Rahim Alhaj

The best instrumental music doesn't fill space -- it seems to make it, delineating time and creating pockets of stillness for your mind to inhabit. AlHaj's tribute to the maqam, a musical form analogous to an Indian raga, does just that, carving out melodies and improvisations using just the deep voice of the oud. It's entrancing music, an ocean of sanity coming from disputed desert territory by way of New Mexico. The album was nominated for a Grammy in 2008.