In 1996, former
Windham Hill employees Pat Berry and Bob Duskis founded Six Degrees Records with the intention of promoting new trends in
world music. Originally affiliated with
Island Records, Berry and Duskis achieved their first major success with the release of London-based
tabla player
Talvin Singh's influential compilation album
Anokha – Soundz of the Asian Underground. Although Singh was not the only artist featured on the album, he was marketed as the focal point of the release. In this way, the media acquired a poster child upon which to lavish its attention, enabling album sales to approach 200,000 units. Beyond its work with the Asian underground, Six Degrees Records has signed and promoted artists from around the world, placing a great emphasis on the promotion of hybrid dance music forms and innovative cross-cultural collaborations. Standout acts include Algerian-born and San Francisco based
Cheb i Sabbah, Malians
Issa Bagayogo and
Vieux Farka Toure, Brazilians
Bebel Gilberto and
Céu, Egyptian-born and London based
Natacha Atlas, and the Iranian
Azam Ali. Gilberto's 2000 album
Tanto Tempo was a particular highpoint, selling over a million copies and introducing Gilberto, the daughter of renowned musician
João Gilberto, to a wider global audience. ==Motto==