I hear Turkish ottomans are in these days and that's just what my feet were on when the librarian called. I've mentioned her before--my friend in Sausalito who calls me now and then to find out what's up in world music. I told her I base my selections on conversations with people in the music biz, and on  promos that come into my mailbox. This past year has brought an abundance of great world music that should be in everyone's card catalogue: 

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1. THE DANCE OF HEAVEN'S GHOSTS-GREECE(Hemisphere) There has been a lot of buzz in world music circles over this beautiful collection of songs by Greek artists. This is a delightful ensemble of music ranging from the traditional nissiotiko from the Greek islands to the more urban laiko or rembetika available to the world music collector. If you were brought up with nothing but bouzouki music, experience the rich variety of these ten artists. Eleni Vitali, Haris Alexiou, Litsa Diamandi, and others who present modern lyrics and mournful rhythms set to Greek dance music. Check out the slide guitar on track eight. This is blues...Mediterranean style.

2. BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB (World Circuit/Nonesuch) I hear guaracha music in Eliades Ochoa's songs from Cuarteto Patria and the son of 89-year-old Compay Segundo. I'm in a downtown Havana lounge when Don Ruben Gonzalez, Cuba's national treasure, plays a smooth, dark-rum danzon and then jams it into a 6-minute descarga. Listening to "Guajiro" Mirabal on trumpet, my mind is off to this sunny island south of Florida. More than just another Cuban disc, this is a historical reunion of Cuban musicians playing music that suggests American jazz, blues and gospel. Producer Ry Cooder thought it was the best project of his career. This is the record that may break the U.S. Cuba embargo in 1998!

3. BOB MARLEY DREAMS OF FREEDOM- AMBIENT TRANSLATIONS OF BOB MARLEY IN DUB (Island) Anything new from Bob Marley usually comes from the vaults. Here is something fresh. Combining radical dub and studio atmospherics, Bill Laswell has created a dream-like liquid sound from the original Marley masters without losing the original integrity. Laswell's electronic textures are to the nineties what Phil Spector's music was to the sixties with its sleighbell ringing, multitracking wall-of-sound. If your idea of "versions" or dubside can include ten minutes of "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)," then listen to this cd's tour de force, "Exodus," as manipulated sampling stretches out your mind for almost nine psychedelic minutes. As revolutionary as when Dylan went electric, Dreams of Freedom is reggae music with much respect.
 

4. MONTEFIORI COCKTAIL - RACCOLTA NO.1 (IRMAmerica) We were listening to Muslimgauze and African Head Charge one night, when the Italian brothers Federico and Francesco Montefiori's cd, Raccolta No. 1, hit the "turntable" and conversation stopped. What is it about cheesy, top-forty Latin covers that has spawned a new genre in record stores called L-O-U-N-G-E? Is it the snappy retro-rhythm surf beat and Fredrico's wailing '50's-ish saxophone solo on Ravel's bolero? Is it Francesco's smooth-as-silk keyboard on the bachelor-pad cover of "Un Uomo, Una Donna (A Man & A Woman)?" The Montefiori Cocktail has perfected this genre like a lemon twist in a shot glass. At times this music even transcends "lounge" by suggesting skating rinks and carnival midways. Perfect party album!

5. INTRODUCING....RUBEN GONZALEZ (World Circuit/Nonesuch) When record store staff talk about the Buena Vista Social Club, pianist Ruben Gonzalez's name always comes up. The story behind the scenes is almost as amazing as the music itself. Here is a 77-year-old legend making his first solo album after more than 50 years in the business. This album, from the man who helped defined the Cuban sound of the 40's and 50's, sparkles with cha-cha-cha's, danzons and guarachas, delivered as effortlessly as the best Cuba has to offer today. Gonzalez's loping piano style and dynamic crescendos sound as sweet as the sugar cane that goes into the finest Cuban rum. Think of an intimate downtown Habana Vieja jazz club--after hours!

6. MUSIC FROM THE EDGE OF EUROPE--PORTUGAL (Hemisphere) After listening to this collection of what may be the planet's softest and most sensuous music, it appears that the Portuguese music scene is thriving and needs to be heard. Some of it is captured in this collection of contemporary Portuguese artists. Two of the stand-out cuts are the dreamy "Quartetra," by the four accordianists named Dancas Ocultas, and "Chora Por Mim," featuring the celestial voice of Natalia Casabiva of Diva. Rounding out this generous sampling of Portuguese popular and folk music is the prolific Madredeus with their baroque musical style; the late Amalia Rodriques, Portugal's answer to France's Edith Piaf; and Carlos Paredes playing the six steel double-stringed guitarra portuguesa that goes to the soul of Portuguese music. Already I'm saving my escudos for a trip to Lisbon.

7. ORQUESTA LA MODERNA TRADICION-- DANZONEMOS What fun to review North America's only danzon band, San Francisco Bay Area's Orquesta La Moderna Tradicion. Master percussionist Roberto Borrell takes this early Cuban ballroom music that blends Euro-African elements into a smooth infectious groove and provides us with crisp, modern interpretations of danzon-cha. After the inhibitions peel away and the feet hit the floor, let this band's repertory of classic and original pieces provide an evening of fun and adventure. Havana-born Borrell and his 11-member orchestra re-invigorate this timeless music as rhythm and melody combine to intoxicate a new generation of ballroom dancers.

8. JAMSHIED SHARIFI --A PRAYER FOR THE SOUL OF LAYLA ALULA Like a fire opel with layers of color and polish, this accomplished Iranian-American musician, Jamshied Sharifi, combines musical technique and composition from the West and Middle East by using modern synthesizers, ancient rhythms and melodies. Straddling two cultures like a dromedary traveling the Silk Road, this album is one of the best world-fusion albums of the year. Favorite tracks include "Tariqat" with vocal help by the Gnawa musician Hassan Hakmoun, "Ammeh Kimia," sung as a cannon or round by rocker Paula Cole, and "The Salt Road," with the tinkling bells of a Nepalese caravan, recorded on location, all work to mesmerize the listener.
 
9. A PUTUMAYO BLEND--MUSIC FROM THE COFFEE LANDS ( (Putumayo) This spunky label out of New York keeps releasing one great world sampler after another. This one may be the best so far, as a look at the four big artists on the album will testify: Susana Baca (Peru), responsible for keeping Afro-Peruvian music alive; Ernest Ranglin (Jamaica), who gave us one of 1996's best cd's, From the Bassline; Thomas Mapfumo (Zimbabwe), whose signature beat defines a country; and Ricardo Lemvo, and Makina Loca (USA-Congo), who surprised many people last year with his Cuban and Congolese blend. Nine other choices add to this great brew.

10. MUSIC OF ISLAM ANTHOLOGY (Celestial Harmonies) You could buy The Music of Islam, the Complete Edition of 17 cd's, or you could buy just this one. Culled from the wooden box set, producer David Parsons has given us folks here in the Occident a musical peek at a culture that has never fully recovered from the bad press of the Christian Crusades. My favorites include the African drumming from Aswan, Egypt on track nine, followed by a sparce lute and drum drone from Doha, Qatar. From the music of the Gnawa musicians of Morocco to that of the whirling dervishes of Turkey, this collection is perfect for your library.

The liner notes on East-West attitudes are a must read, which was what I was doing when the librarian called.

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