From the Serbian mountains of blood and honey to the passionate coasts of Argentina, rattling buses tearing through the Thai countryside, and back to sweet home Chicago, embark on a journey of melody and memory. Listen for the human within each story, the worlds resonating from each song! Chicago Folklore Ensemble celebrates Chicago's immigrant communities and helps share and pass on their oral histories and traditional music. We interview master musicians from around the world, asking them to teach us songs from their homelands. Over many months, the masters mentor us on the stylistic nuances of their traditional music. Playing music brings back memories, and they share stories that provide cultural, historical, and personal context to the songs. Our stage show interweaves the stories and songs collected in our interviews in a dynamic performance of string quartet and storyteller. This album presents a selection of songs we learned from five immigrant musicians, as original arrangements for string quartet. Ten tracks feature the master musicians as soloists with the quartet. Our storyteller is featured on the final track. The companion book (available on our website), also called The World In Chicago, relates the oral histories of these five immigrants and how music has shaped their worlds. The Quartet: Lucia Thomas, violin Sam Hyson, violin Robert Fisher, viola Ellen Frolichstein, cello Featured Artists: Alba Guerra, singer from Buenos Aires, Argentina Phiwan Phonwiang, singer and khaen player from Taphan Hin, Thailand Baha'a Abu-Taha, singer and oud player from Amman, Jordan Abee Mensah, singer and keyboard player from Cape Coast, Ghana Jovan Mihailović, violin player from Belgrade, Serbia Sojourner Zenobia, storyteller Arrangements by Lucia Thomas & Sam Hyson Recording & engineering by Gene "Zhenya" Nemirovsky Artwork by Jovan Mihailović