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Asians rule!

At least, in the World Music Category of the 39th Annual Grammy Awards, they do. Out of the six nominations for the Best World Music Album, two are Indian musicians - sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan and Mohan Veena exponent Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, to name names. And the third nomination goes to Pakistan’s famed Sufi vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Bhatt, of the troika, already knows how it feels - having already won a Grammy in the category for his album with American musician Ry Cooder, titled A meeting by the river. This time round, he has been nominated for his latest album Tabula Rasa, in collaboration with Jiebing Chan and Bela Flack.

Tabula Rasa," says Bhatt, "means the unity of three strings. It is a fusion album, I have collaborated on it with country musician Bela Flack who plays the banjo, and Jiebing Chan on the Erhu, which is a Chinese folk violin."

Ali Akbar Khan’s nomination is for the album Legacy, in which he has chosen ancient compositions, and traced their origins back to the legendary Mian Tansen. A highlight of the album is the vocals rendered by Asha Bhosle.

" Most people are afraid of classical music," says the sarod maestro. "With Legacy I want to prove that classical music is more melodious than even the lighter genres of music."

And then there is Night Song, a collaboration of Sufi vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook, guitarist and producer of groundbreaking rock and world music projects. The album is seen as a step further down the road Fateh Ali Khan travelled with his earlier Mustt Mustt from 1990.

Nusrat Khan has recorded over 100 albums, and made important contributions to the soundtracks of The Last Temptation of Christ and more recently, to Dead Man Walking with Eddie Vedder and to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. His voice, again, features in the film The Ghost and the Darkness starring Michael Douglas.

Guitarist Michael Brook developed his audio and video talents in projects undertaken alongside artists ranging from Brian Eno to U2's Edge and Sinead O'Connor. Although he has released several solo albums, he is best known for his work on the albums Set by Youssou N'Dour, and Mast Mast by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

The award, which was announced on Wednesday, February 26, went to The Chieftains for Santiago.