English folk song and is now an international concert and recording soloist. She studied voice and improvisation in Morocco, Bulgaria, Syria, Spain and India; oboe and recorder at the Guildhall School of Music, London. She has recorded and sung solo with Red Byrd, New London Consort, Tragicomedia, Ensemble Unicorn, Oni Wytars, and is the soloist on Karl Jenkins' new album Stabat Mater, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also sung solo on soundtracks with artists as diverse as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (soloist on the BBC's Planet Earth documentaries) and the Master Musicians of Joujouka. As an oboist she has played for the Gabrieli Consort, English Concert, King’s Consort, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Age of Enlightenment, and The Hanover Band, and won the 1990 Reichenberg Award for Baroque Oboe. She has also collaborated with many composers including Sir Harrison Birtwistle (Sir Peter Hall's production of Bacchai at the Royal National Theatre). Belinda has a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology/Arabic music from London University, and is Professor of Medieval Song at Trinity College of Music, London.