Planet Squeezebox

Winner German Critic's Circle Award

When I put together these three CDs of accordion music from all over the world, I was amazed at the variety of music this instrument has adapted itself to, and I became quite a crusader for it. It is a great instrument that has found it's way to the far corners of the earth and has become the heart and soul of some of our best loved forms-- and ninety per cent of it is dance music!

"Accordions tickle and skitter, croon and sigh on a survey that ranges from Ireland to Argentina, Nigeria to China.....every selection is a delight" -- The New York Times

"The most piquant, entertaining and accomplished set Ellipsis Arts has ever released."-- Newark Star Ledger

Reviews of Planet Squeezebox.

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Klezmer Music
A Marriage of Heaven and Earth

I love it when people come up to me and say "your klezmer compilation is a classic!" It is certainly one of the projects that came out the closest to the way I envisioned it, and I think it presents an informative cross-section of what is being done with the music today.

"Klezmer's rich diversity is celebrated in this sampler package of contemporary interpretations that's as fun to read as it is to listen to." -- Critic's Favorites on Disc, The Boston Herald

"This is an essential klezmer anthology" -- Jewish Herald-Voice

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The Celtic Lullaby

Winner Parent's Choice Award

The Celts have an extraordinarily rich heritage of lullabies. This compilation is only a small sampling of them, performed by both well-known and obscure artists. I still listen to this CD when I want to chill out....it works every time.

"Hushed, tender, always pretty but never precious. Dare I call it the sleeper of the year? Highly recommended for rush-hour driving" -- 1996 top 10 CDs, Boston Sunday Globe

"Risky business, putting together a collection of lullabies. By their very nature you shouldn't be awake at the end. But "The Celtic Lullaby" avoids the built in pitfall by presenting a variety of intriguing recordings.....it is a brave and welcome selection from Ellipsis Arts." -- The Irish Edition

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Unblocked
Music of Eastern Europe

Winner German Critic's Award, and 1998 nominee for the Best World Music Compilation of the Year by AFIM

Working on this project turned me around more than any other I have done to date. Researching the history of the area, outreaching by fax, phone and e-mail across continents, and then absorbing all the extraordinary music that was sent to me was an awakening of sorts, one that I tried very hard to communicate in the finished product.

"Unblocked is an ambitious 3 CD set of "Music of Eastern Europe" (albeit, just folk music), a region they define as stretching from the Baltic to the Balkans, a huge area for any single exploration, but it is handled with both expansive vision and an eye for detail here....Unblocked is full of both revelation and wonder." -- Rootsworld

"National identity crises bring on folk music revivals, and Eastern Europe is in the middle of both. "Unblocked" takes a whirlwind tour from Estonia south to Albania, moving through church polyphony, aching love songs, bouncy music for brass bands and Arab influenced incantations....the music is by turns hearty and eerie, rowdy and desolate..." ---The New York Times

"After listening to a collection like this, there is no question that Eastern European music is some of the most vibrant in the world..." ---FolkRoots

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Latin Lullaby

This compilation explores a side of Latin music that is surprisingly neglected. Another great CD for mellowing out, I was very taken with the tenderness and playfulness of it all.

"Producers Michal Shapiro and Rachel Faro give us a brilliant collection of 17 new and traditional Latin lullabies in Spanish and Portuguese....it is a perfect gift, especially for those whose future includes home, hearth and plenty of ninos to rock to sleep at night. The collection of talent here is staggering.....This CD is a virtual treasure" -- Latin Style

"Lullabies can be a great cure-all! Latin Lullaby is a CD of 17 lullabies from seven Spanish speaking countries. Michal Shapiro speaks of the difficulty of discovering them....it's difficult to believe, given the beauty of voice and instrumentation, the versatility of style and talent, and the excellence of this recording." -- Herald-Sun, Durham

To get more information, to hear sound clips or to order these CDs, visit Amazon.com.

Dancing with the Dead
The Music of Global Death Rites

"Time Out" New York, "Best CD of 1998" —St ephen Merritt's "Overview of the Century"

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Full Flower

Mikhal Shapiro

"The lyrics, in English and French, reveal a complicated woman who is delicate but not unduly fragile and whose pained and triumphant perceptions are the fruit of a lifetime of creative questing and risk-taking. Mikhal sings her heart out in a fluid mezzo-soprano that occasionally exhibits a Dolly Parton-like vibrato. Fans of emerging singer-songwriters will want to own this disc." -- Rhythm Magazine

"Mikhal has a distinctive alto voice with a Natalie Merchant rasp in the lower range and a Rickie Lee Jones loopiness in the upper.... She lives in New York City and writes songs about how a woman survives alone there....When Mikhal talks about flowers, I know she's talking about the wild ones that grow in the most unlikely places. They grow even through the cracks in concrete and they're beautiful in a rough way, like her music." —The Ithaca Times

Mikhal's debut album, Full Flower, shows off the talents of an accomplished singer/songwriter....it seems to have a life of talent and preparation behind it, making it sound more like a mid-career collection than a first release. (Read the entire on-line review, hear more audio examples.)
—William Ruhlmann

I started writing my own songs about fifteen years ago; they are a combination of all the music that I listen to and love. The influence of everything, from my many years of singing bluegrass to rock and roll and world music can be heard in this CD.... and in case you're wondering, I spelled my name "Mikhal" on this one because I was tired of being reviewed as "Michael." (Blame it on "spell check!")

Full Flower—Mikhal Shapiro—$12.95 (Muse-Eek Recordings)
Item #: msk-111

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Michal can be contacted at michal@muse-eek.com