Agricantus

The Palermo, Italy-based worldbeat group Agricantus took their name from the Latin expression for "song of the wheat fields"; their membership includes Giuseppe Panzeca (vocals, mandolins, sitar, other stringed instruments), Tonj Acquaviva (keyboards, samples/programming, vocals, and a huge array of percussion instruments) Rosie Wiederkehr (guitar, vocals, samples/programming), Mario Rivera (bass, keyboards, vocals, samples/programming), and Antonjo Corrado (guitar, keyboards). Agricantus' music combines a dizzying array of traditional world music forms from across the globe not only with each other, but with club-ready electronic dance grooves, producing a compelling juxtaposition between old and new. Their first U.S. release was the 1999 compilation The Best of Agricantus. ~ Steve Huey